It was one of the most joyous moments in the Torah. The people had worked together for months, contributing their gifts, their talents, there every to build the Tabernacle – a place, said God, where He could dwell among them.
And finally the moment came. “On the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle,” the Torah tells us, “he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils… the chieftains of Israel, the heads of ancestral houses, namely, the chieftains of the tribes, those who were in charge of enrollment, drew near”
For twelve wonderful days, the leaders of the tribes brought gifts – sacrifices to be burned on the alter. It was a joyous time for everyone – except for one person. In his role as High Priest, Aaron had supervised all of the offerings, but he had not been able to give his own gifts.
The Torah portion ends with the last of the gifts, and it picks up the following week:
And God said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron and say to him, “When you mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lamp stand. Aaron did so; he mounted the lamps at the front of the menorah, as God had commanded Moses.”
For the rabbis, the important thing was what happened between the two Torah portions. Aaron prayed to God, asking why he had not been allowed to bring his own gift. And God comforted hum. “Don’t be sad,” God told him, “because your gift is greater than theirs. In time, the Temple will be destroyed, and the sacrifices will end. But you will give the menorah, and the menorah will go on forever.”
Since time immortal, the menorah has been our symbol of hope, our symbol of survival. As individuals, we may live through dark times. We will know sickness and, eventually, death. But the menorah and the Jewish people will go on forever.
For the rabbis of old, this was a wonderful teaching. But they also noted that Aaron’s menorah was destroyed during the fall of the Temple. “What could God have meant,” they asked, when He said that the menorah will go on forever?”
Netivot Shalom, one of the last Chassidic masters, gave a profound answer to the rabbi’s question. “The menorah,” he said, “was different was not like the other vessels of the Tabernacle because the light that it gives off is the light of God’s presence. God’s presence dwells in the menorah. And God’s presence can be revealed when we light it.”
This is the gift that God gave Aaron, the gift that will last forever: the knowledge that God’s presence can be found whenever we light a candle.
On Sunday night, Chanukah will be over. We won’t see the light of the menorah for another year. But we can reveal God’s presence when ever we need to – just by helping someone else, just by lighting a candle.