Mindful Torah...and more

Mistakes do happen. I accidentally posted a commentary for last week's Torah portion earlier today instead of this week's. please accept my apologies . I hope you will find this one enlightening anyway. Pun intended :-) shabbat shalom

This week's parashah is Be'haalotekha (Numbers/ Be'midbar 8:1-12:16). At the end of the last parashah , immediately following the completion of the building of the mishkan / sanctuary, God spoke to Moses from between the wings of the cherubim that hovered over the Ark. In the opening line of Be'haalotekha Moses God tells Moses that he must instruct Aaron concerning his ascent to kindle the lights of the seven-branch menorah in the mishkan . The light of the menorah represents, among other things, the light of the Divine. The Kabbalists/ mystics imagined that the seven branches of the menorah represented the seven lower sefirot /divine emanations or attributes that human beings can experience in this world. Light as representing God's presence is also found in the image of the fire enshrouded in the cloud that hovered over the mishkan signifying God's presence. According to the text, the fire/presence of God would be seen within a cloud over the mishkan...