Parashat P’qudei
Exodus 38:21 – 40:38
Our Torah portion gives the final report on the construction of the Tabernacle. Last week we considered one of its essential elements – the ark – and we noticed the special feature of carrying rods that were attached to it so that it could be taken from place to place. This week we turn to another special element, the menorah. In contrast to the altars, the table and the ark, the menorah has no carrying poles!
This means that the menorah, made of solid gold, was carried and moved from place to place by the Levites holding onto it and carrying it with their own hands. We will learn later that all the sacred elements of the Tabernacle were covered with cloth before moving them, so the Levites would not have been touching the surface of the menorah. But, even though they would not be able to see the menorah in its glittering glory, the Levites would have been directly feeling its bumpy contours, its golden flowers and ornaments and branches, through the cloth. (See Sparks for B’midbar 2014.)
This menorah, a hidden source of hidden light, would be carried along by people who would experience it in a tangible way, almost the way people who cannot see must feel their way along surfaces of objects to get to know them. Paradoxically, they can feel and hold the source of light but they cannot see the source of the light itself. The tangible experience of touching this source of mystery channels the source into our very bodies, in a way that sight cannot. The mystery is intimately absorbed through our fingers and shoulders, grasping and bearing the shape and the weight of the menorah.
To realize that there were no carrying poles for the menorah is to bring a sharp poignancy to the later history of this sacred candelabrum. The menorah was meant to be held and hugged by those who loved her. So, it is deeply saddening to contemplate how the menorah was carried away by the Roman soldiers who destroyed the Temple in the year 70CE. We have a depiction of the sack of the Temple carved on the Triumphal Arch of Titus, in Rome. Here is a link to a report of an analysis of the carving, which shows that it was originally painted yellow to show its glistening gold.
The photo accompanying the report shows a detail of the arch and shows the conquering soldiers carrying off the menorah – with carrying poles! These porters have no feeling for the sacred qualities of their load. The carrying poles are a convenient way to haul away the spoils – note this word! – of war.
In our own time we have slowly become more sensitive to our own history of carrying off items that were sacred to their original owners and cultures and taking possession of them for our own aesthetic enjoyment, achieved at the expense of loss of lives and loss of the mysterious sense of the holy.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein
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Image: Photo by MUILLU on Unsplash
Thank you to John Lasiter for suggesting the title and selecting an image for this Torah Sparks – Rabbi Greenstein
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See the beginning of the episode of the bbc’s 1973: production of J. Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man, entitled “Knowledge or Certainty.”