Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Aaron was distinguished not only by being selected to dedicate the
sanctuary through the lighting of the candles, God ordered Moses to
communicate to his brother the following revelation: "The sanctuary
will on another occasion also be dedicated by the lighting of the
candles, and then it will be done by the descendants, the Hasmoneans,
for whom I will perform miracles and to whom I will grant grace. Hence
there is greater glory destined for thee than for all the other princes
of the tribes, for their offerings to the sanctuary shall be employed
only so long as it endures, but the lights of the Hanukkah festival
will shine forever; and, moreover, thy descendants shall bestow the
priestly blessing upon Israel even after the destruction of the
Temple." [420]
The candlestick that Aaron lighted in the sanctuary, was not the common
work of mortal hands, but was wrought by a miracle. When God bade Moses
fashion a candlestick, he found it difficult to execute the command,
not knowing how to set to work to construct it in all its complicated
details. God therefore said to Moses: "I shall show thee a model." He
then took white fire, red fire, and green fire, and black fire, and out
these four kinds of fires He fashioned a candlestick with its bowls,
its knops, and its flowers. Even then Moses was not able to copy the
candlestick, whereupon God drew its design upon his palm, saying to
him: "look at this, and imitate the design I have drawn on thy palm."
But even that did not suffice to teach Moses how to execute the
commission, whereupon God bade him cast a talent of gold into the fire.
Moses did as he was bidden, and the candlestick shaped itself out of
the fire. As on this occasion, so upon other occasions also did God
have to present the things tangibly before Moses in order to make
certain laws intelligible to him. In this way, for example, at the
revelation concerning clean and unclean animals, God showed one
specimen of each to Moses, saying: "This ye shall eat, and this ye
shall not eat." [421]
THE TWELVE PRINCES OF THE TRIBES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account