A Bit of Bible
You shall make a Menorah of pure gold; the Menorah shall be beaten out, its base, its branch, its goblets, its knobs, and its flowers shall be of one piece. Six branches shall issue from its sides, three branches of the Menorah from one side and three branches of the Menorah from its second side….
Exodus 25:31
The difficulties in this verse are made obvious by comparing various translations. Specific points are clear:
1) the Menorah, including all of its adornments (goblets, knobs, flowers) are to be beaten out of a single piece of gold so that the Menorah remains a single object not divisible into various segments and,
2) the Menorah is to consist of seven branches, a main branch going straight up and down and three branches on each side of it.
The technical difficulties of following all of the detailed instructions can be left to engineers and mystics. What is important to the rest of us is are the lessons to be learned from it.
The Menorah is essentially a lamp although the amount of light it would ordinarily provide was inadequate for the Tabernacle of the Temple. The symbolism of light is rather universally recognized so that there is no problem arising from it. But if it represents only light there is no need for the elaborate instruction, especially for beating the entire Menorah out of a single piece of gold.
The explanation may lie in the shape of the total Menorah. A tree has a trunk and branches growing out of it. The Menorah is indeed often referred to as The Tree of Life. Its complications are the complications of individuals as well as societies. No one’s life is so smooth that it can be said to be of pure gold. By making the Menorah out of a single piece of gold the Bible may be telling us that all life is of a unit and that only by appreciating that fact can light come into everyone’s life. A tree gains its nurture from the soil below but the Menorah gives light from oil poured from above. Only when appreciating the Divine nature of life does it become truly worthwhile.