That which the verse said: “For You light my lamp” (Psalms 18:29) – Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, You say that we should illuminate before You, but You are the light of the world, and light resides with You, as it is written: “And the light rests with Him” (Daniel 2:22). But you say: “Toward the front of the candelabrum the seven lamps shall illuminate”’ (Numbers 8:2).
That is: “For You light my lamp.” The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘It is not that I need you, but rather that you shall illuminate for Me the way that I illuminated for you. Why? It is to elevate you before the nations, so they will say: See how Israel illuminates for the One who illuminates for the entire world.’
To what is this matter comparable? It is to a sighted man and a blind man who were walking along the way. The sighted man said to the blind man: ‘When we enter the house, kindle this lamp, and illuminate for me.’ The blind man said to him: ‘If I may; when we were on the way, you supported me.
Until we entered the house, you were accompanying me. Now you say: Kindle this lamp and illuminate for me?’ The sighted man said to him: ‘It is so you will not be beholden to me for having accompanied you along the way; that is why I said to you: Illuminate for me.’ So, the sighted man, this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “They are the eyes of the Lord that rove over the entire earth” (Zechariah 4:10).
The blind man, this is Israel, as it is stated: “We grope a wall like the blind” (Isaiah 59:10). The Holy One blessed be He would lead them and illuminate for them, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day [in a pillar of cloud…and by night in a pillar of fire, to illuminate for them]” (Exodus 13:21). When the Tabernacle stood, the Holy One blessed be He called Moses and said to him: ‘Illuminate for Me,’ as it is stated: “Kindle [behaalotekha] the lamps” – in order to elevate [le’alot] you.