In the weekly Torah reading of Parashat Emor (Vayikra 21-24), just after a brief review of laws of the various festivals, the Torah notes that special oil from hand-crushed olives is required in order to keep the lamp in the Tabernacle burning constantly. The Torah also tells us that the Menorah (candelabrum) is placed "outside the Curtain of Testimony in the Communion Tent" (24,3).

The Talmud asks (Shabbat 22b): "Could it possibly be that he[1] needs light? After all, the Children of Israel walked in the desert for 40 years by G-d's light! Rather, this light is a testimony to all people of the world that the Divine Presence dwells amidst Israel."

What is the source for this point? It is the continuation of the above-cited verse, which states that the lamps shall burn "from evening to morning before G-d always." And even though the word "Testimony" here generally refers to the Holy Ark and the Tablets of the Law, still, since it is mentioned here in the context of the Menorah, the Gemara derives that the Menorah, too, is "testimony."

This must be understood: How does the Menorah teach and attest to the world that the Divine Presence dwells within the People of Israel? After all, the Menorah is inside the Tabernacle or Beit Mikdash, and no one sees it except for the priest who prepares the wicks and oil in the lamps!

The answer is the fundamental principle that "spirituality is reality," even if it is not seen. True, no one sees the priest lighting the Menorah – but the very fact of the lighting effects light throughout the world; it brings the people of the world to know that the Divine Presence is within Israel, even if not seen.

We find a similar idea in the Chapters of the Fathers (Avot 6,2):

"R. Yehoshua ben Levy says: Every day a Heavenly voice goes forth from Mt. Horev [Sinai] and proclaims: 'Woe to mankind for its disregard for the Torah.'"

That is, even though we do not hear that Heavenly voice, we should know, as the saintly Baal Shem Tov explains, that every little thought of repentance that a person might suddenly have – its source is in this Heavenly voice. Various spiritual pipelines of attentiveness and awakening stem from this voice. Our ears do not hear them, most certainly – but our hearts hear them, for they are reality.

Spirituality is reality, and whoever does not believe this, his sin is very grave, to the extent that he has no share in the World to Come. The renowned 19^th-century R. Yisrael Lifshitz explained this point in his classic commentary to the Mishna, Tiferet Yisrael, on the Mishna in Avot. The Mishna states:

"He who desecrates kodshim (sacred Holy Temple items or food)… or shames his fellow man in public… even though he is learned in Torah and does good deeds, has no share in the World to Come."

On this, R. Lifshitz wrote: "He who desecrates kodshim believes, wrongly and foolishly, that there is no holiness in the world and that everything is completely mundane and meaningless… and therefore, he has no share in the World to Come." That is, he denies the mortal ability to sanctify the physical, to elevate to the altar as something holy a lamb that just moments ago was grazing in the field. He therefore has no share in the World to Come.

This is the principle that we learn from the lamps that were kindled in the Holy Temple, and this is also the fundamental that we learn from the Chanukah lights. The Syrian Greeks did not believe in the human ability to sanctify the material, whereas when we light the Chanukah candles, we recite, "These lights that we kindle are sacred." We believe that simply with the power of our speech, we can turn oil, taken from a supply that was used for non-holy purposes, into something different, something spiritual – for "spirituality is reality."

By virtue of this spiritual reality, the Menorah serves as testimony to the people of the world that the Divine Presence rests in Israel. This is not testimony in the sense of the "two witnesses' required for judicial cases, but rather the establishment of the reality within the hearts of men. It is a spiritual reality, which some are privileged to receive and absorb.

From the work "Rav Avraham Shapiro's Classes on Ketuvot and Kiddushin," edited by Rabbi Binyamin Rakover

[1] This could be referring either to G-d, or to Aharon the High Priest, or the Children of Israel, according to different commentaries. (HF)

Translated by Hillel Fendel

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