The menorah (Hebrew: מנורה), is a seven branched candelabra to be lit by Olive oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. The menorah is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people. It said to symbolize the burning bush as seen by Moses on mount Sinai (exodus 25).

Ancient use

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A menorah used in the Tabernacle (the portable sanctuary used by the Jews) and later in its successor, the Temple in Jerusalem was beaten from a single piece of gold. Seven lamps burning olive oil were located at the end of each branch. Since the destruction of the Temple, the seven-branched menorah has had no formal role in Jewish worship. Because of the sanctity of the Temple and its appointments, some authorities forbid the manufacture of menorah resembling the one used there.Mishneh Torah Avodah Laws of the Temple 7:9

Origin

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The Torah states that God revealed the design for the menorah to Moses. A plant that grows in Israel called the moriah typically has seven branches and resembles a menorah, leading to the theory that it provided the inspiration for its design. According to some readings, Maimonides stated that the menorah in the Temple had straight branches, not rounded as is often depicted. (See http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol12/v12n065.shtml#12 for a discussion of this issue.) Jewish depictions of the menorah dating back to Temple times, along with the depiction on the Arch of Titus showing the Romans taking the looted Menorah to Rome after the Temple's destruction, contradict this claim.

A second theory to the origin of the design of the menorah is based on what is known about ancient Hebrew cosmology. According to this theory, the seven branches represent the seven heavenly bodies known at the time, namely the sun and the moon, as well as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Jewish historian Josephus alludes to this in the Third Book of his Antiquities of the Jews. In it, he identifies what he interprets as Egyptian and Grecian pagan influences on the design of the Tabernacle and its contents. He writes: "...for if any one do without prejudice, and with judgment, look upon these things, he will find that they were every one made in way of imitation and representation of the universe...and as to the seven lamps upon the candlesticks, they referred to the course of the planets, of which that is the number....".

A third theory is that the menorah originated as the tree of life symbolizing the mother goddess Asherah (see "Asherah, the Tree of Life and the Menorah". Of course, in the Pentateuch, it has been purged of all polytheistic symbolism.

Fate

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The fate of the menorah used in the Second Temple is uncertain. A depiction of it is preserved on the Arch of Titus that still stands today in Rome. The menorah is said to have remained in Rome until its sack by the Vandals in AD 455, but the Byzantine army under General Belisarius took it back in the 6th century and brought it to Constantinople. Thereafter, no further mention appears in any Byzantine source.

Modern use

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Many synagogues display either a menorah or an artistic representation of a menorah. In addition, synagogues feature a continually-lit lamp in front of the Ark, where the Torah scroll is kept. Called the ner tamid, this lamp represents the continually-lit menorah used in Temple times. A menorah appears in the Coat of arms of the State of Israel.

References

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• Mishneh Torah Avodah Laws of the Temple 3:1-10

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