Why Moses Could Not Make the Menorah and God Made It in Fire

[Another interpretation:] WHEN YOU KINDLE THE LAMPS [etc. AND THIS IS THE WORK OF THE MENORAH]. You find that Moses found the work of the menorah more difficult than all the vessels of the Tabernacle, until the Holy One, blessed be He, showed it to him with His finger. So too with the hooves of a clean animal, as it is said, THIS IS THE LIVING THING [WHICH YOU MAY EAT... BUT THIS YOU SHALL NOT EAT] (Leviticus 11:2, 4). So too with the moon, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, THIS MONTH (Exodus 12:2). So too with the work of the menorah, as it is said, AND THIS IS THE WORK OF THE MENORAH, HAMMERED WORK OF GOLD [(Numbers 8:4)]. What is "hammered work" (miqshah)? As though to say, how difficult (mah qasheh) it is to make, for Moses labored much before the menorah was made, for thus it says, OF HAMMERED WORK SHALL THE MENORAH BE MADE (Exodus 25:31), [like a person who says, how difficult this work is for me!]. And since it was difficult for him, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Moses, take a talent of gold and cast it into the fire and take it out, and it will be made by itself, [as it is said] (ibid.): ITS BASE AND ITS SHAFT, ITS CUPS, ITS KNOBS, AND ITS FLOWERS SHALL BE OF IT. He would strike with the hammer and it would be made by itself; therefore it is said, OF HAMMERED WORK SHALL IT BE MADE (te'aseh) — spelled full with a yod, and not written "you shall make" (ta'aseh) — as though to say, it shall be made by itself. What did Moses do? He took a talent of gold and cast it into the fire, and Moses said: Master of the Universe, behold the talent [is cast into the midst of the fire]; just as You wish, let it be made before You. Immediately the menorah came forth made as it should be. Therefore it is written, ACCORDING TO THE VISION WHICH THE LORD SHOWED MOSES, SO HE MADE THE MENORAH (Numbers 8:4). "Moses made" is not written here, but simply "he made." And who made it? The Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses to warn Aaron [to kindle, as it is said,] WHEN YOU KINDLE. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: If you kindle before Me, I too will guard your souls from every evil thing, so that nothing evil touches you, for your souls are likened to a lamp, as it is said, THE LAMP OF THE LORD IS THE SOUL OF MAN, SEARCHING ALL THE CHAMBERS OF THE BELLY (Proverbs 20:27).