Soul Nutrition – Chanukah 5780

by Rabbi Chaim Fogelman

Our Chachomim tell us that the Chanukah menorah is placed by the door or by the window in a way that it lights up the darkness outside. In the Bais Hamikdosh, the menorah gave light as well, and the light of the Bais Hamikdosh spread out to the world.

כי נר מצוה ותורה אור
(Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah ohr) – The Torah gives us light and illuminates the world around us… In connection to this precept, we see a secret reference to the menorah in the first verse of every Chumash:

The first passuk of Beraishis has seven words … Like the seven arms of the menorah
The first passuk of Shemos has eleven words … Like the eleven buttons (designs) of the menorah
The first passuk of Vayikra has nine words … Like the nine flowers of the menorah
The first passuk of Bamidbar has eighteen words (eim hakolel) … Like the eighteen tefochim the height of the Menorah
The first passuk of Devarim has twenty-two words like the twenty-two cups in the menorah.

Rabbi Chaim Fogelman is a member of the OK Kosher Vaad HaKashrus.