732. Before the Face of the Menorah
Sivan, Tav-Shin-Yod-Het, June 1958
“Before the face of the Menorah [Temple lamp], the seven candles will illuminate.” RASHI interpreted that it is so it will not be said that He needs its light.
The Gemara asks (Shabbat [Sabbath] 22b), “Does He need light? After all, all forty years that Israel walked in the desert, they walked only by the light of the Shechina [Divinity]. Rather, it is a testimony to the people of the world that the Shechina dwells in Israel. What is a testimony? Rav said, ‘It is a western candle, which places in it oil such as the measure of the others, and from it he would light, and in it he would conclude.’”
The Tosfot there: “Why did it take forty years? Forever does the whole world walk by the light of the Creator.”
We should ask, What fool is there in the world who would think such a folly? After all, we believe that it is one of the thirteen tenets, that the Creator is not a body, so how can it be said that He needs its light, to the point that we must bring evidence to this, “After all, all forty years … they walked only by His light”?
Also, the question of the Tosfot, that the whole world follows the light of the Creator, and without this evidence, how will anyone think that the Creator needs corporeal light?
The thing is that the purpose of creation is to do good to His creations. In order not to have the bread of shame, we must perform the acts of Mitzvot [commandments] so it will be in order to bestow. The Menorah implies the light of the Creator that is revealed to the lower ones, and we, through an awakening from below, awaken the awakening from above, as it is written in The Zohar.
This is the meaning of “so it will not be said that He needs its light,” meaning that the Creator cannot give us abundance without any good deeds, as it is written, “If you are righteous, what will you give Him?” Rather, all the work of the Mitzvot is to cleanse Israel through them. Hence, the making of the Menorah comes to imply our work, meaning so that we will qualify ourselves so our intention is to bestow.
This is what the Gemara says, “Does He need its light?” implying that the Creator cannot give us abundance. But when Israel walked in the desert forty years and ate manna, which is called “bread from the sky,” it was only an awakening from above. Nevertheless, they had abundance, since they were called “a generation of knowledge,” a title that no other generation has.
The Tosfot asked, “The whole world follows the light of the Creator.” That is, in the world in general, both Jews and the nations of the world are nourished without any awakening, indicating that the Creator does not need the performance of Mitzvot. Rather, it is only for us, meaning to qualify ourselves so our intention is only to bestow. At that time, there will be wholeness in the reception of the benefit of the Creator.
This is as was said, it is testimony to the people of the world that the Shechina dwells in Israel, meaning that the Creator truly is the operator, as it is written, that He alone does and will do all the deeds, even without our work. And Rav interprets, “What is a testimony? It is a western candle, which places in it oil such as the measure of the others, and from it he would light, and in it he would conclude.”
In other words, if the Creator’s benefit depends specifically on our actions, meaning to the extent of our work, then the western candle should not have illuminated more than the measure of oil that is placed in it, meaning to the extent of our work. This shows that the Creator can give not according to the measure of our actions, but that He is almighty, and all our actions are only in order to obtain completeness in the King’s gifts.
The matter of the “western candle” is the meaning of Shechina in the west, which is the matter of faith, which is evening and not day. This is considered that the Shechina is regarded as poor, and this is the meaning of charity to the poor. This is the meaning of “Give tithing [a tenth of your income] so you will get rich,” meaning that in that sense, there is no need for man’s work, for He can complement his profits, since usually, according to one’s work, so is one’s reward. But in the case of charity, there is a testimony that here the Creator helps without an awakening from below.