Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A project of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and the
Office of the Campus Rabbi. Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan University's
International Center for Jewish Identity. Prepared for Internet Publication by the Computer Center
Staff at Bar-Ilan University.
1
A long tradition of pictorial representation of the Tabernacle's Menorah [candelabrum], reaching back to Second Temple times, has made it into the most widely-recognized symbol of the Jews and Judaism.
2 To this day the menorah remains an attractive subject of scholarly research.
3 It has also been of cultural and artistic interest, thus providing us extensive information on the periods and places where the symbol of the menorah appeared. One can also trace its appearance on coins, in mosaic floors of synagogues, or in Jewish burials.
So widely used was this symbol that it became the official emblem of the State of Israel.
Clearly the menorah as a symbol has undergone a long period of development, from being one among several items that served as a remembrance of the Temple, to being chosen in modern times as the preferred symbol of Judaism, juxtaposed against the cross of
Christianity and the crescent moon of Islam.
4
One regard in which it has not received suitable attention, however, is its particular shape.
Of all the implements of the Tabernacle, the candelabrum is the only one which, according
1 Dr. Spero teaches at the Center for Basic Jewish Studies.
2 L. Yarden, Tree of Light (Cornell University Press 1979); Yael Israeli, "Story of a symbol," The Light of
the Menorah (Israel Museum, Jerusalem 1999).
3 Daniel Michelson, "Tsurat ha-Menorah," BD"D 23 (Tamuz 5770) – a mathematical examination of the form of the Menorah, based on data from the Torah and the Talmud regarding its weight.
4 The lack of clarity regarding the Star of David (hexagram) and its association with Judaism, as well as its relatively late appearance, only in the 16 th century, precluded it from being considered an important Jewish symbol. Cf. Gershom Scholem, "Star of David, History of a Symbol," The Messianic
Idea in Judaism (Schocken Books, New York 1971), p. 257.
1

to the biblical description, included components that were not essential to its function. All the other furnishings of the Tabernacle – the ark, the table, the altars, the basin and its stand – upon examining their blueprints and dimensions, were clearly planned according to their destined use and function, and their names attest to what they were: the table looks like a table, the altar like an altar, etc. Not so the candelabrum. If its function was to provide light, why did it need to have seven branches and be eighteen handbreadths tall?
What purpose was served by the calyxes and petals, or the cups shaped like almondblossoms?
5 Clearly, aside from its practical function of lighting the Tabernacle or the
Temple, the menorah was intended to have a specific shape that would symbolize a wellknown figure but in a particularly Jewish style.
It is patently clear according to the Torah's instructions that the candelabrum was to have the form of a stylized plant, like a small tree which has a trunk and branches bearing flowers and almonds. If so, we must ask the poignant question: How could it be that the Torah commanded us to make a candelabrum in the form of a tree, to be placed in the sanctuary of the Tabernacle, while elsewhere the Torah cautions, "You shall not set up a sacred post – any kind of pole [or tree] beside the altar of the Lord your G-d that you may make" (Deut.
16:21)?
First we must provide some background: culturally and intellectually, the generation that stood at Sinai perceived nature, the tangible world, as itself being the broader context of existence, within which everything else was subsumed. Nature was also perceived as the ultimate force determining the fate of everything, included the fate of the gods.
6 When human beings came to the realization that vitality, life itself, is most important and precious, they sought ways to renew life or prolong it and turned to "mother earth" to supply their needs. This assumption explains the popularity of the images of a "tree of life" and
"fountain of youth" that appear in almost all ancient civilizations.
The Torah, perceived as heralding revolutionary change in man's way of thinking, brought tidings of a Creator existing above and beyond His creation and ruling over all, over nature and history ("the G-d of heaven and the G-d of the earth" Gen. 24:3; also cf. Rashi, loc. cit.).
Therefore, worshipping a sacred tree, the symbol of nature cults, was so despised by the prophets.
7
In this sphere, as in other spheres, the Torah spoke in terms of old concepts, emptying them of their pagan content and instilling them with Jewish significance (such as circumcision, 8 sacrificial worship, and drinking wine). In this manner the Israelites were to gradually become accustomed to the new laws.
Regarding the subject at hand, the expression "tree of life" appears repeatedly in the Bible without referring to anything mythological, rather as a metaphor for anything that can
5 Regarding their function, Rashi summarizes that they served "none other than as a decoration" (Ex.
25:31).
6 Y. Kaufmann, The Religion of Israel (University of Chicago Press 1960), pp. 21-58.
7 Regarding cult practices "under every leafy tree" see II Kings 16:4, Isa. 57:5; Jer. 2:20, 3:10, 17:3.
8 Findings of the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem attest to the practice of circumcision in ancient
Egypt; on display there is a picture of a young boy being circumcised.
2

improve and refine life.
9 Even the Torah itself is called "a tree of life to those who grasp her"
(Prov. 3:18). The beginning of Genesis presents us with striking evidence of the power of the expression, "tree of life." The Torah describes how G-d caused "the tree of life…and the tree of knowledge of good and bad" (Gen. 2:9) to grow, and then tells of the fateful decision of
Man to go against the word of his Creator. After Adam and Eve eat of the tree of knowledge, G-d says: "Now…what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life" (Gen. 3:22), and He expels them from the Garden of Eden.
When the time came to build a sanctuary, a place for worshipping the Creator and for the
Divine Presence to appear, the Torah commanded along with the sacrificial worship that lights be kindled in a candelabrum resembling the tree of life (Ex. 30:8). In so doing the
Torah sought to proclaim that in Judaism the same tree of life that mankind has sought since antiquity in order to attain something of the eternal "is not in the heavens…neither is it beyond the sea" (Deut. 30:12), rather it is the Torah itself, and the primary fruit that it produces is the light of the Torah, "For the commandment is a candle, the teaching [Torah] is a light" (Prov. 6:23). Therefore Judaism's tree of life appears in the form of a candelabrum whose branches and flowers will produce light that can emit a radiance of eternal significance for our lives. The Torah, however, saw fit to underscore the fundamental difference between the pagan tree of life and the Jewish one. With the former, the lucky person who finds it has but to pluck its fruit and eat it, whereas in Judaism, even though the tree of life (which is the Torah itself) is within the reach of every person, its effect is not automatic. In order to enjoy its fruit a person must do something; just as one must prepare the oil and kindle the fire in the cadelabrum, so, too, human beings must toil over the Torah in order to obtain its light.
10
Translated by Rachel Rowen
9 Cf. Prov. 11:30; 13:12; 15:4.
10 Interestingly, the Sages used terminology from the plant world when they wished to describe how the Torah affects human beings: "Everlasting life He planted in our midst."
3