“Make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work; its base and stem, its cups, knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. Six branches shall extend from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches from the other" (Exodus 25:31).
The menorah of the Tabernacle, like that of the Temple, became one of the most profound and ancient symbols of the Jewish people. It was ultimately established as the emblem of the State of Israel, where the menorah appears flanked by two olive branches, echoing the vision of the prophet Zechariah: “I saw, and behold, a lampstand all of gold… and two olive trees beside it." The menorah carries many diverse meanings in rabbinic literature.
Rabbeinu Bachya explains that the menorah, with its seven lamps, alludes to the Torah, which is called “light," as it says in Proverbs, “For a mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light." The seven lamps correspond to seven branches of wisdom. The six side branches represent the six directions of the world, all dependent upon the Torah, which was given in the month of Sivan and for whose sake the world endures."
Similarly, Don Isaac Abarbanel writes that the seven branches hint at the wisdom associated with the seven classical planets. The menorah symbolizes speculative wisdom; hence its seven branches and seven lamps, reflecting the seven sciences and their many offshoots. It being fashioned from a single piece of gold signifies the unity of all branches of wisdom.
It is no coincidence that the menorah stood on the southern side of the Sanctuary. The Talmud (Bava Batra 25a) states: “Whoever wishes to grow wise should turn south; whoever wishes to become wealthy should turn north. Your sign is: the table was in the north and the menorah in the south." One seeking wisdom turns toward the menorah. One might have thought to turn westward toward the Ark and the Tablets, toward the Torah itself. Yet the menorah represents the Torah together with the branches of wisdom that emerge from it. All six side lamps faced the central lamp, symbolizing that all forms of wisdom must be directed toward and serve the higher, sacred purpose embodied in the middle light, the light of Torah.
Rabbi Moses Isserles (the Rema), in his lesser-known work Torat HaOlah, likewise writes that the seven lamps correspond to the seven divisions of the Torah, as in the verse, “She has hewn her seven pillars" (Proverbs 9:1). These are the seven wisdoms encompassed within the Torah.
The author of Merkavat HaMishneh, in his introduction to his commentary on Maimonides, also cites the verse “Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars," and poetically describes the soul stirred by the delights of wisdom, algebra, geometry, astronomy, calculation, measurement for mitzvah purposes, natural science and metaphysics, all hewn as seven pillars.
“Of hammered gold" - the branches extending from either side, symbolizing the sciences, all emerge from the central stem representing the Torah. The wisdom of Torah is the source and foundation of all other wisdoms, which assist in elucidating the Creator’s wisdom embedded within it. Yet the Torah emphasizes that the menorah must be “of one piece." As long as the sciences remain connected to the Torah, they are holy. If they are not formed as a single unit with the sacred center, they lose their sanctity. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the menorah, from base to blossom, resembles a golden tree beaten into shape from root to flower - an image of growth directed upward toward God and His Torah.
The Malbim elaborates that the three branches on each side represent natural sciences, but their lamps must face the central stem - “toward the face of the menorah" - for they serve only as instruments for understanding Torah. Rabbi Isaac Arama, author of the Akedat Yitzchak, similarly warns against a state in which external wisdom overtakes and dims the light of Torah.
More radically, the Netziv (Ha’amek Davar, Numbers 8:2) explains that the seven lamps correspond to seven areas of knowledge necessary even for the Oral Torah; without familiarity with various disciplines, one cannot grasp many core halachic principles. All quantitative sciences serve to clarify the Torah’s commandments. One who looks carefully can find all wisdom alluded to within the Written Torah itself.
Thus, the menorah radiates light to Israel and to the entire world. A Midrash notes that, unlike ordinary homes - where windows are narrow outside and wide inside to draw in light - the Temple’s windows were narrow inside and wide outside (I Kings 6:4). The Temple did not require sunlight; rather, its light shone outward to illuminate the world. “I do not need its light," says God.
Moses himself struggled to fashion the menorah until God showed him a fiery image (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha’alotecha 11). Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli explained that Moses could not grasp how a physical golden lamp, eighteen handbreadths tall and fueled by simple olive oil, could symbolize the Torah’s transcendent wisdom. God showed him that even material reality - like a coin symbolizing physicality - can be sanctified and elevated when infused with the fire of holy passion. Matter, like all wisdom, becomes sacred when it is pure gold, free of ulterior motives, and unified in service of God’s will.
Many sages, including the Vilna Gaon and others, grappled with integrating external wisdom “toward the face of the menorah." Some intellectuals were led astray from the Torah’s light; others diluted it; still others unified all branches into one structure that strengthened and magnified the Torah’s radiance.
The Chatam Sofer (Nedarim 81a) criticized those who disparage Torah while boasting of secular knowledge, emphasizing that all wisdom must shine toward and serve the Torah. Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson likewise taught that the seven wisdoms correspond to the seven branches of the menorah, and that the eight days of Chanukah hint that all seven wisdoms serve the wisdom of Torah.
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, in Michtav Me’Eliyahu, warned of the tension between cultivating all “seven lamps" and preserving the strength of the central one. Focusing exclusively on Torah may produce great scholars but risk alienating others; broad illumination may retain many within the fold, though perhaps with fewer towering figures. Each era demands its own balance.
This debate echoes the ancient dispute between Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai regarding the integration of Torah and livelihood. Many succeeded following Rabbi Yishmael’s balanced path; fewer succeeded with Rabbi Shimon’s total immersion.
Among the varied paths in serving God, one may note the approach of Yeshivat “Torah and Mada" at the Lev Academic Center in Jerusalem, which for decades has cultivated outstanding students who combine deep Torah scholarship with academic excellence - always centering the “middle lamp," the light of Torah and fear of Heaven. Their achievements in international competitions reflect a worldview that sees human talents as gifts to be developed under the guiding light of Torah.
The menorah thus symbolizes the light of Torah encircled by seven branches of wisdom, all hammered into one golden unity - servants aiding its understanding. On every path, each person must direct himself toward fulfilling the will of his Creator.
The author is the chairman of Tzifha International Real Estate.