Our Efforts Count
One of Judaism’s paradoxes is that while G-d is infinite He cares for every detail of our lives and our actions. LIGHT FROM THE FUTURE ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
Aaron Did Not Alter
One of the paradoxes of Judaism is that it is G-d-centric and people- centric. It’s not about us and it’s all about us!
To make some sense out of this conundrum we should cite an enigmatic verse in this week’s parsha, Beha’alosecha, which discusses the lighting of the Menorah (Candelabrum) in the Holy Temple.
Aaron, Moses brother, the Kohain Gadol-High Priest, is given specific instructions as to how the Menorah should be lit. At the very end of the discussion the Torah relates: “Aaron did so, as G-d had commanded Moses.” Rashi, anticipating the obvious question, why it is necessary to mention that he did as he was commanded by G-d? observes that the ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA Torah thereby wishes to inform us that Aaron did not alter anything he was told to do.
Commentators are puzzled at Rashi’s explanation.
Why does the Torah have to tell us that Aaron, one of the most G-dly people and greatest Jewish leaders of all times, would not deviate from G-d’s instructions to him? Why would anyone have thought that Aaron would have even considered changing the method of lighting the Menorah? If the lighting of the Menorah was a self-serving procedure, one could have considered the possibility that some egotistical individuals might be tempted to do things in a self-aggrandizing fashion. If there were some benefit to be gotten from doing things differently, one could understand how a lesser person than Aaron might cut corners. But, there was nothing to be gained by deviating from G-d’s command to him, and even if there were some possibility of benefit, it was certainly beneath a person of Aaron’s caliber to try it.
Commentators have supplied dozens of answers to this question, which guides our understanding of what we must be cognizant, as human beings and as Jews, in order to light the Menorah of our souls.
To uncover a deeper significance in Rashi’s approach, we should reflect on the significance of the Menorah and why it was crucial for the one ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA who kindled it not stray one iota from the prescribed manner of lighting it.
The Miracle Menorah
The Menorah was an unusual component of the Beis Hamikdash. Its creation was miraculous. As the Midrash relates, Moses was confounded as to how the Menorah should be fashioned. The seven branched menorah, with its elaborate design (flowers, buttons, goblets)
all hammered out of one piece of pure gold proved to be an insurmountable challenge and an elusive goal even for the greatest human being of all time—Moses. At that point, G-d instructed him to throw the gold into the fire and out came the Menorah!
The Menorah’s construction was entirely an act of G-d.
In addition, the light of the Menorah was of a miraculous nature. One of the seven lights of the menorah, referred to as the Ner HaMa’aravi - -the Western Light - would never extinguish by itself. Indeed, the Talmud (Shabbos 24b) relates that the Menorah was testimony to G-d’s presence in Israel.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
The Extremes of the Human Condition
We can now understand why it is necessary for the Torah to state that Aaron did not alter the instructions about how the Menorah should be kindled.
Aaron could have entertained the question: since the light of the
Menorah was a manifestation of G-d’s supernatural power, why would
G-d be concerned about how the Menorah was lit by mortals? Why would human actions, which are limited and finite, be so crucial in a process that emanated from G-d who is unlimited and infinite?
Moreover, Aaron could have questioned the entire ritual of lighting the
Menorah. If the Menorah and its light depended on G-d’s overt intervention, unlike other aspects of life that follow a natural order, couldn’t G-d cause the Menorah to shine without any human involvement? And, if G-d wanted some token show of effort on our part, why would the nature of the token make a difference?
Aaron could have also reached an opposite conclusion. If G-d really wants our participation and He wants us therefore to give our all, then Aaron could have concluded that the instructions he received concerning the lighting were merely a minimum standard. If he wanted ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA to do more—add more oil, add another branch etc.—more power to him.
These two opposite reactions are quite typical human reactions to challenges from others. Either we try to shirk personal responsibility by passing the buck and getting away with minimum effort, or we feel that we have to do it and own it all. And when we deal with following G-d’s instructions these two attitudes can be exacerbated. We either think that G-d does not need our efforts or that G-d needs us to do more than what He instructed us to do.
Resolving the Paradox
The Torah thus underscores that, in fact, Aaron did everything strictly in accordance with G-d’s instructions to him. Aaron understood, intuitively perhaps, that every little human action counts even when it involves G-d’s power.
Moreover, G-d also cares about the way we do things. What seem to be minutiae to us are products of our own finite grasp of things. So small things are insignificant; big things are important. However, to G-d who is infinite, big and small are equally insignificant. Furthermore, if G-d so desires, the small details can be huge and infinitely more ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA significant than big things. The rationale for this is that just as G-d transcends big things, so does He have the capacity to invest His infinite Self into the smallest of things. And G-d does that by simply commanding us to do a specific seemingly trivial act. If it is His will that we do it, then it is a G-dly act, for G-d and His will are one. If it is a G- dly act, it is also endowed with infinite power. One slight deviation from G-d’s instructions, however, reduces the G-dly act to a mere limited and flawed human gesture.
When G-d asked Aaron to light the Menorah giving him intricate instructions, Aaron realized that the little details are potent expressions of the true infinity of G-d, and actually express a greater Divine power than the miracle of the creation and burning of the Menorah. For the miracle of the Menorah was a manifestation of G-d’s association with big-ness, and His meticulous instructions are expressions of His ability to transcend big and small.
The Third Temple: A Joint Project
There are conflicting sources as to who will build the future Temple in Jerusalem. According to one Midrashic source, cited by Rashi, it was already constructed by G-d and will descend from Heaven, in the Messianic Age. According to another Midrashic tradition, cited by ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA Maimonides, the Jewish people, under the stewardship of Moshiach, will construct it.
The Rebbe explains how both views are compatible.
First, there are two scenarios for the coming of Moshiach. The first is miraculous and the second is natural. If we are deemed worthy enough, everything about the future redemption will be magnificent and miraculous and the temple will descend from on high.
If we fail to meet the highest standards as a people, we will then build the Temple with our limited human resources.
However, the Rebbe finds another way of reconciling these two views:
The gates of the Temple were not destroyed but sank into the ground.
Moshiach will install those gates, so that it will be a joint project.
And yet a third way the Rebbe reconciles these two views suggests that the Heavenly G-d-made Temple will descend and clothe itself within the man-made Temple. This will be the ultimate scenario because it will represent the fusing of the two worlds. G-d enters into our world and endows our efforts with infinite power and meaning.
This is much like the synthesis of the miraculous Menorah and Aaron’s scrupulous adherence to G-d’s instructions—the merger of Heaven and Earth.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Behalosecha by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
