Pure olive oil, pressed for the light (Exod. 27:20)
The first drop of oil pressed from an olive is the finest, and that was the oil used to light the menora in the Holy Temple. The remaining oil in the olive was used for meal offerings. This is the reverse of what is normally done.
Usually, one would use the best oil for cooking and the cheaper oil for lighting. The menora is a symbol of spirituality. It represents Torah and mitzvot. Unfortunately there are some who might plead poverty when they have to spend money for Torah or mitzvot, but spend lavishly on personal pleasures. We learn from this that for Torah and mitzvot one should spend money for the best and the purest, and for personal pleasure a Jew should practice restraint and learn to suffice with less. (Klei Yakar)
And you shall command the Children of Israel (Exod. 27:20):
The name of Moshe is not mentioned in this Torah portion because Moshe died on the seventh day of the month of Adar, which usually falls during the week that this Torah portion is read. (Me’or Einayim)
Olive oil, pounded, for the lighting (Ex. 27:20)
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad, once said: “He who wants to reach the ‘lighting,’ the enlightenment to be found in the Torah, should work on himself by ‘pounding’ away at his ego and nullifying his sense of self. How? By always bearing in mind that the Torah he learns is none other than the wisdom and the will of G-d. That is the meaning of our supplication, ‘Open my heart to Your Torah.’”
