Why was the Menorah made after the Aron and the Shulchan?
Seforno: Because bearing in mind that the Aron represented the crown of Torah and the Shulchan, the crown of Malchus, 1 the Menorah hints at both - the three right-hand branches - the Talmidei-Chachamim; the three left-hand branches - the Ba'alei-Batim.
"Mikshah Te'aseh ha'Menorah". Why is Te'aseh written with a 'Yud'?
R. Bachye (in Pasuk 10), Da'as Zekenim, Hadar Zekenim and Rosh: It hints at the ten Menoros that Sh'lomoh ha'Melech made for the Beis-Hamikdash. 1
It is inconceivable that Sh'lomoh should make ten Menoros, ten Shulchanos and ten Kiyoros and transgress 'Bal Tosif' ? unless he had a tradition from Sinai to do so. See R. Bachye ibid. (top of page 270) who elaborates.
What are the connotations of "Mikshah" in connection with the Menorah?
Rashi: It means that the six branches and the lamps, the base 1 and the ornamental goblets, balls and flowers were all beaten with a hammer 2 out of the same lump of gold 3 as the center shaft, and not made independently and soldered on to it later.
Which stood on three legs (Rashi).
Rashi (in Beha'aloscha Bamidbar, 8:4): And cut to shape with a kind of chisel.
Rashi (in Beha'aloscha, Ibid.): Which weighed one Kikar (three thousand Shekalim).
Why did the Menorah together with its ornaments, need to be made out of one lump of gold?
Assuming that the middle branch represents Torah she'bi'Kesav, the six branches, Torah she'be'al Peh, 1 and the knobs, flowers and goblets Remez, D'rush and Sod. 2 it teaches us that Torah she'be'al Peh all comes directly from Torah she'bi'Kesav and that D'rush, Remez and Sod must all come directly from the Torah - and not from external sources.
Why does the Torah write "Te'aseh" (Nif'al - passive), and not 'Ta'aseh' (Kal - active)?
Rashi: Because Moshe had difficulty in understanding how the Menorah looked, 1 so Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu instructed him to throw the lump of gold into thee fire, and the Menorah emerged by itself.
Da'as Zekenim, Hadar Zekenim and Rosh: The 'Yud' hints at the ten Menoros that Sh'lomoh was destined to make.
Even after Hashem had shown him a Menorah of fire - Refer to 25:40:1:1 (Sifsei Chachamim). Moshav Zekenim (in Bamidbar 8:4): Afterwards, Moshe forgot how it looked. He went to Betzalel, who made it immediately. Moshe exclaimed 'be'Tzeil Keil Hayisa' - did you see when Hashem showed me?! But this contradicts the implied explanation cited by Rashi? See Sifsei Chachamim. See also 25:40:1:2.
What purpose did the Menorah serve?
What was the height of the Menorah?
Rashi (in Pasuk 35): It was eighteen Tefachim tall: 3 Tefachim ? the legs and its flower; 2 Tefachim ? space; 1. Tefach ? a goblet; 2 Tefachim ? space; 5 Tefachim ? the three branches and the two spaces; 2 Tefachim ? space; 3 Tefachim ? three goblets, a knob and a flower.
Why was the Menorah placed outside the Paroches in the Kodesh, and not in the Kodesh Kodashim?
R. Bachye #1: So that the people should see its light and be filled with awe of the Mikdash 1 - which is also why it was made of gold, the most precious of all metals.
R. Bachye #2: To demonstare that Hashem (whose Shechinah rested on the Aron) does not need human light.
R. Bachye: As the Torah writes in Vayikra 19:30 "u'Mikdashi Tira'u".
What does the Menorah with its seven lamps symbolize?
R. Bachye #1: It symbolizes the seven planets, 1 which influence the world and lead it by day and by night, 2 The middle lamp corresponds to 'Chamah', which is the middle planet. 3
R. Bachye #2: It symbolizes Torah, which is called 'light' 4 and which incorporates the seven Chochmos ? which is why it was placed on the south side 5 of the Heichal 6 - whereas the six branches symbolize the six directions of the world 7 - which owes its existence to the Torah which was given on the sixth of Sivan. 8
R. Bachye #3 (in Pasuk 38, according to Kabalah): It hints at all the Atzilos (the ten Sefiros). 9
R. Bachye #4 (citing R. Chananel): Refer to 25:18:2.1:8.
Shabsa'i, Tzedek, Ma'adim, Chamah, Nogah, Kochav, Levanah.
R. Bachye: Which is why the Menorah burnt by day and by night
R. Bachye: And which was created on the fourth day because it was the fourth planet (in the order that they revolve around the earth).
R. Bachye: As the Pasuk writes in Mishlei 6:23 "Ki Ner Mitzvah ve'Torah Or".
R. Bachye: Where most of the Chochmah comes from (as the Gemara states in Bava Basra 25b 'ha'Rotzeh she'Yachkim Yadrim' ('One who wants to be wise should turn to the south').
And this is why Eretz Yisrael is called 'Eretz ha'Darom' ('the Land of the South') ? beause it is located in the choicest of places ? in the middle zone of the seven zones into who the world is divided. See R. Bachye who, Citing Iyov 7:22, elaborates on the superior spiritual qualities of Eretz Yisrael.
North, South, East and West, up and down.
As the Navi writes in Yirmiyah 33:25 "Im Lo B'risi, Yomam va'Laylah ? Lo Samti".
See R. Bachye.
Why was the Menorah placed on the south side of the Heichal, opposite the Shulchan on the north side?
R. Bachye: Because the Menorah represents Chochmah and the Shulchan Osher (wealth), and Chochmah canot last without food and drink. 1
Presumably the Torah discusses the Shulchan before the Menorah for the same reason that Moshe mentioned Zevulun before Yisachar in ve'Zos ha'Berachah. Refer to Devarim 33:18:2:1
What would they do if there was no gold with which to make the Menorah?
Menachos, 28b: We learn from a K'lal - "Ve'asisa Menoras"; u'Perat "Zahav Tahor", u'Kelal "Mikshah Te'aseh ha'Menorah" that, like gold, all metal is eligible. 1
See Torah Temimah, note 38. Another Beraisa there, on Amud 'Alef' learns this from "Te'aseh", which is a Ribuy, and from "Mikshah" and "Yih'yu" it learns that it must be made from one lump and that if it is made from pieces of gold it is Pasul.
What is the definition of "Yerechah"?
Rashi and Targum Yonasan: 'Its base' (from which three legs extended on which the Menorah stood - Rashi).
Rashbam: It means 'A wide leg' - on which the Menorah stood.
Targum Onkelos: 'Its box-shaped base'.
How many goblets, knobs and flowers were there on the Menorah? Where were they placed?
Menachos, 28a: There were twenty-two goblets - Four on the Menorah and eighteen on the branches (three on each branch); Eleven knobs - two on the Menorah, six on the branches (one on each branch) and three at the base of each pair of branches, and nine flowers - Two on the Menorah, six on the branches and one on the base.
How were the goblets, knobs and flowers atached to the Menorah?
Rashi (in Menachos, 28b), Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: They were in the form of pictures engraved into the Menorah.
Why does the Torah write "Gevi'ehah, Kaftorehah u'Perachehah" and not simply 'Gevi'im Kaftorim u'Perachim'?
Menachos, 28a: To teach us that if it is not made of gold but of some other metal, it does not require 'Gevi'im Kaftorim u'Perachim'. 1
See Torah Temimah, note 40.
What are the impliatpns of "Gevi'ehah ... mimenah Yih'yu"?
Rashi: It implies that all the parts of the Menorah must be fashioned from the same lunp of gold. 1
Menachos, 28a: "The word "Yih'yu" implies that the seven branches and the seven lamps (as well as the twenty-two goblets, the eleven knobs and the nine flowers - Torah Temimah) are crucial.
Presumably, the Torah repetas it to teach us that othserwise it is Pasul even Bedi'eved.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes that Moshe had difficulty in understanding how to make the Menorah. What was his difficulty?
Riva: Hashem did not give its height, as He did by the other Keilim. 1
Refer to 25:40:1:1.
Oznayim la'Torah: It was not only the fact that the entire Menorah had to made out of one piece that Moshe found difficult to comprehend, but also because Hashem did not give any of the Menorah's measurements - neither its height nor its width, nor the size of its base, its branches or of its knobs, flowers or goblets - only its total weight of one Kikar.
Da'as Zekenim and Hadar Zekenim: Its height was eighteen Tefachim, like the Gematriya of the word "ve'Zeh Ma'aseh ha'Menorah" (Bamidbar 8:4). (If this was his only difficulty, Hashem could have told him - Why was it necessary for the Menorah to come out of the fire by itself? Refer to 25:31:2:1 - PF)
