Mitzvot Give Light

Parshat תצוה begins with the commandment to take pure olive oil to be used for the lighting of the Menorah.

The Torah uses the words, ויקחו אליך, that you should take for yourselves. It would have been more correct to say that we are to “give” the שמן זית to the Temple, for the use of the Menorah.

The message here is that the light is really not for Hashem, but for us. Hashem is light, as His essence is purity and holiness, as symbolized by the light. But the light is really for us so that we are enlightened and elevated. Darkness is the absence of light and represents evil and corruption.

We are to remember the expression, כי נר מצוה ותורה, that the candle is a Mitzva, and the Torah is light. The light that we are to receive, comes by way of doing Mitzvot.

Mitzvot benefit man. Whether it is the light of Shabbat, which is a taste of the World to Come, or the specialness of the Pesach Seder, and the holidays, these observances bring light to our homes.

This is why we are told to “take” the olive oil. We are to benefit from that light as we observe Mitzvot, and our very lives are illuminated.