“You shall make a Menorah of pure gold…” (Shemos 25:31)

Chazal tell us that Moshe Rabbeinu had difficulty understanding how to make the Menorah. Because of this, Hashem told Moshe to throw the gold into the fire and the Menorah came out ready-made (Rashi ibid). Chazal also tell us that when giving the mitzvah of Machatzis Hashekel, Hashem showed Moshe a coin made of fire. Why out of all the vessels in the mishkan was the Menorah the one that Moshe couldn’t understand? Regarding the half shekel, it seems to me that this was a pretty simple task, so why was it necessary for Hashem to show Moshe a coin made of fire?

I would like to share an answer that I saw. The Menorah, which is made of gold, represents learning Torah, which is “kneged kulam” – the greatest of all mitzvos. However, the half shekel is mere money, which corrupts society and makes people do silly things. Moshe didn’t understand how the greatest of spirituality should be represented with gold, and how money could be used to obtain the greatest good, something that is called the “achdus of Yisrael” and the “atonement of each person”?

Moshe was not perplexed about the physical aspect of the Menorah or the half shekel. However, he did not understand how these golden items bring about growth in spirituality. For both of these items there is a one-word answer: Fire! Meaning if a person has passion, even the most mundane things can have a great impact.

For example, dynamite was originally created to help people build by breaking through rocks. It was not created to be a destructive force against people. But like anything else in the world, it could be used in a positive or negative way. The same could be said with personal wealth, which often breeds distrust and disagreement between people. Yet when money is used for communal needs, it becomes a binding force through which a community can achieve greatness.

The commentators explain that the Shulchan is described in the Torah before the Menorah for the same reason that Zevullun always precedes Yissachar. As great as learning Torah is, it needs to have financial support that is given freely and willingly by those who appreciate the value of Torah. Only with those contributions that are given generously from the heart can in depth study of the Torah be achieved. Therefore, we make the Menorah out of gold because we must have the greatest amount of genuine support to facilitate Torah learning at its optimum.

The message that Hashem was giving to Moshe Rabbeinu was that objects are neither good nor bad – it is only a question of what one does with them. The Menorah should be made specifically from gold, to achieve the greatest amount of Torah study possible. This was contrary to what Moshe thought would be the greatest way of growth.

We might wonder, “Why are these the tools that Hashem gave me to serve Him? He certainly could have given me something that is more beneficial to my spiritual growth?!” We should keep in mind Hashem gave us the exact tools we need to accomplish our goals. Our job is just to figure out how.