OU TORAH NAALEH.COM and YU TORAH Menorah’s Mystery Shira Smiles

Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein Parshat Terumah begins the instructions for building the Mishkan/Tabernacle and its vessels. The instructions are quite detailed, yet Moshe and the artisans Bezalel and Oholiav have everything under control. Everything, except the construction of the golden menorah. True, the design was quite complex, and it was to be formed completely from one solid piece of gold. No cups were to be screwed in or legs soldered onto a base. Moshe was perplexed as to how to create the Menorah. According to the Medrash, the angel Gavriel appeared to Moshe and demonstrated how to construct the Menorah. Perhaps Moshe tried to follow those instructions, but in the end, Hashem told Moshe to just throw the gold into the fire and the Menorah would miraculously emerge. What was so unique about the Menorah that it defied Moshe’s ability to create it, and Hashem Himself fashioned it?