Episode Details

 Its 11AM Thursday morning and I am
driving back to Manhattan. I came to Brooklyn this morning to make three
condolence calls, but since I left my house early this morning, I have had no
cell service. I have no Waze, so I am not sure how long the drive will be and I
can’t listen to any classes, so I am hoping with the help of Siri, to get a
jump on this week’s article. 

This lack of connection and how, in
these few short hours, I have been
dealing with the loss of my phone reminded me of the words of the Ohr HaChaim
HaKadosh on the opening verse of this week’s portion. 

“Shemot Rabbah 52,2 relates that the
scoffers amongst the Jews ridiculed the idea that Hashem would take up
residence in a structure made by Moses. From this we see that not only did the
Gentiles not credit the idea that the G-d of the Heavens had come down to
earth, but even some of the Jews could not believe this. Accordingly, even
though it was evident that Hashem's presence was indeed in the Tabernacle on
the first day of Nissan, the day the Tabernacle had been erected, they did not
consider this as evidence that Hashem's presence would remain there on a
permanent basis.  

“Once they observed the ongoing miracle
of the Western Lamp, (need to pause here to explain)  

The Gemara (Shabbat 22b) says that the
Ner Tamid spoken of in the Torah, is referring to the ner ma’aravi — the
western lamp — of the Menorah. It served as a testimony for all mankind that
the Divine Presence dwells among the Jewish people. 

The uniqueness of the western lamp was
that the Kohen always put into it half a lug of oil, the same amount of oil as
was put into each of the other six lamps (half a lug = 5 ½ oz.). This was
sufficient to last for the longest nights of Tevet, and yet it outburned all
the candles. 

They all burned the entire night and
would extinguish in the early morning. In the summer, when the nights are
shorter, they would burn into the morning hours. After they went out in the
morning, the lamps would be cleaned out and fresh oil and new wicks would be
placed in them. This service was known as “hatavat haMenorah” — “making good” —
i.e. preparing the Menorah for kindling. The candles would not be lit again
until the late afternoon. The western candle, however, continued burning the
entire day until it was time to kindle the Menorah again in the evening. 

This miraculous uninterrupted burning of
the western lamp went on all the years of the first Beit Hamikdash, and served
as a testimony for Hashem’s presence in Israel. The western light continued to
remain lit during the forty years that Shimon HaTzaddik was Kohen Gadol during
the early years of the second Beit Hamikdash.   

The Ohr HaChaim continues … “this served
as testimony that Hashem's presence was there to stay.  

“The Torah impressed upon Moses that the
oil for the Menorah in the Tabernacle would become the vehicle by means of
which Hahsem’s presence in the Mishkan/Mikdash would be demonstrated when the
'eternal flame' would be lit.” 

I thought to myself, we have bars on the
phone to indicate con