Rashi in His Own Words
במדבר ח', ד': וְזֶה מַעֲשֵׂה הַמְנֹרָה גו' כַמַרְאֶה אֲשֶר הֶרְאָה ה' אֶת משֶה כֵן עָשָה אֶת הַמְנֹרָה:
רש"י ד"ה כן עשה את המנורה: מי שעשאה. ומדרש אגדה ע"י הקב"ה נעשית מאליה:
Bamidbar 8:4: This was the form of the menorah ... according to the form that Hashem had shown Moshe, so did he construct the menorah.
Rashi Heading: so did he construct the Menorah, I.e., the one who constructed it (namely, Betzalel). The Aggadic Midrash states it was made through the Holy One, Blessed be He.
Synopsis
At the beginning of this week's Torah portion, Beha'aloscho, we are told about Aharon lighting the Menorah in the Mishkan. The Torah goes on to tell us about the commandment to construct it. Commenting on "So did he construct the Menorah," Rashi explains why the Torah says that "he" built the Menorah without clarifying to whom the pronoun refers. His first explanation is that this short verse leaves out a word we are meant to understand ourselves. Rashi explains that "he who made the Menorah" constructed it. He then cites a Midrash, which says that "it was made by itself through the Holy One, Blessed be He." Why is Rashi not satisfied with the first explanation? There are many concise, elliptical verses in the Torah. If he does need a second explanation, why does he quote it from a Midrash, which is undoubtedly not Peshat?
Additionally, why does the Torah tell us about the construction of the Menorah here? It was discussed earlier when we were commanded to build the Tabernacle. Furthermore, the only thing added here regarding the Menorah's construction is that it was hammered out from a solid piece of gold, which the Torah could have told us earlier.
At the beginning of this portion, Rashi tells us why Aharon's command to light the Menorah is taught here. "When Aharon saw the offerings brought by the leader of each tribe to dedicate the Mishkan (discussed at the end of last week's Torah portion), he was upset because neither he nor his tribe was included. Hashem swore to him that 'yours is greater than theirs, for you will light and prepare the lamps.'"
The Rebbe explains that Hashem is not consoling Aharon by telling him that his job is even better than that of the other leaders. Hashem is telling Aharon that his job with the Menorah also served to dedicate the Mishkan. The leaders of each tribe dedicated the Altar, and Aharon dedicated the Menorah, which is more significant. The Menorah is the only vessel that Rashi tells us was shown to Moshe in a Divine vision. Moshe found the building of the Menorah difficult, so Hashem showed him the image of a Menorah of fire. Why did Moshe find the construction of the Menorah difficult? Because it was more significant, higher than the other vessels. The point here is not to teach us about the building of the Menorah but rather to show us how great the Menorah is, hence explaining why Aharon's dedication of the Menorah was more significant than the tribal leader's dedication of the Altar. The Torah doesn't say who constructed it because that is irrelevant. Rashi goes even further with his second explanation by telling us that the Menorah was so marvelous that whoever built it could not have done so without G-d's help. As Rashi tells us, the one who made it "cast it into the fire, and out came the Menorah."
Rashi's Explanation
This week's Torah portion, Beha'aloscho, begins by telling us about Hashem's command to Aharon to light the Menorah. It then continues by telling us briefly about the construction of the Menorah. The Torah tells us, "This was the form of the Menorah; hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower it was hammered work; according to the form that the Lord showed Moshe, so did he construct the Menorah." Rashi comments on the words "so did he construct the Menorah," explaining to whom the pronoun "he" refers, with two explanations. The first is that "he" refers to "the one who made it," specifically Betzalel. In his second interpretation, Rashi quotes an Aggadic Midrash, which states that "it was made by itself through the Holy One, Blessed be He." According to that interpretation, "He" refers to Hashem and would be spelled with an upper-case "H."
Several of Rashi's supercommentaries explain that the Aggadic Midrash disagrees with Rashi's first explanation. According to the first explanation, a very similar verse says, "And someone (no one is mentioned in the verse itself) told Yaakov." There, Rashi explains these words to mean that "The teller (meaning the one who told) Yaakov (told him), but it is not specified who (it was). Many (Scriptural) verses are elliptical." According to this, the one who made the Mishkan and all its vessels, namely Betzalel, made the Menorah. According to the Midrashic interpretation, G-d Himself made the Menorah.
Difficulties in Understanding Rashi
As discussed numerous times, Rashi first and foremost explains Peshat and the text's simple meaning. However, according to Peshat, it is difficult to explain the verse according to the Midrash, which Rashi cites. How can the text say Hashem constructed the Menorah "according to the form that Hashem had shown Moshe?" If Hashem Himself made the Menorah, what is the Torah teaching us?
Additionally, there does not seem to be any need to cite this explanation. The first explanation seems to fully explain the verse according to Peshat. We cannot say that Rashi cites the second explanation because, according to the first explanation, the verse is terse, skipping one word. After all, it is understood. We find many such verses throughout the Torah. Rashi writes explicitly that "this is customary for all elliptical verses. The matter is left unspecified concerning the one who is to do a particular thing." Granted, we prefer (when possible) to explain a verse in a manner that is not elliptical. However, Rashi's second explanation seems much further from the text's simple meaning in this instance.
If Rashi's purpose is to explain the verse in a manner that is not terse, he has other options. He could have explained like the Ramban, who says that the word "he" refers to Moshe. The Torah introduces our verse by saying, "The Lord spoke to Moshe saying." In modern terms, Moshe was the "project manager" of the construction of the Mishkan. Rashi himself explains that there are instances where Moshe is given credit for building the Mishkan because he "totally dedicated himself to it. He saw the exact form of every element of the Mishkan to instruct those that did the actual construction and did not err in even one detail."
A more general question can be asked here. Why must the Torah tell us that "this is the form of the Menorah?" The Torah explained the commandment to build the Menorah and showed it to Moshe when it discussed the building of the Mishkan and all of its vessels. Moreover, the only thing the Torah adds here to that stated earlier is that the Menorah was "hammered work," meaning that it was hammered out from one solid piece of gold instead of being assembled from separate parts. This could have been stated earlier. Even if something new was being taught about the Menorah here, why wasn't it said earlier when the Torah commanded and described the building of the entire Mishkan?
The Explanation
Our Torah portion begins with the words, "Speak to Aharon and say to him, 'When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah.'" Rashi explains that "when Aaron saw the offerings brought by the leader of each tribe to dedicate the Mishkan (which was discussed at the end of last week's Torah portion), he was upset because neither he nor his tribe joined them. Hashem swore to him that 'yours is greater than theirs, for you will light and prepare the lamps.'" However, this doesn't explain the Torah's need to tell us the form of the Menorah. Other commentaries explain this. Rashi does not allude to an answer to this question.
When G-d consoled Aharon for not participating in the dedication of the Mishkan, He told him that "yours is greater than theirs, for you will light and prepare the lamps." Aharon played a part in the Mishkans' dedication, and his dedication was greater than that of the leaders of all tribes. This means Hashem was not merely comforting Aharon by telling him he has the merit of preparing and lighting the Menorah. Instead, G-d was saying that Aharon was dedicating the Menorah. Therefore, he did not also have a part in the dedication of the Mishkan; he had an even more significant role.
We must understand why Aharon's merit was more significant than the tribes' leaders. Granted, he dedicated the Menorah, but they dedicated the Altar! We might try to explain that Aharon personally prepared and lit the Menorah, unlike the tribal leaders, who did not bring their offerings on the Altar themselves. However, the fact that we are taught that Hashem consoled Aharon here must mean that Aharon's consolation had something to do with the Menorah itself. This being the case, one may explain that the Menorah was in the Temple Building, the Sanctuary, whereas the Altar was in the Temple courtyard. Perhaps this makes the Menorah greater than the Altar. Suppose that is why not console him with his service with the incense. The incense was also brought within the Temple building.
The answer is that all of these questions are answered by the beginning of this verse. "This was the form of the menorah ...." The Menorah was more significant than all the other vessels in the Mishkan and the Bais Hamikdosh. Hashem showed Moshe a vision of the Menorah. Rashi himself notes in our verse, "As G-d had shown him with His finger, for he had difficulty constructing it. That is why it says, 'This is....'" Rashi also said, "Moshe had difficulties with the construction of the Menorah until the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him a menorah of fire." It is clear from Rashi that G-d only showed Moshe this vision because he had difficulty with it. Nevertheless, this shows how unique the Menorah was; it could not have been built without the aid of a Divine vision.
What is it that made the Menorah more significant than all of the other vessels in the Temple? Rashi already explained its particular importance earlier. "The western lamp of the Menorah was a testimony to all the creatures on earth that the Shechinah, the Divine presence, rested upon the Jews. The Kohen Gadol would place the same amount of oil into it that he placed into the other lamps, and from it, he would begin lighting the Menorah. With it, he would finish cleaning the Menorah since it continued to burn miraculously until the following evening." That is the meaning of "This was the form of the menorah." It was built according to the Divine vision that Moshe was shown. Aharon's merit was indeed greater than theirs.
That is also why the one new thing we learn about the Menorah is that it was hammered out from one solid piece of gold. That was what made it so difficult. Rashi explains, "There was a block of gold weighing a talent, and he pounded it with a hammer and cut it with a chisel to extend its limbs in the prescribed manner. It was not made piece by piece and then connected."
This also explains why Rashi's first explanation says it was made by the one who made it. The Torah made a point of leaving out the name of the one who made the Menorah; that is irrelevant to us. Here, the Torah teaches us the greatness of the Menorah. It was made (by whomever) according to a Divine vision. This also explains why Rashi cites the second Midrashic explanation as well. Aharon merited the dedication of a vessel made not only according to a G-dly vision but by Hashem Himself! That is why Rashi says that "it was made by itself through the Holy One, Blessed be He." The verse we discuss concludes with the words, "So did he construct the menorah." How can Rashi say that it was made by itself? The explanation is that the Midrashic explanation does not disagree with the first; instead, it comes to augment it. The Menorah was so unique that it could not be made by a person alone. The one who made it threw it into the fire. Afterward, the Menorah emerged from the fire. In other words, both explanations are valid. It was made by the one who made it, and by leaving out that person's name, the Torah emphasizes that it was made together with Hashem.
A Deeper Lesson from Rashi
There are two types of G-dly revelations. One comes about as a result of one's work. Chassidic Philosophy and Kabbalah call this an awakening from below, which causes an awakening from Above. There can also be an awakening from Above, which comes without preparation. This is a sort of Divine gift. It comes from a level far beyond anything one could reach alone. Such was the case with the Menorah. It was from a level that is so transcendent that it had to be made by Hashem; a person could not reach such a high level on his own.
This is also the deeper reason for the Torah not mentioning a name, for it comes from a level beyond all G-dly names, the very essence of Hashem, which cannot be expressed in any name whatsoever.
This "awakening from Above" also applies to the coming of Moshiach and the building of the Holy Temple. Both the Zohar and Rashi, in his commentary on the Talmud, tell us that Hashem builds the Third Bais Hamikdosh and will descend from heaven. However, since building the Holy Temple is one of our 613 commandments, we must, and therefore we will, be involved. May it be G-d's will that this is fulfilled in the complete and true redemption through our righteous Moshiach. In the words of the Rambam, "May he speedily be revealed, Omain, such should be Hashem's will!"
(Adapted from a talk given on Shabbos Parshas Beha'aloscho 5730)
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