REPETITION
After the leaders of all the 12 tribes brought sacrifices to dedicate the Mishkan-Portable Altar, Aaron was distressed that he was not a part of that inaugural celebration.
To mollify Aaron, G-d gives him a unique responsibility, i.e., to kindle the Menorah in the Mishkan.
This is how the Torah introduces this commandment:
“Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you kindle the lamps, toward the face of the Menorah shall the seven lamps cast light.’”
Commentators ask, why does it say, “Speak to Aaron and say to him?” It could just have said, “Speak to Aaron…” Why the repetition?
In the next verse the Torah reports, “Aaron did so.”
Rashi explains: “This teaches us the praise of Aaron that he did not alter.”
Here too, commentators are puzzled by the Torah’s need to tell us that Aaron “did not alter.” Why would anyone think that Aaron would stray from the instructions given to him by G-d through Moses?
ILLUMINATING OUR LESS MATURE FACULTIES
To answer the first question about the repetition, we must refer to a similar pattern of repetition from earlier in the Torah. In the book of VaYikra (Parshas Emor) the Torah introduces the law that a Kohen may not come in contact with a corpse. It does so with the repeated expression “Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to them…” Our Sages explain that this was intended to instruct the elders that they should admonish the younger generation.
The word for admonish, l’hazhir, is also connected to the word for light. The message, thus, is that the older generation must instill light into the teachings they impart to the younger generation. It does not suffice for them to teach, they must also illuminate.
Upon deeper reflection, we can apply the model of elders instructing the younger generation to each and every individual. We all possess both “elders” and younger elements. Some of our faculties are more seasoned while others are less mature.
When the Torah tells our elders to instruct the minors, it can also mean that our more seasoned faculties should illuminate our less mature faculties.
As mentioned, this instruction was originally given to Kohanim with respect to the laws of purity and impurity.
The Rebbe explains that the need for this instruction, in this law in particular, was due to the abstract notions of purity and impurity. There is a real danger that youths cannot relate to such intangible laws. The Torah teaches us, however, that we can indeed successfully impart the message to our youth despite its abstract nature.
When we apply this to our own faculties, the mature aspect of our personality is our ability to transcend the limits of our own logic and accept the Torah’s commandments, regardless of their elusive nature. This more mature and sophisticated trans-rational aspect of our soul must guide and bring light to our intellect, which is at a relatively infantile level of our personality.
The Talmud cites a second commandment where the Torah instructs the elders to admonish/illuminate the youth. This one concerns the prohibition against consumption of blood. Why was it necessary to emphasize the need to educate the youth with regard to this particular commandment?
The Rebbe explains that in those days blood was considered a delicacy. One would have reasonably thought that it would be futile to admonish youth to resist satisfying their desires. The Torah therefore teaches us that it is indeed possible to influence our youth to resist temptation, to rise above their desires.
Applying this to the “elder” and “younger” aspects of our personality, we see a parallel in our mind versus our heart. Our mind is the more sophisticated component of our personality relative to our less mature emotions.
Hence, the underlying message of imparting the prohibition of consuming blood to our youth is that our minds must control our hearts by bringing the light of our intellect into the passions of our hearts.
The third area where the Torah requires the elder generation to admonish/illuminate the younger generation is in the prohibition against consuming sheratzim-creeping or abominable things.
The Rebbe explains that the Torah gave the elders this instruction to dispel the notion that one could not sway a person who had stooped so low as to do things spitefully and rebelliously. To dispel that notion, the Torah tells the elders to admonish/illuminate the younger generation.
In terms of our own personalities, all but the greatest of sages have a streak of stubbornness and rebellion. This tendency is illogical and infantile. If a person behaves so irrationally, appealing to his or her mind will not work. The only way to counter that immaturity is to elicit the power of our soul’s essence. That essence is the most mature aspect of our personality. And when the essence is exposed, it illuminates every other aspect of our personality.
AARON’S UNIQUE CHALLENGE
Following the foregoing approach, the question arises as to how we can apply this repetitive expression in G-d’s command to Aaron that he should light the Menorah.
The common denominator of the three foregoing examples is that the older generation (or the more mature faculties) can influence our behavior so as to prevent us from transgressing.
We can now understand how to successfully educate our youth (or our youthful faculties) to resist transgression. The basic principle is that a little light can dispel much darkness.
However, G-d commanded Aaron to light the Menorah in the Mishkan, already a place of great spiritual light. This can only mean that Aaron had the power not only to dispel darkness with minimal light but to bring light into light.
When great light is already present but the Torah commands us to increase that light, we must conclude that only Aaron had the ability to introduce light in a place of light to such a degree as to make a difference. It would have been reasonable for Aaron to have believed that he could not transfer this power to the spiritually immature.
To dispel this notion, the Torah repeats the words “speak to Aaron and say….” This repetition underscores that this power can be passed down to every one of us.
There are no restrictions on transferring the light of the Menorah. Not only can we transmit its light to illuminate the darkness; we can also transmit its light into a place of light.
LIGHT OF CHANUKAH
Based on this analysis, we can appreciate the words of the Midrash (cited by Nachmanides) that the reference to the lighting of the Menorah here is to the light of Chanukah.
The light of Chanukah is unique in two ways:
First, we light it at nightfall, facing the outside of our dwelling, to illuminate the darkness of the world.
Second, according to the Midrash, we will still kindle the Chanukah lights in the Messianic Age. Even in that time, suffused with powerful Divine light, we will still be able to introduce an even higher degree of spiritual light.
AARON DID NOT CHANGE ANYTHING
We can now answer the second question we posed at the beginning of this essay: Why did the Torah have to stress that Aaron did as he was told without alteration from his instructions? Why would anyone have thought that Aaron would have changed anything?
The answer is that Aaron might have entertained the notion that while he, the High Priest, brother of Moses, etc., was capable of kindling the Menorah in a place of light, he could not impart that ability to future generations. The Torah therefore states that Aaron transmitted the message of bringing light to the world to the less sophisticated. Whatever he was capable of doing, he communicated it to, and empowered, future generations as well.
MESSIANIC AGE: TWO DIMENSIONS OF LIGHT
The Messianic Age is an age of G-dly light. When the Psalmist says (Psalm 43:3): “Dispatch your light…” Rashi explains that it refers to Moshiach, as it says, “I prepared a candle for My Messiah.”
The Messianic Age will introduce two modes or levels of light. The first is the light that will dispel the darkness of the world that exists today. Moshiach will banish all wars, hatred, sickness, etc., that exist in the current period of Galus.
There is a second level or stage of light that will follow the first. When Moshiach finally rids the world of its evil and impurity, and the world is no longer shrouded in darkness, Moshiach will introduce the world to a totally higher dimension of light, which will elevate a world that has already been illuminated.
When we beseech G-d for the Redemption, we are asking for two things: The first is to escape the darkness of exile life. The second is to experience the more sublime light that will revolutionize the entire concept of light. This is the light that was created on Day One of Creation, which would have enabled any observer to see from one end of the world to the other. This spiritual light will be reintroduced into the world, even a world that is illuminated by the sun.
The way to prepare for these two aspects of light that lie ahead in the Messianic Age is to recognize that there are two dimensions of light associated with Torah.
The revealed parts of Torah, that deal with the commandments, reflect the first dimension of Torah which drives away the darkness. Every time we study any part of Torah we drive away the darkness of the world.
However, when we learn the inner dimension of Torah, we then introduce light into light. It not only illuminates the world but also the other parts of Torah.