A Flame That Rises on Its Own: Beha’alotecha, Spiritual Independence, and Israel’s Courage
Why Aaron kindled the Menorah until the flame stood by itself—and how Am Yisrael refuses to be a victim
When the Torah discusses the kindling of the Menorah in the Tabernacle, and the opening of this weeks Torah portion, it makes an interesting word choice.
“Bahalotecha Et Hanayrot” is translated as “When you KINDLE THE LIGHTS OF THE MENORAH.” However, the literal translation of the word “Bahalotecha” is “When you LIFT UP THE LIGHTS OF THE MENORAH.”
if the intention was simply to convey the act of kindling the lights then a more precise word would be just that—“Behadlikecha” “When you Kindle.”
The literal meaning of the word “Bahalotecha” to lift up or to elevate comes from the root word “Oleh,” to elevate or to lift up. Hence when people choose to move to Israel, it is called “Aliyah” to “GO UP” just as the same word is used when one is called UP to the Torah for an “Aliyah.”
In many ways, I suppose both of these words are two sides of the same coin. Meaning, in order for one to ascend it must come from a place of inner illumination— the byproduct of a “Kindled Self.”
But that would be an oversimplification.
So for example, with regards to studying the Torah, you could have a purely semantic approach that is hyper fixated on the aspect of “comprehension” versus an epistemology that encompasses an alternative method of interacting with
the letters themselves—by seeing them ontologically, as extensions of the Divine, containing its supernal holiness —thus possessing a power and value that contains but at the same time transcends the cognitive “definition” of the words.
While the Halachik norms regarding the need to comprehend the words of Torah in order to fulfil the mitzvah of studying Torah, versus simply uttering the words, is clear, the application is far more complex. One CAN fulfill the mitzvah by simply uttering the words if they are words of Scripture, however when it comes to Talmud and codes there’s a requirement for understanding.
It might be simpler to understand the tension between The performance of the Mitzvah, and the intention of the Mitzvah, with other Mitzvot outside of Torah study.
Here’s a way to frame it. Can one perform a Mitzvah in a vacuum without being in the specified required
mental headspace or “Kavanah” (space of intentionality) and still Perform a Mitzvah with integrity?
Can one be “Lit” without being “lit up?” Can there be elevation without illumination? Can one “Go Up” without having fully “Grown Up?”
For those of you who know me long enough, I suspect you know the answer.
I am a a Chosid of the Rebbe, at whose behest I encourage people to see the intrinsic holiness of a Mitzvah, of one good deed and it’s cosmic reverberations of sacredness and Light—independent of ones associated consciousness or how many Mitzvot one performs. If any at all.
Living in the Rebbe’s world means you can be “Dialed Up” without being fully “Dialed in.” In many cases one discovers the meaning only by passing through the experience of the ritual itself!
Still however, I would like to return to the original question about the word choice of Bahalotecha.
Rashi, poses this question and in the course of answering it opens the conversation up to an entirely new dimension.
He says, that the use of the counterintuitive phrase “when you lift up” is not speaking to the act of lighting itself, but rather to the quality of that fire, in this case, will it be a fire that is set up to burn on its own, an enduring fire that as he says “is a flame that rises up of its own accord” or will it be forever requiring the priest to keep tending it so that it doesn’t just flicker and die.
In many ways, it is an apt metaphor for the existential transition from codependence to independence. A paradigm that can be applied to many different realms. Educationally speaking, it’s the difference between the teacher constantly needing to feed information to the student, versus the teacher who ultimately has empowered the pupils with the skills of critical thinking necessary to solve problems on their own.
A “flame that ascends of its own volition” is not one that merely displays the capacity to flash into existence, but one who can sustain that existence independently.
Yesterday, based on the current intelligence regarding the rapidly narrowing window to prevent Iran from developing their first nuclear bombs, and finding itself alone to make this decision, with no “green light” from the US but no “red light either, The Israelis wired themselves into the live “Bahalotecha” energy system and chose independence over codependence, like “A flame that ascends of its own volition.”
The Menorah of Jewish peoplehood burns brightly today as a result of the bravery, tenaciousness, and determination of its branches, especially the people who live in Israel, and the brave, Israeli soldiers, pilots, and secret agents who have risked everything to protect them, and us as well.
Shabbat Shalom,
Sending much love and prayers for the return of the hostages, for the safety of all those in combat, and for every Israeli who will ostensibly be spending large parts of Shabbat in Bomb shelters.
Rabbi Yossi