Why God Asks Israel to Kindle Light for the Light of the World

"When you set up the lamps" (Numbers 8:2). This is what Scripture says: "For You light my lamp, [the LORD my God brightens my darkness]" (Psalms 18:29). Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, You say that we should give light before You? You are the Light of the world, and light dwells with You, as it is written: "He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him" (Daniel 2:22). Yet You say, "Toward the face of the menorah shall the seven lamps give light" (Numbers 8:2)! Hence, "For You light my lamp." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: It is not that I need your light, but that you should give light to Me just as I gave light to you, in order to exalt you before all the nations, so that they will say: See how Israel gives light to the One who gives light to all! To what may the matter be compared? To a sighted man and a blind man who were walking along the road. The sighted man said to the blind man: Come, and I will support you. And he supported him and they walked. When they entered the city and came into the house, the sighted man said to the blind man: Go out and kindle this lamp for me and give me light. The blind man said to him: While I was on the road, you supported me until I entered the house, and you accompanied me; and now you say to me, "Go out and kindle this lamp for me and give me light"? The sighted man said to him: So that you should not feel beholden to me for having accompanied you on the road, therefore I told you, "Give light to Me." So too, the sighted man is the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said: "The eyes of the LORD, they range through all the earth" (Zechariah 4:10). And the blind man is Israel, as it is said: "We grope like the blind along a wall" (Isaiah 59:10). And the Holy One, blessed be He, was leading them and giving them light, as it is said: "And the LORD went before them by day [in a pillar of cloud]" (Exodus 13:21). When the Tabernacle was set up, the Holy One, blessed be He, called to Moses and said to him: Tell them that they should give light to Me, as it is said: "Speak to the children of Israel... when you set up [the lamps]." Israel said to the Holy One, blessed be He: "For You light my lamp"—and You say that we should give light to You? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: In order to exalt you I told you to give light to Me, just as I gave light to you. Therefore it is said: "When you set up."