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Lighting of the Menorah
Laws of Worship of God
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A
You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.
Exodus 27:20
Speak to Aaron and say to him, “When you mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand.”
Numbers 8:2
Command the Israelite people to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.
Leviticus 24:2
Aaron and his sons shall set them up in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain which is over [the Ark of] the Pact, [to burn] from evening to morning before יהוה. It shall be a due from the Israelites for all time, throughout the ages.
Exodus 27:21
(Bamidbar 8:3) "And Aaron did so": This is in praise of Aaron. As Moses told him, thus did he do, without any change. He made "mul" and "panim" (see above). "He'elah" (lit., "he raised") its lamps" — whence they said: There was an ascent before the menorah of three steps on which the Cohein stood and tended to the lamps, (after which) he placed the oil jug on the second step and left. "as the L-rd had commanded Moses" (i.e., half a log for each lamp, etc.) This tells me only of Aaron (the high-priest). Whence do I derive the same for his sons (i.e…
Sifrei Bamidbar 60:1
11) "from evening until morning": Give them their measure (of oil) so that they burn from evening until morning, and that they be the only service from evening until morning; "always": even on the Sabbath; "always": even in a state of uncleanliness.
Sifra, Emor, Section 13 11-12
§ The mishna teaches:
Three and a half
log
of oil were required
for the Candelabrum,
as there were seven lamps and
a half-
log
was required
for each lamp.
The Gemara asks:
From where are these matters
derived? They are derived from a verse,
as the Sages taught
in a
baraita
: The verse states with regard to the Candelabrum: “Aaron and his sons shall arrange it
from evening to morning,
before the Lord” (Exodus 27:21). This indicates that
you shall put into
each lamp
its
required
quantity
of oil
so that it…
Menachot 89a:17-19
Rav Sheshet raised an objection
from that which was taught in a
baraita
. With regard to the Temple candelabrum, it is stated:
“Outside the veil of the testimony,
in the Tent of Meeting,
shall
Aaron
order
it from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations” (Leviticus 24:3). It must be understood:
And does
God
require its light
for illumination at night?
Didn’t the children of Israel, all forty years that they walked in the wilderness, walk exclusively by His light…
Shabbat 22b:2-3
One then ground
the olives with a millstone
and pressed down
with a beam on those olives to extract any remaining oil;
this is the third
grade of oil.
The first
grade is fit
for
kindling
the Candelabrum,
which requires: “Refined olive oil” (Leviticus 24:2),
and the rest
are fit
for
use in
meal offerings.
How is
the second
olive harvest processed?
One picks
the crop of olives that is accessible while one is standing
on the rooftop.
This was the second lot of olives to ripen…
Menachot 86a:10-86b:10
Another matter, “toward the front of the candelabrum, the seven lamps shall illuminate” – you must not demean the candelabrum. That is: “For who scorns the day of small things? They will rejoice and see the tin lump of the plumb line in the hand of Zerubavel. These seven…” (Zechariah 4:10). “These” – these are the candelabrum. “Seven,” – these are the seven lamps, corresponding to the seven planets that “rove throughout the earth” (Zechariah 4:10). They are so dear, you must not demean them.
This is why it is stated: “Toward the front of the candelabrum…
Bamidbar Rabbah 15:7
אל מול פני המנורה, he was inclining the tips of the wicks on all seven lamps in the direction of the table to provide illumination for its surface.
Rashbam on Numbers 8:2:2
“Speak to Aaron, and say to him: When you kindle the lamps, toward the front of the candelabrum, the seven lamps shall illuminate” (Numbers 8:2).
“When you kindle” – we find in many places that the Holy One blessed be He commanded regarding the lamps and their kindling with olive oil: “You shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take for you pure virgin olive oil ]for the light, to kindle a lamp continually[” (Exodus 27:20). Likewise it says: “On the pure candelabrum, he shall arrange the lamps” (Leviticus 24:4). Here, too, “when you kindle the lamps.”
Bamidbar Rabbah 15:1
The removal of the ashes from the lamps of the
Menorah
and their kindling in the morning and the afternoon is a positive commandment, as [Exodus 27:21] states: "Aaron and his sons shall arrange it." The kindling of the lamps supersedes [the prohibitions of forbidden labor] on the Sabbath and [the restrictions of] ritual impurity, as do the [other] sacrifices that [are offered at] a fixed time, as [
ibid.
:20] states: "To raise up a continuously [burning] lamp."
Mishneh Torah, Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings 3:10
אל מול פני המנורה OVER AGAINST THE CANDLESTICK — i.e. over against the central lamp which is not on one of the branches, like the others, but on the body (the central shaft) of the candelabrum itself (cf. Menachot 98b). יאירו שבעת הנרות SHALL THE SEVEN LAMPS GIVE LIGHT — the seven lamps: this central lamp itself which naturally gave light over against the shaft (the פני המנורה) and the six lamps which were on the six branches, viz., the three on the east side of the central shaft should have their wicks turned towards the central one…
Rashi on Numbers 8:2:3-4
The priest
who won
the right
of the removal of ash from the Candelabrum entered
the Sanctuary.
And
if
he found
in the Candelabrum the
two easternmost lamps
, the second of which is called the
western
lamp, still
burning,
he would first
remove the ashes
and the burned wicks
from the rest
of the lamps and place them in the jug, and place new wicks and oil in those lamps.
And
he would
leave these
two lamps
burning in their
own
place…
Tamid 30b:10-11
And thou shalt command the children of Israel (Exod. 27:20).
If the lamp which is not for the purpose of eating requires pure olive oil, should not the meal-offerings, which are for the purpose of eating, require pure olive oil? However, Scripture reserves pure olive oil for the light, but not for the meal-offering. R. Hanina, chief of the priests, said: I used to minister in the Temple, and there was a miraculous thing which occurred with the lamp. When they lit the lamp at the beginning of the year, it did not go out until the following year…
Midrash Tanchuma, Tetzaveh 3:1
COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. “This is the section containing the [actual] commandment of lighting the lamps. And the section of
V’atah Tetzaveh
(
And thou shalt command
) [where the same subject is mentioned], is stated only for the sake of giving an orderly account of the work of the Tabernacle, explaining what the purpose of the candelabrum is, and the sense of the verse there is as follows: ‘
and thou wilt
at some future time
command the children of Israel
on this matter.’” This is Rashi’s language…
Ramban on Leviticus 24:2:1
TO CAUSE A LAMP TO BURN ‘TAMID’ (CONTINUALLY). “Doing something each and every night is called
tamid
(continually), just as you say,
olath tamid (a continual burnt-offering)
and yet it was brought only from day to day. Similarly in the case of the meal-offering made on the griddle [brought every day by the High Priest] it is said
tamid
, and yet it was brought only
half of it in the morning, and half thereof in the evening
. However, the word
tamid
used in connection with the showbread signifies [the whole period without interruption] from Sabbath to Sabbath…
Ramban on Exodus 27:20:4
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light (Exod. 27:20).
The Israelites declared: Master of the Universe, it is stated:
By Thy light shall we see light
, yet You commanded us to kindle lights before You. R. Isaac related an anecdote about a house filled with lighted torches. The master of the house told his servant: “Light some lamps for us in the courtyard.” “But the house is fully lighted,” he replied, “why do you bid me to light lamps in the courtyard?” He answered: “Do it so that the servants will have light.”…
Midrash Tanchuma, Tetzaveh 4:1-2
(Numb. 8:2:) “When you set up the lamps.” What is written above the matter (in Numb. 7:1–2)? “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished [ … ] that the princes of Israel, [the heads of their ancestral houses, namely the princes of the tribes, the ones in charge of those being numbered,] made their offerings.” Then afterwards (in Numb. 8:2), “Speak unto Aaron [and say unto him], ’When you set up [the lamps].’” This text is related (to Ps. 34:10), “Fear the Lord, O you His holy ones, for those who fear Him lack nothing.” You find above (in Numb…
Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 5:1
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