Golden Menorah©

By Vardah Littmann.

As you walk up the steps that lead up to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, to your right is a golden reconstruction of the menorah in the Temple created by the Temple Institute. This replica is based on extensive studies carried out by academic and Biblical researchers. All around this beautiful menorah are placed stone benches. You can sit and enjoy a panoramic view of the Temple Mount with the golden glass-caged menorah in the foreground. The part of the Western Wall exposed by the Southern Excavation at the Davidson Centre is also clearly visible. But the section we call the Kosel is hidden by the Mugrabie Bridge and a large tree.  

This menorah reminds us of the miracle of the jug of pure olive oil of Chanukah; where one jug of oil, sufficient only for one day, ended up burning for eight days.  Sitting here opposite the Temple Mount, you realize that the miracle of Chanukah was “small” in comparison to the hundreds of miracles that took place and were seen by millions of olei regel over hundreds of years, both in the First and Second Temples.

 Jerusalem and the Temple were a piece of heaven on earth, a piece of Gan Eden on earth. The Temple was like the consulate (embassy) of the Ribbono shel Olam in our world. What is a consulate? One country acquires a piece of property in a different land and in the perimeters of this property the rules and laws of the host country do not apply. Only the laws of the visiting country are in effect.

The Temple was a piece of Shamayim on earth and all the laws of Shamayim applied there. The was a piece of Gan Eden on earth. The reality of Gan Eden was apparent for all to see and experience.

In Gan Eden there were no such creatures as flies, mosquitoes or fleas and other insects that breed in swamps. Only after Adam HaReshon was expelled from Gan Eden did he, and subsequently, all of mankind suffer from this pestilence, which was caused by the tumah of Adam HaReshon’s sin

Even though eighty million sacrifices were slaughtered in the Bais HaMikdash, every year sometimes hundreds of thousands of sacrifices a day, not one fly was found or seen in the vicinity of the Bais HaMikdash, even though there was so much blood and meat around and the azarah  was outdoors

           Seeing the trouble the snake made in the original Gan Eden, Hashem curtailed its power and influence in this earthly Gan Eden. It says in the Mishneh that a snake or a scorpion never harmed anyone in Jerusaelm, meaning that even if someone was bitten by a snake or scorpion, the venom didn’t harm them. This was also true before the Temple was built there, even though Jerusalem has many rocks and hills, the natural environment for these dangerous creatures

 We know Hashem created the world and instituted the laws of nature which take effect in every place in the world except in Jerusalem, and even more exempt from these laws are Temple Mount and the Temple, itself. The basis of all the miracles in the Temple was the fact that Hashem rules nature. By leaving a place in the world where nature does not rule, Hashem showed that all of nature is a hidden miracle.

Heard from Rav Raphael Auerbach, shlita, and  Rav Shalom Meir HaCohen Wallach, shlita.