ואתה תצוה את הני ישראל ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית למאור להעלות נר תמיד
“Now you shall command the Children of Yisroel that they shall take for you pure, pressed olive oil for illumination, to kindle the lamp continually.” (Shemos 27:20)
In this week’s parsha, we have the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah in the Mishkan. The Gemara in Shabbos (22b) raises an obvious question: Why does the Ribbono Shel Olam command us to have a Menorah in the Mishkan/Mikdash? Does He need its light? After all, throughout the 40 years of wandering in the Wilderness, the Jews were led by His Light. He certainly does not need our light. Rather, the Light of the Menorah is symbolic of the fact that Hashem’s Presence dwells in the midst of the Jewish people. This is how the Gemara deals with this question.
However, the Medrash Rabbah has a different take on the matter. The Medrash is bothered by the same question. The Medrash, putting words, as it were, into the mouth of the Ribbono Shel Olam, states: “I do not need the light, but let them provide a light for Me just as I provided a light for them. As it is written, ‘And Hashem walked before them in the day.’” The Medrash explains that when the Jewish people were given this mitzvah (to light the Menorah), they asked Moshe Rabbeinu — ‘Why does HaKadosh Boruch Hu need our light?’ Moshe responded that it was to give them the opportunity to “pay back” Hashem, so to speak. “Let them provide light for Me like I provided light for them.”
This Chazal teaches an insight into how people act. When Reuven does Shimon a favor, Shimon will say “Thank you so much.” Reuven’s response will be, “Think nothing of it. It was nothing. You do not even need to say thank you. Don’t worry about it!” How do we view Reuven? We think, “He’s a great guy! A tzadik!
Rav Yeruchem zt”l, the Mirrer Mashgiach, says that Reuven is not such a tzadik. He has an ulterior motive. As long as Shimon feels that he is unable to pay Reuven back for the favor he has performed, Shimon remains indebted to Reuven. As the expression goes, “You owe me — big time!” People like it when others owe them “big time”. Deep down, Reuven does not want Shimon to feel he is able to pay back the favor, regardless of what Shimon says to or does for Reuven.
The fact that the Ribbono Shel Olam — who in fact Klal Yisroel did owe “big time” — allows them to do a favor for Him as “payback,” as it were, for the favor He did for them, shows that Hashem does not want us to feel helpless in this relationship. It was a tremendous chessed that after having provided them with Light for 40 years in the Wilderness, the Ribbono Shel Olam was now giving them an opportunity to pay Him back.
This is the difference between the Ribbono Shel Olam and a regular flesh-and-blood person. He does us a favor and He lets us pay Him back. He does not want us to feel indebted to Him.
Shoftim Chapter 13 contains the story of the future parents of Shimshon, who were barren for many years. One fine day, an maloch came and told Manoach’s wife that she would conceive and have a child. The maloch instructed the mother not to drink wine during her pregnancy, and likewise commanded her that the child should be a nazir his entire life.
Manoach’s wife told her husband about the prophecy. He asked to meet the maloch. The maloch reappeared in the presence of both of them. They offered a korban and then the maloch disappeared never to return again. The pasuk states that when the maloch failed to reappear: “Then Manoach knew that it was a maloch of Hashem.” (Shoftim 13:21)
