The Unity of the Menorah

Just as the Menorah was fashioned from a single chunk of gold, not a composite of various sections, so Aaron understood that his function was to create a unity here on earth that would parallel the unity in Heaven, described by the reference to "the seven lights". This he was to do by means of kindling the Menorah.

The fact that this unity was to be expressed in the seven flames burning as a single flame, all the wicks being turned toward the center shaft, was conveyed by the word, "as the vision" - i.e. of the celestial Menorah - shown Moses before he had instructed Bezalel how to construct the Menorah for the Tabernacle.

According to some sources, G-d Himself had to make the single block of gold from which the Menorah was to be fashioned. Bezalel threw the gold into a crucible and a chunk shaped like the Menorah emerged. The absence of Bezalel's name in verse 4 is the Torah's way of hinting at what had occurred during its manufacture. When the Torah states "hammered it shall be made" (Ex. 25:31), instead of "hammered you shall make it", this suggested already that Bezalel was not considered capable of producing such a casting in a single block. G-d Himself would arrange for such a shape, as had been shown to Moses, to emerge from the crucible.

All of these happenings made it easy for Aaron to realize that the manner of kindling the Menorah had to be such that the lights would merge into a single flame, just as the Menorah itself was a single unit. In addition, once Aaron did kindle the Menorah in accordance with G-d's instructions as relayed by Moses, the Menorah itself could be described as having been made [completed] by him. The words "so he did", then mean, "since he was the one who made the Menorah fulfill its function, it was as if he himself had made it."