In the beginning of Parashat Tesaveh (Shemot 27:21), the Torah commands that the Kohanim should arrange the candles of the Menorah in the Bet Ha’mikdash each day – “Ya’aroch Oto Aharon U’banav…”
Needless to say, G-d does not need us to provide light for Him; He is the one who illuminates the entire earth. However, as the Sefer Ha’hinuch repeatedly emphasizes, the Torah’s commands are given for our benefit, because of the positive impact and effect that they have upon us and upon our lives. In this instance, the Sefer Ha’hinuch explains, we are commanded to light a candelabra in the Bet Ha’mikdash because people who want to make their homes look beautiful and majestic ensure that they are well lit. This was particularly so before electric lighting, when candles and candelabras were needed throughout the home in order for the home to have a warm, impressive appearance. The atmosphere in the Bet Ha’mikdash was intended to instill within those who visited a sense of awe and reverence for G-d, and thus, as part of the effort to create this atmosphere, the Torah commanded that lights be kindled there. The illumination contributed to the general aura which would help motivate and inspire the people to draw closer to G-d.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch adds that this is the reason for the kindling of the Menorah on the level of Peshat – the simple, straightforward understanding. He concedes that the scholars of Kabbalah are aware of deeper, more profound explanations behind the significance of this Misva.
The lamps of the Menorah were kindled each and every day in the Bet Ha’mikdash (as opposed to our kindling of the Hanukah lights for eight nights, which commemorates the Hanukah miracle, not the daily kindling of the Menorah in the Bet Ha’mikdash). The Torah refers to the light of the Menorah as a “Ner Tamid” (“constant flame”), indicating that this Misva overrides the Shabbat prohibitions, and thus the Menorah was lit even on Shabbat. The word “Tamid” (“constant”) instructs that the given Misva must be performed even on Shabbat; for example, the daily sacrifice – “Korban Tamid” – was offered even on Shabbat. By the same token, the Menorah was kindled even on Shabbat.
Each lamp of the Menorah needed to be filled with a half-Log of olive oil for the kindling. The Sages determined that this was the quantity of oil needed to sustain the flames throughout the night during the period around the time of the winter solstice, when the nights are longest, and so this amount was established as the standard quantity of oil required.
The Misva to light the Menorah includes also the obligation of “Hataba” – preparing the Menorah by cleaning the lamps, changing the wicks, and pouring new oil. The Ner Ha’emsa’i – the middle lamp – was to always remain lit. If it was ever extinguished, it would be kindled anew from the fire on the Mizbe’ah Ha’hison (the altar in the outdoor courtyard of the Bet Ha’mikdash). All the other lamps were lit from this candle; they had long wicks which were lit from the flame of the middle candle.
The Rambam controversially maintained that the obligation to kindle the Menorah and the obligation of Hataba both comprise a single Misva. The vast majority of Rishonim (including Rashi, the Rashba, the Ramban and the Ra’abad), however, disagreed, and held that these are two separate Misvot – to prepare the Menorah for lighting, and then to light it.
The Rambam also advances another surprising, unique view regarding the kindling of the Menorah, claiming that this does not need to be performed by a Kohen. The conventional understanding is that the kindling, just like the other rituals in the Bet Ha’mikdash, must be performed specifically by a Kohen. Indeed, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes explicitly that this Misva is charged upon the Kohanim. The Rambam, however, in Hilchot Bi’at Mikdash (9:7), writes that even a “Zar” – somebody who is not a Kohen – is suitable for the kindling of the Menorah. He draws proof from the Gemara’s comment in Masechet Yoma (24) that the lighting of the Menorah does not have the formal status of “Aboda” – a ritual of the Bet Ha’mikdash. Of course, non-Kohanim are not permitted to enter the Bet Ha’mikdash, but the Rambam writes that a Kohen can prepare the Menorah and then bring it outside into the “Azara” (courtyard), where a non-Kohen may then light the lamps. (The Rambam concedes that the “Hataba” must be done by a Kohen, because it is only the “Hadlaka” – the kindling – that the Gemara does not consider an “Aboda.”)
Rav Haim of Brisk (1853-1918) raised the question of how, according to the Rambam, the Misva can be fulfilled in this fashion. If the Menorah is not kindled in its proper place, but rather brought outside, kindled, and then returned, how is the Misva fulfilled? Should we not assume that the Menorah needs to be kindled in its proper location?
Rav Haim answers this question by positing that according to the Rambam, the Misva is defined not as an obligation to light the Menorah, but rather as an obligation to see to it that the Menorah is lit. The Misva – even in the Rambam’s view – is charged upon the Kohanim, but the Misva is to ensure the Menorah is lit, and not the act of kindling. Therefore, the Kohanim can fulfill the Misva by bringing the Menorah out into the “Azara,” having a non-Kohen light it there, and then returning it to its place inside the Bet Ha’mikdash.