Who is “He”? Who was the One who Made the Menorah? The future seemed promising. The Jewish people were set to travel the eleven-day journey from Sinai to the Promised Land. In the last two portions, we read the detailed instructions of how the people would camp and travel in an orderly fashion, surrounding - and anchored by - the Temple. Yet, as they embarked on the journey there was a breakdown. Story after story of complaints, rebellion, and rejection of the land of Israel; the eleven-day journey turned into a forty-year venture. How are we to perceive these events? The opening commandment of the Parsha may provide a clue. The Torah reiterates the commandment that Aaron light the Menorah in the Temple. Surprisingly, although this was clearly stated earlier in the book of Exodus, the Torah describes how the Menorah was fashioned: This was the form of the menorah: hammered work of gold, from its base to its flower it was hammered work; according to the form that the Lord had shown Moses, so did he construct the menorah. (Numbers 8:4) Rashi quotes the words “So did he construct the Menorah”, and offers two suggestions as to who this “he” is; who is the one who made the Menorah? So did he construct the Menorah. I.e., the one who made it. The Aggadic Midrash states that it was made by itself through the Holy One, Blessed is He. Rashi offers two interpretations. The first is that the Menorah was made by man (by Moses, according to most opinions), yet the Torah uses the word “he“ because the identity of the creator of the Menorah is not relevant at this point in the story. The second interpretation is that “he” refers to G-d. The Midrash teaches that the Menorah was formed by G-d: “Moses found difficulty with it, the Holy One, blessed is He, said to him, “Cast the talent [equivalent to sixty-four pounds of gold] into the fire, and it will be made by itself. But why is the Torah vague on this matter? Why use the term “he”, instead of clearly stating whether it was G-d or Moses? The Rebbe offers a novel explanation: Both of Rashi’s interpretations are true. “He” refers to both G-d and to Moses, because the Menorah is a partnership between the human and the Divine. Although the final product would be formed by the power of the Divine, the human being must contribute to create the inspiration and spiritual transformation represented by the Menorah. Returning to our opening question, how are we to comprehend the events in our Parsha? Perhaps the Torah begins the portion of the forty year journey by introducing the Menorah in order to teach us that the obstacles and challenges of the journey are not a setback but a critical part of the spiritual development of the people. The Jewish people were tasked with being a Menorah, a light onto the nations. Yet, G-d desired a partnership. The Menorah would be created by itself, and the spiritual light that the Jewish people would reflect would be far greater than anything they could create on their own; yet, they would have to participate in its creation. They would have to work through the difficult task of generating inspiration, faith, and commitment on their own. The journey seems like a complete breakdown of faith and of the values that Moses sought to teach, yet in reality, in these pages we are watching up close the formation of the partnership, the Menorah being made by both the inspiration and blessing from above, but also by human contribution and effort.