And he made the menorah of pure gold; of hammered work he made the menorah
He is Bezalel, an artist.
Because the foundation of
any good society is its artists.
The Menorah, our first symbol.
It came before the star. A spot for
every day of the week –
One in the middle for the
day of rest, on which no flame
shall be made.
Most of us confuse this
with the one for Hanukkah
which has nine spots for light
and is spelled in
all the ways you can imagine.
It’s not easy explaining Judaism
when our symbols overlap –
when there’s a different holiday
for every time the wind blows
and an extra one that
comes every week, that,
despite the constant reminders
we keep forgetting to celebrate.
This is why we need the Menorah.
This is why it’s so specific how it looks.
So when Friday comes along
a golden beam will tell us what to do.
And if we forget, and we will forget,
the text will remind us again and again.
He is Bezalel, an artist. What he made
has always given light.