Welcome to the short, practical Lelamed Weekly Dvar and Daily Aliyah. As always, you can Order The Daily Aliyah and receive your hard copy of these daily practical and relevant Torah thoughts (all proceeds go to Daily Giving), or join this Whatsapp group to receive one per day. I hope you find this meaningful...

The Torah details the intricate instructions for building the Mishkan complete with utensils used for His service. Two of the items, however, were to be sculpted of one piece of gold: The Keruvim (the golden angels that rest on top of the Aron) and the Menorah (the candelabra with its seven branches to be lit daily), complete with upside down goblets, knobs, and flowers along its many stems (25:31–37). What was so special about the Menorah that required it, in addition to the two Keruvim, to be made of one piece of gold when the Aron itself didn’t have that exact requirement (25:10–11)?

Rabbi Israel Greenberg suggests that the branches represent different segments of the Jewish nation, and that the ornaments on each stem represent diverse approaches to understanding the Torah, and that all people and all approaches contribute to a single goal of illuminating the world. Moreover, the upside-down goblets represent not receiving liquid but supporting the flame of our Torah; the knobs, resembling apples, represent the sweetness found from within; and the flowers symbolize the novel insights we discover hidden within the Torah text. Each of these factors represents all that the Torah has to offer, but only when they function as one unit — one segment of people inspiring another and one form of study celebrating the other. We are all different, and those differences can make each of us unique and golden as long as we function as a cohesive group of people.

Shlomo Ressler

Quotation of the week:
"Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success."