The Personal Menorah

And you shall command the Children of Israel that they take for you pure olive oil, pressed, for lighting, to make a light shine out continuously.                                Exodus 27:20

Kli Yakar (17^th century) poses a number of questions on the opening verse of the parasha. Among the questions are the following: why is it that specifically the mitzva of preparing the oil for the menorah is given to Moses personally? Why does this mitzvah appear here, before the tabernacle has been made?

My father explained that the menorah symbolizes the light of Torah. The lesson of the verse is that we must not wait until the Tabernacle has been built to prepare the light. We must kindle the light of Torah at all times, even when we have no tabernacle or temple. For this reason, the Torah uses the word t’zaveh (shall command), the future tense, to teach us that ensuring the light of Torah is an obligation for all generations. This symbolism explains the personal nature of the command as well: the responsibility for keeping the light of Torah and guaranteeing that it will “shine continuously” applies personally to every Jew and should not be delegated.