Dear Friends,
Keeping balance can be difficult. Especially if one is a fiddler on a roof. Especially if one is an aspiring gymnast. Especially during an unsettling pandemic. Especially, if one endeavors to be a spiritually-grounded human being.
It is easy to lose one’s balance, and fall to one side or the other. The fiddler or gymnast might tumble, the house-bound Zoom-connected person might become fed-up, and the spiritual soul might become too attentive to Oreo’s and milk (like me!!).
This attempt at balance is implied in this week’s Torah portion as we read the command to craft the golden menorah in the desert, which would grace the courtyard of the ancient Tabernacle, and later, the Temples in Jerusalem. That today we have images of seven-branched candelabra in our Sanctuary depicts the same menorah (the term simply means candelabrum, seven-branched for Shabbat and nine-branched for Chanukah)
Our Torah reads, “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its base and its shaft, its cups, calyxes, and petals shall be of one piece.” (Exodus 25:31) We note that the ancient candelabrum was to be fashioned of one, single piece of gold, not assembled from many separate pieces. Moreover, the commentary of Rabbi Ovadia ben Sforno, a 16th century Italian Torah scholar and physician, considered among our most celebrated Torah teachers, offers a deeper meaning of the menorah’s construction. He wrote regarding the balance of lights on the menorah,
“The reason that there were lights on both the right side of the center shaft as well as on the left side, is that pursuit of enlightenment expresses itself both in gaining of theoretical knowledge, ethical imperatives, but no less so in the practical application of such lessons learned.”
Sforno urges that we should seek a balance of theoretical wisdom and of practical teaching. Being all steeped in book-learning, without knowing how to boil an egg, leaves one hungry. And, excelling in fixing a car, but not having any idea where one is going, leaves one lost. The healthy, spiritual soul seeks and keeps a balance in life – left-brained and right-brained – just like the left and right sides of the menorah.
And, yet, circumstances such as pitched roofs, narrow balance-beams and threatening viruses can shake us from our balance. Sforno reminds us to observe the menorah, and take inspiration from its balance. It might help keep us on ours!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Keeping balance can be difficult. Especially if one is a fiddler on a roof. Especially if one is an aspiring gymnast. Especially during an unsettling pandemic. Especially, if one endeavors to be a spiritually-grounded human being.
It is easy to lose one’s balance, and fall to one side or the other. The fiddler or gymnast might tumble, the house-bound Zoom-connected person might become fed-up, and the spiritual soul might become too attentive to Oreo’s and milk (like me!!).
This attempt at balance is implied in this week’s Torah portion as we read the command to craft the golden menorah in the desert, which would grace the courtyard of the ancient Tabernacle, and later, the Temples in Jerusalem. That today we have images of seven-branched candelabra in our Sanctuary depicts the same menorah (the term simply means candelabrum, seven-branched for Shabbat and nine-branched for Chanukah)
Our Torah reads, “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its base and its shaft, its cups, calyxes, and petals shall be of one piece.” (Exodus 25:31) We note that the ancient candelabrum was to be fashioned of one, single piece of gold, not assembled from many separate pieces. Moreover, the commentary of Rabbi Ovadia ben Sforno, a 16th century Italian Torah scholar and physician, considered among our most celebrated Torah teachers, offers a deeper meaning of the menorah’s construction. He wrote regarding the balance of lights on the menorah,
“The reason that there were lights on both the right side of the center shaft as well as on the left side, is that pursuit of enlightenment expresses itself both in gaining of theoretical knowledge, ethical imperatives, but no less so in the practical application of such lessons learned.”
Sforno urges that we should seek a balance of theoretical wisdom and of practical teaching. Being all steeped in book-learning, without knowing how to boil an egg, leaves one hungry. And, excelling in fixing a car, but not having any idea where one is going, leaves one lost. The healthy, spiritual soul seeks and keeps a balance in life – left-brained and right-brained – just like the left and right sides of the menorah.
And, yet, circumstances such as pitched roofs, narrow balance-beams and threatening viruses can shake us from our balance. Sforno reminds us to observe the menorah, and take inspiration from its balance. It might help keep us on ours!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn