Guidance A Flame that Shines on its Own

This week’s Torah portion begins by speaking about the Menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple). The flame must be lit in a way that it will shine on its own. This teaches us an important lesson:

• True education is when the person “shines on their own”, continuing to act as they were educated even when the teacher is not right next to them.
• After learning from our teachers, we should work hard to understand it with our own minds, to engrave it in our memory and come up with our own new insights.
• We should get our bodies into the habit of doing Mitzvos (but still continue to upgrade, not only to do it out of habit).
• Everything we do, even in our physical lives, should be part of serving and knowing G-d; that should be our whole being.
• Torah books and Tzedakah boxes should be placed in each child’s room in such a way that the objects themselves “shine on their own” and attract the child to use them.

(See talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach Shlita, Beha’aloscha 5751 (1991))