‘Rockets’ Red Glare’ Parashat Beha’alotecha 5786
The Portion of Beha’alotecha begins with a directive on how Aaron should light the candelabrum (menorah) in the Tabernacle (Mishkan) [Bemidbar 8:2]: “When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah”. The Torah tells us that Aaron did as he was commanded[1] and then it adds a curious verse [Bemidbar 8:4]: “This was the structure of the menorah: Hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower it was hammered work; according to the form that G-d had shown Moshe, so did he construct the menorah”. Why does the Torah review the structure of the menorah? When it commands that a sacrifice be offered on the altar, it does not tells us “This was the structure of the altar: five cubits by five cubits by three cubits, made of copper and acacia wood…” The construction of the altar was described in detail way back in the Book of Shemot such that there was no need to review it in the Book of Vayikra. Why is the menorah any different?
An answer to this question lies in a most unlikely place – the SPICE-1000 guided bomb. SPICE-1000 is an add-on kit that turns a standard free-falling Mk-83 one-thousand-pound dumb bomb into a precision guided munition. SPICE-1000 can put a half a ton of high explosives within half a metre of its target. The SPICE-1000 kit is composed of three components: an infra-red seeker that locates the target, a guidance computer that calculates the best way to get to the target, and a pair of long wings that extend the range of the munition, keeping the launch aircraft out of harm’s way. The wings are tucked under the bomb’s fuselage before launch and swing out after the bomb is released from the aircraft. Now here is the cool part: Immediately after the SPICE-1000 is dropped, it rolls one hundred and eighty degrees and only then deploys its wings. In other words, SPICE-1000 is carried upside-down and only rights itself after it is launched. Whatever for?
Before we proceed, we need to understand a few (very) basic concepts in aerodynamics. The wings of a precision guided munition or an airplane or a bird work by providing an upward force called “lift”. Oddly, scientists are not in agreement on what it is that generates lift[2]. What is agreed upon is that lift is maximized when the wings are level. Aerodynamic engineers use this principle to make an aircraft more or less stable. The angle at which an aircraft’s wings are set relative to its body is called “dihedral” when the wings tilt upward[3] and “anhedral” when they tilt downward. This small tilt has a large effect on how the aircraft behaves.
When a plane with a dihedral tilts to one side, the lower wing naturally produces more lift than the higher wing, gently pushing the plane back to level without any input from the pilot. This makes the aircraft more stable, which is why most passenger planes use dihedral: they tend to self-correct and feel smooth and steady.
An anhedral does the opposite. If the plane tilts, there is little or no natural correction, and it may even tip further, making it less stable but more responsive. That reduced stability allows pilots to turn, roll, and manoeuvre more quickly, which is why high-performance military aircraft – and precision guided munitions – typically use anhedral.
In order to endow SPICE-1000 with the agility it needs to hit a moving target, its designers gave it anhedral wings. This means hanging the wings from the top of the munition so that they naturally droop downwards. The problem is that when the wings are folded before launch, they cover the lugs that attach the munition to the aircraft. The only solution is to move the lugs to the bottom of the munition, to hang it upside down, and then to have the munition flip over after it is launched.
To summarize so far, SPICE-1000 is designed in a way that enables it to perform its mission in an optimal manner. Because this mission requirement conflicts with the way the munition must be stored on the launch aircraft, a counter-intuitive launch manoeuvre is required to set things right.
What does this have to do with the menorah? In an earlier essay[4], we took a close look at the structure of the menorah. The menorah was an exercise in contrasts. It was also extraordinarily beautiful. On one hand, it was made [Shemot 25:31] “of hammered work (miksha)” – sculpted out of one piece of gold without any soldering On the other hand, it had seven individual lights, each containing numerous buttons, flowers, and other embellishments and accoutrements. But if it was made out of one piece of gold, shouldn’t it contain just one light? Further, as we have seen, when Aaron lit the menorah, he was meant to do so in a way that the seven lamps cast their light toward the face of the menorah.
According to Rashi[5], this meant that the burning wicks were to be turned towards the central stem of the menorah. Those on the right were turned to the left and those of the left were turned to the right. All the lights were focused, on one spot, the centre. We elucidated this requirement by explaining that light represents our connection with G-d.
The Seforno[6] teaches that the lights on the right represent those who pursue spiritual matters while the lights on the left represent those who pursue temporal activities. In other words, the six outer lamps represent all of humanity. The central light represents G-d. In order for G-d’s light to shine into our world, the light from all people had to shine towards G-d and towards each other. That is to say, only with a unified effort, with human beings turning towards one another in unity and solidarity, can G-d’s Divine Presence and light reach us. We concluded that the purpose of the menorah was to unify all of its separate components. Its origin was in one piece of gold, which was divided into seven candles, but whose light fused back into one.
The structure of the menorah clearly embodies a built-in tension between diversity – the seven lamps – and unity – one piece of gold and one central focal point on which the lamps were focused. The “lamps” of the menorah are a bit counter‑intuitive: they were not separate glass lamps or candles, but rather the flames produced by oil-filled cups that were integral to the menorah itself. They resembled small bowls or cups, somewhat like a shallow goblet. If, at the end of the day, the menorah was designed in one piece ostensibly as a show of unity, why weren’t the lamps fashioned in a way that the wicks naturally faced the centre?
Aaron had to direct the lamps himself because the system is intentionally left incomplete. The menorah is crafted as a single piece, a model of inherent unity, and yet its lamps do not naturally face the centre. The alignment that gives the menorah its meaning is not built into the metal but entrusted to the person who lights it. He must adjust each wick, directing every flame inward with precision and intent. This is not a flaw in the design but its defining feature.
Just as the SPICE-1000 must execute a counterintuitive roll in order to deploy its wings properly and achieve peak performance, we too are asked to reorient ourselves in ways that may feel unnatural. Left to themselves, the flames flicker and drift. Left to ourselves, so do we. The mission is to resist that drift and to choose alignment, again and again. Diversity is a given.
Unity is a decision. It demands awareness, effort, and often a deliberate act of will that runs against instinct. When we succeed, the separate flames do not disappear. They remain distinct, but instead of scattering into glare, their light converges. And in that convergence, the menorah becomes what it was always meant to be: not merely an object of beauty, but a system that transforms many points of light into a single, directed illumination.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ari Sacher, Moreshet, 5786
Please daven for a Refu’a Shelema for Rachel bat Malka, Iris bat Chana, Sheindel Devora bat Rina, Esther Sharon bat Chana Raizel, Meir ben Drora, Golan ben Marcelle and Hodayah Emunah bat Shoshana Rachel.
[1] The commentators have a field day with this verse. Why on earth wouldn’t Aaron do as commanded?
[2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/no-one-can-explain-why-planes-stay-in-the-air/
[3] Like the letter V
[4] Teruma 5762
[5] Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known by his acronym “Rashi,” was the most eminent of the medieval commentators. He lived in northern France in the 11th century.
[6] Rabbi Ovadia ben Jacob Seforno, known as “The Seforno”, lived in Italy at the turn of the 16th century.
