spirituality >> Torah portion

The
Power
Of A
Symbol

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The menorah outside the Knesset in Jerusalem

Parshat Beha'alotcha: Numbers
8:1-12:16; Zechariah 2:14-4:7.

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ymbols contain power. Simple
objects, pictures and graphics
infused with symbolic mean-
ing have the power to create strong vis-
ceral connections to big ideas, emotions
and spiritual understandings that can
transcend far beyond the limited scope
of words.
In our day-to-day world,
we are surrounded by sym-
bols that we take for granted.
For example, when we come
across an Old English, upper-
case "IX' we don't simply see
the fourth letter of the alpha-
bet, but immediately think
about Detroit nation, Detroit
sports teams and all the emo-
tional connections we have to
our hometown.
In parshat Beha'alotcha,
we are reintroduced to one of
Judaism's primary symbols, the meno-
rah. The menorah is first described in
Exodus 25 where God provides detailed
instructions for its creation. In this
week's parshah, the menorah is reintro-
duced with God charging Aaron and
his descendants, the Kohanim, with the
care and lighting of the menorah in the
Tabernacle in the desert and later in the
Temple in Jerusalem.
Numbers 8:2-3 states: "Speak to Aaron
and say to him, When you light the
lamps, the seven lamps shall give light
in front of the candlestick [menorah].
And Aaron did so, he lighted the lamps
there so of as to give light in front of the
candlestick [menorah] as the Lord com-
manded Moses:'
For centuries, it was this seven-
branched menorah, not the Jewish Star
(Magen David) that served as the pri-
mary symbol for the Jewish people.
In 70 C.E., when Rome destroyed the
Second Temple and exiled the Jews to
the diaspora, Rome marked its conquest
with a depiction on the Arch of Titus of
the Jews being forced down the streets
of Rome carrying the menorah from the
Temple into exile.
In exile, for centuries the menorah
symbolized the Jews' connection back to
the Second Temple, the Land of Israel,
to God and to Jerusalem as the spiritual
and political center of the Jewish people.

In the 19th century, the early Zionists
adopted the menorah as a symbol for
Zionism. In 1948, the menorah was cho-
sen as the emblem of the State of Israel.
In our synagogues, a Ner Tamid (Eternal
Flame) is kept alit to remind us of the
menorah.
Spiritually, the seven lamps of the
menorah remind us of the
six days of creation and the
seventh day as a day of rest
(Shabbat). Within Kabbalah,
the seven lamps provide a
symbolic representation of
the seven lower sefirot (the 10
attributes of God) that impact
the physical world of human
experience.
According to the Chatam
Sofer (an early 19th-century
text), it is the middle lamp
that is the most praiseworthy.
This teaches that each person should
adopt the middle course; one should not
veer too far to the left or too far to the
right.
Though the menorah is created with
seven branches, it is all made out of one
piece of solid gold. Though as a people
we have many diverse Jewish sects and
opinions, when it comes down to it, we
are all one.
Recently, the Jewish Federation of
North America system adopted a stylized
menorah as its own logo (symbol) rep-
resenting both history and heritage and
federation's role in providing a safety net
for the Jewish community.
There is a power to symbols. What
power does the menorah have for
you?

❑

Jeffrey Lasday serves as senior director

of community development at the Jewish

Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

Conversations

• Why do you think that over the
centuries the menorah has con-
tinued as a Jewish symbol?
• What is your connection to the
menorah?
• What Jewish symbol provides
you with the most meaning?

