D
uring
the wanderings of the Children of Israel through the desert, the artisan,
Bezalel, the son of Uri, was commanded to fashion a seven-branched candelabrum
or menorah, for use in the Lord's Tabernacle:
Menorot,
very likely made according to these instructions, once stood in the
Temple in Jerusalem. Descriptions of the menorah, in all its
detail, received extensive symbolic interpretation from antiquity
on. The first century Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria, excelled
in his imagery for the menorah. Well-versed in Hellenistic
culture, Philo worked into his descriptions symbols which he derived
from notions of the cosmos and the universe current in his day. He
saw the menorah and vessels of the Temple as representing the
planets, the cyclic quality of life and the concept of time. The branches
of the menorah, according to Philo, could be likened to the
celestial bodies. The light in the center represented the sun, while
those on either side stood for the remaining planets, three on each
side, with their flames facing the center.
The
emphasis which the Torah placed on making the menorah of pure
gold, beaten out of one piece, gave rise to various allegorical interpretations,
according to which the menorah was intended to symbolize the
very purest of matter, and hence represented the harmonic perfection
of the heavens.
The
numbers which are stressed in the word-for-word description of the
menorah four bowls and seven branches
were viewed as symbolic representations
of the seasons of the year and the days of the week.
The
integrity of the menorah, despite its being divided into seven
branches has, through the course of time, evoked images of a body
comprised of individual limbs or of a tree whose trunk separates into
its branches.
After
the destruction of the Temple, the motif of the menorah became
an extremely widespread and central figure in Jewish art. The classical
scholar, Erwin Goodenough, notes at least 182 examples of seven-branched
candelabra among his findings from ancient times along. In the first
few centuries after the destruction of the Temple, the form of the
menorah was depicted in synagogues on the gates and portals,
and was incorporated in designs on mosaic floors, clay lamps, glass
cups, and bracelets.
The
form of the menorah has also been discovered hewn into rock
and stone. It was equally prevalent in Israel and the Diaspora. The
menorah soon became a simple, often schematic, figure, yet
rich in meaning a symbol which maintained
its central position in Jewish tradition for centuries, even until
modern times.
It
may have been the key position of the menorah in the Temple
and the cosmic notions connected with it which moved the Rabbis of
the Talmud to forbid making any menorah which was identical
or even similar to the one that had stood in the Temple. From this
prohibition it followed that making two-dimensional seven-branched
menorot was permissible, but three-dimensional ones had to
have the number of branches altered. Indeed, in Jewish art there are
hardly any specimens of three-dimensional seven-branched candelabra.
However, seven-branched candelabra have appeared in mosaics, bas-reliefs
and paintings, and have been executed in other two-dimensional techniques
such as embroidery, applique, or chasing and embossing.
The
menorah has symbolized the destroyed Temple, Jerusalem and
the hope for redemption so that its cosmic associations tied in with
its historical and national symbolism. It became a multifaceted symbol,
rich in messianic significance, and any abstract, skeletal drawing
of it sufficed to evoke its symbolic associations.
The
menorah has been portrayed next to the Torah since the ancient
times. Such representations became more and more common through the
Middle Ages. The symbolic images of the Torah, viewed as light and
the divine spark, also shone onto the menorah, underscoring
its characteristics as a symbol of perfection and harmony.
In
recent centuries, we have been witness to ups and downs in the prevalence
of the menorah as a symbol. During the Emancipation, it even
lost its place in synagogues and decorations of the ark. However,
in those congregations not touched by the spirit of the Enlightenment
and the Emancipation until later, the menorah continued to
be a focal motif in artistic compositions in synagogue ornamentation,
ritual objects, paper cuts and tombstones. A figurative form would
sometimes appear on these, evoking associations of the Temple menorah,
along with associations of the Sabbath candlesticks, of light as an
abstract concept or of organic shapes such as the Tree of Life. Such
forms can be found in paper cuts, a Jewish branch of folk art found
in Eastern Europe and North Africa. Sometimes symbols such as birds
or other animals are incorporated next to the figurative shapes.
The
combined motif, of course, developed into various styles in keeping
with the surrounding cultures. In the nineteenth century, the menorah
went into eclipse as a key Jewish symbol in Central and Western Europe.
However, with the reawakening of Jewish nationalism, the seven-branched
menorah reemerged, this time as a Zionist symbol, and since
1948 it has served as the emblem of the State of Israel, a heraldic
symbol of formal-representational character.
The
menorah which appears on the emblem of the State of Israel
was copied from the relief carved into the Arch of Titus in Rome,
where it had once stood for the suppression of the Jewish Revolt,
the conquest of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the Temple. In this
context, the symbol of the menorah expresses the thesis and
antithesis of Jewish history: exile and redemption.