Temple menorah

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Temple Institute
.

The menorah (

candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible and in later ancient sources as having been used in the Tabernacle and in the Temple in Jerusalem
.

Since ancient times, it has served as a symbol representing the

State of Israel
's official emblem after its founding in 1948.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the menorah was made out of pure gold, and the only source of fuel that was allowed to be used to light the lamps was fresh olive oil. The menorah was placed in the Tabernacle. Biblical tradition holds that Solomon's Temple was home to ten menorahs, which were later plundered by the Babylonians; the Second Temple is also said to have been home to a menorah. Following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE, the menorah was taken to Rome; the Arch of Titus, which still stands today, famously depicts the menorah being carried away by the triumphant Romans along with other spoils of the destroyed temple. The menorah was reportedly taken to Carthage by the Vandals after the sacking of Rome in 455. Byzantine historian Procopius reported that the Byzantine army recovered it in 533 and brought it to Constantinople, then later returned it to Jerusalem, but many other theories have been advanced for its eventual fate, and no clear evidence of its location has been recorded since late antiquity.

The menorah is frequently used as a symbol in

First Temple period, but some examples dating from the Second Temple period have been recorded. Menorah images that were discovered include the coins of Antigonus II Mattathias, the last Hasmonean king of Judea, as well as on the walls of an Upper City mansion and Jason's Tomb in Jerusalem, and objects such as the Magdala stone. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the menorah came to be recognized as a distinctively Jewish symbol and was depicted on tomb walls, synagogue floors, sculptures and reliefs, as well as glass and metal objects. The menorah has been also used since then to distinguish synagogues and Jewish cemeteries from the places of worship and cemeteries of Christians and pagans.[2] The symbol has also been found in several archaeological artifacts from ancient Samaritan, Christian and Islamic communities.[3] The Hanukkah menorah, a nine-branched variant of the menorah, is closely associated with the Jewish festival of Hanukkah
.

Construction and appearance

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible states that God revealed the design for the menorah to Moses and describes the construction of the menorah as follows:[4]

31Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 32Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 33Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 34And on the lampstand are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 36The buds and branches shall be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

37Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. 39A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. 40See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.[5]

The Book of Numbers (Chapter 8) adds that the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand and reiterates that the lampstand was made in accordance with the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain.[6]

In other sources

Maimonides' drawing of the menorah.

Rabbinic sources teach that the menorah stood 18 handbreadths/palms (three common

Avraham),[9] held that they were straight;[10] all other Jewish authorities, both classical (e.g. Philo and Josephus) and medieval (e.g. Ibn Ezra), who express an opinion on the subject state that the arms were round.[11]

The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, who witnessed the Temple's destruction, says that the menorah was actually situated obliquely, to the east and south.[12]

Arch of Titus

Depiction of the menorah on the Arch of Titus in Rome

The most famous preserved representation of the menorah of the Second Temple was depicted in a

destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE.[13]
In that frieze, the menorah is shown resting upon a hexagonal base, which in turn rests upon a slightly larger but concentric and identically shaped base; a stepwise appearance on all sides is thus produced. Each facet of the hexagonal base was made with two vertical stiles and two horizontal rails, a top rail and a bottom rail, resembling a protruding frame set against a sunken panel. These panels have some relief design set or sculpted within them.

Magdala Stone

Stone with menorah that was found in the archaeological site Magdala
.

In 2009, the ruins of a

Legionaries of Christ, who had intended to construct a center for women's studies.[14]
Inside that synagogue's ruins, a carved stone block was discovered, which had on its surface, among other ornate carvings, a depiction of the seven-lamp menorah differing markedly from the depiction on the Arch of Titus, which could possibly have been carved by an eyewitness to the actual menorah present at the time in the Temple at Jerusalem. This menorah has arms which are polygonal, not rounded, and the base is not graduated but triangular. It is notable, however, that this artifact was found a significant distance from Jerusalem and the Arch of Titus has often been interpreted as an eyewitness account of the original menorah being looted from the temple in Jerusalem.

Usage

According to the Book of Exodus, the lamps of the menorah were lit daily from fresh, consecrated olive oil and burned from evening until morning.[15]

Shechinah rested among Israel.[18] It was called the ner hama'aravi (Western lamp) because of the direction of its wick. This lamp was also referred to as the ner Elohim (lamp of God), mentioned in I Samuel 3:3.[19][1] According to the Talmud, the miracle of the ner hama'aravi ended after the High Priesthood of Simon the Just in the 3rd or 4th century BC.[20]

Contrary to some modern designs, the ancient menorah burned oil and did not contain anything resembling candles, which were unknown in the Middle East until about 400 CE.

History

Tabernacle

The original menorah was made for the tabernacle, and the Bible records it as being present until the Israelites crossed the Jordan River. When the tabernacle tent was pitched in Shiloh,[21][22] it is assumed that the menorah was also present. However, no mention is made of it during the years that the Ark of the Covenant was moved in the times of Samuel and Saul.[23]

Solomon's Temple

According to

Nebuzaradan following the destruction of Jerusalem.[27]

Second Temple

During the construction of the

Antiochus IV took away the lampstands (plural) when he pillaged the Temple.[29] The later record of the making of "new holy vessels" may refer to the manufacture of new lampstands.[30] According to the Talmud, the returning Hasmoneans were poor and forced to construct the Menorah out of wood. They later upgraded it to silver and ultimately gold.[31]

Rome

Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Francesco Hayez. The menorah is carried away by Roman soldiers, on the bottom-left corner. Oil on canvas, 1867.

The menorah from the Second Temple was carried to

bas relief on the Arch of Titus
in Rome depicts a scene of Roman soldiers carrying away the spoils of the Second Temple, including the menorah.

For centuries, the menorah and the other temple treasures were displayed as war trophies either at the Temple of Peace in Rome, or in the Imperial Palace.[32] It was still there when the city was sacked by Vandals in 455 CE.[33]

Following the Vandal sack of Rome

Painting on Genseric sacking Rome by Karl Bryullov (1833–1836), depicting the menorah taken away by the Vandals.

Carried off by the

Jerusalem was pillaged by the Persians in 614, though legend suggests that it was secreted away by holy men, much as tradition purports the original Menorah was hidden before Nebuchadnezzar's invasion.[35][36][39][38]

Legends and theories hypothesize the Menorah may have been melted down or broken into chunks of gold by conquerors, destroyed in a fire, kept at or returned to

In the

minor tractates
printed with the Babylonian Talmud, there is a listing of Jewish treasures, which according to Jewish oral tradition are still in Rome, as they have been for centuries.

The objects that were crafted, and then hidden away are these: the tent of meeting and the vessels contained therein, the ark and the broken tablets, the container of manna, and the flask of anointing oil, the stick of Aaron and its almonds and flowers, the priestly garments, and the garments of the anointed [high] priest.

But, the spice-grinder of the family of Avtinas [used to make the unique incense in the Temple], the [golden] table [of the showbread], the menorah, the curtain [that partitioned the holy from the holy-of-holies], and the
head-plate are still sitting in Rome.[41]

Symbolism

Judaism

Rockefeller Museum

The menorah symbolized the ideal of universal enlightenment.[42] The idea that the menorah symbolizes wisdom is noted in the Talmud, for example, in the following: "Rabbi Isaac said: He who desires to become wise should incline to the south [when praying]. The symbol [by which to remember this] is that… the Menorah was on the southern side [of the Temple]."[43]

The seven lamps allude to the branches of human knowledge, represented by the six lamps inclined inwards towards, and symbolically guided by, the light of God represented by the central lamp. The menorah also symbolizes the creation in seven days, with the center light representing the Sabbath.[1]

Hannukah Menorah

19th century Hanukkah menorah from Austria-Hungary. Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme

A nine-branched menorah is also a symbol closely associated with the Jewish holiday of

Seleucid desecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem
, there was only enough sealed (and therefore not desecrated) consecrated olive oil left to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was enough time to make new pure oil.

The

Talmud states that it is prohibited to use a seven-lamp menorah outside of the Temple.[44] A Hanukkah menorah therefore has eight main branches, plus the raised ninth lamp set apart as the shamash (servant) light which is used to kindle the other lights. The word shamash was not originally a "Hanukkah word" and only became associated with the holiday in the 16th century although it first appeared in the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.) and Talmud (c. 500 C.E.).[45] This type of menorah is called a hanukkiah in Modern Hebrew.[1]

Kabbalah and the symbol of light

This is alluded to in the verses: "Though I walk through the valley of the deepest darkness, I will fear no evil, because You are with me"[46] and "because even if I have fallen, I will rise again; even if I feel in the darkness, Hashem is my light. "Let the light of Divinity perceptions descend into the depths of "darkness ", into "the valley of the deepest darkness", to illuminate the lowest, so that even that light and consciousness of Divinity reaches them, so that He can heal and correct them to return them to Him.[47]

In Kabbalah Or Panim ("the light of the Face") is a fundamental conception for the process called

Chassidut an awakening from below is the "service" for God, i.e. the Avodah
.

During the victory of the

Mitzvot: ...because the Torah is the light and the Mitzvah
is a lamp.

Christianity

Urban VII with menorah and the legend
SIC•LUCEAT•LUX•VESTRA
(Let your light so shine – Matt. 5:16)

The New Testament Book of Revelation refers to a mystery of seven golden lampstands representing seven churches.[48] The messages to the seven churches from Jesus Christ found have at least four applications: (1) a local application to the specific cities and believers in the church; (2) to all the churches of all generations; (3) a prophetic application unveiling seven distinct phases of church history from the days of the apostle John until today; (4) a personal application to individual believers who have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying.[49]

According to

Philo Judaeus, the seven lamps of the golden menorah represented the seven classical planets in this order: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.[50][unreliable source?
]

It is also said to symbolize the

Protestant canon of scripture (containing 66 books). Moreover, Conner notes that the total decorative units on the shaft and three branches equate to 39 (the number of Old Testament books within Protestant versions of the Bible); and the units on the remaining three branches come to 27 (the number of New Testament books).[54] Conner connects this to Bible passages that speak of God's word as a light or lamp (e.g. Psalms 119:105; Psalms 119:130; cf. Proverbs 6:23).[55]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church the use of the menorah has been preserved, always standing on or behind the altar in the sanctuary.[56] Though candles may be used, the traditional practice is to use olive oil in the seven-lamp lampstand. There are varying liturgical practices, and usually all seven lamps are lit for the services, though sometimes only the three centermost are lit for the lesser services. If the church does not have a sanctuary lamp the centermost lamp of the seven lamps may remain lit as an eternal flame.

In art

Jewish art

Menorah in the Cave of the Sarcophagi, Beit She'arim necropolis

The use of the temple menorah as an artistic decoration during the Second Temple period and up to the Bar Kokhba revolt is quite rare. Examples were uncovered in burial caves near Mukhmas (ancient Michmas),[57] in the Herodian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, and in Magdala (on the Magdala Stone). The use of menorahs in Jewish art and in particular in Jewish funerary art became much more common in the late Roman and Byzantine periods.

Samaritan art

Samaritan stone lamps were a major feature of Samaritan synagogues in the Byzantine period.[58]

Modern Jewish use

In synagogues

ner tamid (eternal light). This lamp represents the continually lit ner Elohim of the menorah used in Temple times.[1]
In addition, many synagogues display either a menorah or an artistic representation of a menorah.

State of Israel

The Emblem of Israel shows a menorah surrounded by an olive branch on each side and the writing "ישראל" (Israel) based on its depiction on the Arch of Titus.

A menorah appears in the Emblem of Israel, based on the depiction of the menorah on the Arch of Titus.

Temple Institute reconstruction

The Temple Institute has created a life-sized menorah, designed by goldsmith Chaim Odem, intended for use in a future Third Temple. The Jerusalem Post describes the menorah as made "according to excruciatingly exacting Biblical specifications and prepared to be pressed into service immediately should the need arise."[59] The menorah is made of one talent (interpreted as 45 kg) of 24 karat pure gold, hammered out of a single block of solid gold, with decorations based on the depiction of the original in the Arch of Titus and the Temple Institute's interpretation of the relevant religious texts.

Other modern Jewish uses

A menorah appeared on the cap badge of the

First Judeans
of the Jewish Legion (1919–1921).

Sometimes when teaching learners of the

Hebrew verb
.

The menorah is the main element in several Holocaust memorials.

Similar objects

The

African American festival of Kwanzaa
. One candle is lit on each day of the week-long celebration, in a similar manner as the Hannukah menorah.

In

Northern Dipper.[60] This lampstand is a requirement for all Taoist temples, never to be extinguished. In the first 9 days of the lunar 9th month festival, an oil lamp of nine connected lamps may also be lit to honour both the Northern Dipper and two other assistant stars (collectively known as the Nine Emperor Stars), sons of Dou Mu appointed by the Taoist Trinity (the Three Pure Ones) to hold the Books of Life and Death of humanity. The lamps represent the illumination of the 7 stars, and lighting them are believed to absolve sins
while prolonging one's lifespan.

In popular culture

The menorah features prominently in the 2013 crypto-thriller The Sword of Moses by Dominic Selwood. It is also featured in the archaeology novels Crusader Gold, by David Gibbins, The Last Secret of the Temple, by Paul Sussman, and The Testament of Elias, by W.S. Mahler. A menorah can be seen in the movie X-Men: First Class, when Charles Xavier reads Erik Lehnsherr's mind, searching for a happy memory from his childhood before the Holocaust, and together they see Erik as a young child lighting his first menorah with his mother.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ .
  2. from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2022. It is now apparent that the image of the menorah is ubiquitous in Samaritan visual culture of this period, to no less a degree than it is in Jewish art... The first Samaritan mosaic was uncovered in 1949, at Salbit... Were it not for the distinctly Samaritan inscription at the site, it is likely that this building... would have been called a Jewish synagogue without hesitation... Christian interest in the menorah dates perhaps as far back as the Book of Revelation... Menorahs appear occasionally in obviously Christian contexts from Late Antiquity, as Marcel Simon has noted. A menorah flanked by crosses is seen on the sixth-century tombstone of a monk at Avdat in the Negev desert, for example... One issue of bronze coins dated to the Umayyad post-reform era (after 696/97) may be particularly significant for our study. A group of bronze issues shows the image of seven- and later five-branched menorahs surmounted by a crosspiece like those that appear on many Jewish menorahs, but with the Arabic legend "There is no god but Allah alone and Muhammad is Allah's messenger"—uniquely, on both faces of the coin.
  4. ^ Exodus 25:31–40
  5. ^ Exodus 25:31-40 Archived 29 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine, New International Version.
  6. ^ Numbers 8:1-4
  7. Mishne Torah (Hil. Beit ha-Baḥirah 3:10 ). Figure is based on the accepted rabbinic view that there are four finger-widths to every handbreadth/palm
    , and each finger-width is estimated at 2.25 cm. This measurement does not include the step-like platform upon which it rested.
  8. ^ Rashi, Exodus 25:32
  9. ^ Commentary on Exodus, ch 7
  10. ^ Maimonides depicted them as straight in a manuscript drawing, but see Seth Mandel's alternative interpretation below.
  11. ^ See the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Likkutei Sichot, vol 21, pp 168-171.
  12. ^ Josephus, Antiquities (Book iii, chapter vi, section 7).
  13. ^ "Arch of Titus". penelope.uchicago.edu. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  14. ^ First-century Synagogue Discovered on Site of Legion’s Magdala Center in Galilee 11 September 2009 - regnumchristi.org
  15. ^ Exodus 27:21
  16. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Seven-Branch Candlestick" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  17. ^ "Shabbat 22b:2". www.sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Menachot 86b:8". www.sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  19. ^ 1 Samuel 3:3
  20. ^ "Yoma 39a:15". www.sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  21. ^ Joshua 18:1
  22. ^ 1 Samuel 3:3
  23. ^ 1 Samuel 5:1
  24. ^ 1 Kings 7:49
  25. ^ 1 Chronicles 28:15
  26. ^ 2 Chronicles 4:7
  27. ^ Jeremiah 52:19
  28. ^ Ezra 1:9–10)
  29. ^ 1 Maccabees 1:21
  30. ^ 1 Maccabees 4:49
  31. ^ Rosh Hashanah 24b.
  32. from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  33. ^ a b Povoledo, Elisabetta (20 February 2017). "Vatican and Rome's Jewish Museum Team Up for Menorah Exhibit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  34. ^ Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Archived 3 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Volume 7: Chapter XLI. From the Online Library of Liberty. The J. B. Bury edition, in 12 volumes.)
  35. ^ from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  36. ^ from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  37. ^ from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  38. ^ a b "The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the Wars, Books III and IV (of 8), by Procopius". www.gutenberg.org. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  39. from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  40. from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  41. ^ "Avot D'Rabbi Natan 41:12". www.sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  42. .
  43. Menahot
    28b
  44. ^ Johnson, George (15 November 2018). "Jewish Word:Shamash". Moment Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  45. Book of psalms
  46. ^ Rabbi Nathan, Moshe Mykoff. Likutey Halajot: ORAJ JAIM Hashkamat Haboker Breslov Research Institute
  47. ^ Rev. 1:12,20
  48. ^ Rev. 1. TPT version, translator's footnote 'ax'
  49. ^ p.10, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike (L.H. Jenkins, 1871 [1948])
  50. ^ Exodus 3
  51. ^ NASB, The Lockman Foundation, 1995
  52. ^ Kevin Conner, The Tabernacle of Moses, City Christian Publishing (1976), p43
  53. ^ Kevin Conner, The Tabernacle of Moses, City Christian Publishing (1976), p43-44
  54. .
  55. ^ Raviv, Dvir (2018). "A Seven-Branched Menorah Graffito from Kafr Mukhmas". STRATA: Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society. 36: 87–99.
  56. from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  57. ^ "CITYsights: More than a model menorah". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.

Further reading

External links