Morning Line: Arise, Light the Candle

Morning Line: Arise, Light the Lamp

“Speak to Aaron, and tell him, ‘When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.”—Numbers 8:2

Did you ever just sit and stare at a fire? It’s hard to take your eyes off it! The flickering flames capture your attention in an almost trance-like way. The flames are always going up, gently dancing and burning bright. It shares its warmth and light with others and never is diminished by doing so.

The second verse of this week’s reading presents a challenge to translators. It refers to the candelabra lit by Aaron and most translate the Hebrew word beha’alotcha as “when you light” or “when you kindle.”

The literal translation though is quite different. The word beha’alotcha means “when you raise up.” The translators go with the contextual rather than the literal definition. Fair enough, but the result is that you lose out on a beautiful message hidden in the Hebrew text.

The fact that it means “when you raise up” taught Aaron a lesson in exactly how he was meant to light the menorah (candelabra). Aaron, or the priest who lit the menorah (candelabra) was to keep the fire close to the wick until the wick itself caught fire and rose by itself. The flame used to light the candelabra had to be held close to the wick until the wick was burning on its own.

This lesson applies not only to the lighting of the menorah (candelabra) in the Temple but also serves as a lesson for life. When we help and inspire others, we need to be there until they are able to shine, on their own, without our help. Until the wick ignites and sustains the flame independently, any attempt to ignite it will ultimately prove useless.

If we bring warmth and light to others, God will bless you with warmth and light.

Written by RABBI MOSHE ROTHCHILD

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Category: Ponders
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