The real meaning of the Menorah

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is deceptively simple. The story and rituals of the holiday have become part of American popular culture and are almost common knowledge.

This leads to a sense that everyone really knows what the holiday, which begins next Wednesday evening, is all about, when in reality we often forget to ask even the most basic questions.

First among them is what is the real meaning of the menorah? Beyond the story of the miracle of one day of oil lasting eight days, what was the menorah doing in the Temple in the first place?

There are a number of scholars who believe that the menorah, with its seven branches, is more than an ornate candelabrum. Rather, they believe that it is a stylized rendition of a sacred tree (think Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge). Even in the book of Exodus when the menorah is first introduced, the text mentions, petals, branches, and calyxes, all adding to the motif of the menorah as some type of tree.

Throughout the Ancient Near East, there was a popular myth that at the center of the world was a sacred mountain, at the top of that mountain was a sacred garden, and at the center of that garden was a sacred tree usually depicted with seven branches (the same as the menorah).

In all of these myths, the mountain, the garden and the tree existed for the pleasure of the Gods. Israelite religion, however, had a different take.

Instead of God reserving the riches of the garden for himself, in the Israelite version, it is humanity, represented by Adam and Eve, who have the honor of being able to live in the Garden.

After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, their relationship with God was severed. Not only could they no longer enjoy the Garden, but they were also separated from the presence of God represented by the sacred tree.

Based on this, it seems that when God commanded Moses in the Book of Exodus to place a menorah (a symbolic representation of the sacred tree) into the tabernacle, God was attempting to reconnect with humanity in a symbolic way. In a sense, the tabernacle acted as a new Garden of Eden.

While the idea that God's presence can be represented by a fiery tree may seem strange at first glance, think about the burning bush. This is the way that God chose to reveal God's self to Moses. Additionally, there was also a practice among some peoples in the Ancient Near East to cut and style trees into idols. So the idea that a tree or even a burning tree could represent God's presence was easily understood by the Israelites in their day.

So what does it mean today? When Jews all over the world light a Hanukkiah in their homes to commemorate the miracle of the oil, on a symbolic level they are also doing something else.

They are making their homes a miniature version of the Garden of Eden and of the Temple. This reminds us that every home should aspire to be a holy place and that God's presence is close to us.

In this way, Hanukkah is about so much more than presents and potato latkes; it is about the ethical and spiritual implications that arise from imagining our homes as a Garden of Eden.

In addition to all our daily responsibilities to our friends, family, and work, we are responsible for something greater. Once we have made our homes a version of the Garden of Eden, we then have a responsibility to do that for others in our community and around the world.

The Menorah as a tree of light is a taste of what the world ought to be. Now put down that latke and go make it so.