Three Things Moses Found Hard and the Menorah of Fire

[(Leviticus 11:2) THESE ARE THE CREATURES THAT YOU MAY EAT.] There were three things that Moses found difficult: the making of the menorah, the moon, and the creeping things. The making of the menorah, how was it? At the time when Moses ascended, the Holy One, blessed be He, was showing him on the mountain how he was to make the Tabernacle. When He showed him the making of the menorah, Moses found it difficult. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Behold, I am making it before you." What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He showed him white fire, [red fire,] black fire, and green fire, and from them He made the menorah, its cups, its knobs, and its flowers, and the six branches. And He said to him, "This is the making of the menorah" (Numbers 8:4), for the Holy One, blessed be He, was showing it to him with the finger; yet even so he found it difficult. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He engraved it upon his hand. He said to him: "Go down and make it just as I have engraved it upon your hand," as it is said, "And see and make [them by their pattern]" (Exodus 25:40). And from where do we know that He engraved it upon his hand? As it is said, "And He sent forth the form of a hand" (Ezekiel 8:3); and "form" can refer only to the making of the menorah, as it is said, "And see and make [them] by their pattern," etc. And even so he found it difficult, and said, "[The menorah] shall be made [of beaten work]" (Exodus 25:31) — how difficult is it to make? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Cast the gold into the fire, and it will be made of itself," as it is said, "of beaten work shall the menorah be made" — "shall be made" is written, meaning it shall be made of itself.