THE MENORAH - NOT A RELIGOUS ICON?

By Rabbi Sholem B. Hecht

An Essay

          In recent years we have witnessed a raging debate which has taken on legalistic ramifications, concerning the identification of the Menorah. Is the Menorah a religious object? is the Menorah a nationalistic symbol? or is the Menorah a cultural object?

          The reason this question has arisen and has fought it's way to the supreme courts of the United States is because in many cities, where Jewish communities have gathered together to set up public Menorahs in public areas, other groups have claimed that this is religious coercion and an infringement on separation of church and state. For this reason they have fought the rights of these groups to set up public Menorahs.

The supreme court has ruled that the public Menorah's are legal and that people have a right under freedom of expression to set up Menorah's and to light them in public areas, and this does not constitute a support of any organized religion by the state.

          In the course of this discussion the Supreme Court has accepted that the Menorah is in fact not a religious object and not a religious icon. At first glance this seems a bit strange. Being that the Menorah is used in a religious ceremony, as such one should think that it is therefore a religious object?

Deciphering Holy from Unholy

          Let us for a moment understand how Judaism sees various objects in day to day life and what is considered a religious object and what is mundane or profane and what is considered holy. Certainly, when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem there were many utensils and objects in the Temple which were made exclusively for use in the precincts of the Holy Temple, they could not be taken out of those precincts and if for some reason they were contaminated by some level of Tumah, which is (spiritual contamination) then one could no longer use them and they became disqualified. They had to be made out of special materials, they had to be made under spiritually pure conditions and they could only be used in a certain way. One was not permitted to use the utensils of the Temple in a mundane or profane manner. So much so, that the Talmud says, that even if one tries to copy the ingredients of the incense used in the Temple that could incur the death penalty.

          The Talmud says that when the Jewish people of Persia were invited as guests to Achashverosh's party at the end of three years of his reign, their attendance at the party was considered by G-d to be sinful because Achashverosh brought out many of the stolen vessels and utensils of the Temple which he placed on the tables for “show” and perhaps even used them in a profane manner. The Jews participated and celebrated at that party and in that sense they desecrated the holiness of those articles and holy vessels. There are objects and vessels and things which according to Jewish history, Jewish culture and Jewish law can be put into a category of holy or religious utensils.       

          Let us go to the other extreme for a moment, let us take mundane things that we use on an every day basis, such as clothing or candelabras. We find that the Talmud designates and describes certain levels of holiness of different objects. There are things which are called "Davar ShebeKedusha - items of holiness, and the basic rule seems to be that outside of the Temple anything which has written on it words of prayer which includes the name of Hashem, are considered to be something of primary holiness. On the other hand, things that are used surrounding those parchments and utensils that have the name of Hashem on them, are only considered to be secondary items used in the performance of a Mitzvah. Even a Tallis which clearly is used for prayer is not something which is called "Dovor SheBikedusha" it's only something which is categorized as “Tashmishei Kodesh - something which is used at a time when a person prays. It does not have to be buried in a geneeza-depository for holy items and books, it may just be thrown out.

          In a sense, if we are searching for levels of holiness in physical objects, you could start by saying anything which the Torah says that if one copies or contaminates it would be considered a sin, those things certainly are on the level of holy objects or religious objects. On the other hand, we also agree, that if a Jew uses anything in the pursuit of his Divine service that thing attains a certain level of holiness, but in no way does it become a "Dovor ShebeKedusha” - meaning an object which is a religious object. That includes also when you use any daily object for a Mitzvah, the chair that you sit on when you study Torah, the food that you eat which gives you the energy to do good deeds, the money that is donated to Charity. All of these objects carry with them a “glow” or an after-glow of holiness which uplifts them and, according to the teachings of Chassidus, brings them to a state of fulfillment because in their own physical existence they have attained a level of completion or spiritual fulfillment.

Intrinsic Holiness 

          Thus, at one extreme we have those things which are inherently and intrinsically holy or religious articles, icons in a sense. On the other hand, we have those things which are used from time to time and therefore have some aspect of holiness connected with them, but no one would imagine that those things would fit into the category of religious objects.

          Then we have those objects which are used on a regular basis for some ritual such as the Sabbath candelabra or the Chanukah Menorah, or even the cloth that is used to cover the Challah's on the table on Shabbos, the Kiddush cup and so on. The truth of the matter is that all these items have no intrinsic holiness in them. After all, the Menorah that you use on Chanukah can be made out of a piece of wood, clay, silver, even though the Shulchan Aruch advises that one who wishes to fulfill the Mitzvah in a more beautiful manner should use a more precious metal, certainly if you take bottle caps fill them with oil or put a candle in them, then you've fulfilled the Mitzvah of lighting the candles on Chanukah. In fact you don't even need a Menorah, all you have to do is stand up a candle on the first night of Chanukah and light it and you have fulfilled the Mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah Menorah. Thus, the Menorah only becomes a servant to the Mitzvah or an ancillary object which helps us in fulfilling the Mitzvah.

          Thus, in the true sense the Menorah itself is not a religious object, it certainly does not have any holiness in the sense of something which becomes intrinsically holy because it is an object which embodies in itself holiness or religious importance. The Menorah perhaps is more of a symbol than the chair that we sit on when we pray, but on the other hand it does not attain a level of becoming a religious object in the true sense of the word.