במדבר ח:ב דַּבֵּר֙ אֶֽל־אַֽהֲרֹ֔ן וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֖ אֵלָ֑יו בְּהַֽעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ אֶת־הַנֵּרֹ֔ת אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה יָאִ֖ירוּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת הַנֵּרֽוֹת:

ג וַיַּ֤עַשׂ כֵּן֙ אַֽהֲרֹ֔ן אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה הֶֽעֱלָ֖ה נֵֽרֹתֶ֑יהָ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה ה’ אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה:

ד וְזֶ֨ה מַֽעֲשֵׂ֤ה הַמְּנֹרָה֙ מִקְשָׁ֣ה זָהָ֔ב עַד־יְרֵכָ֥הּ עַד־פִּרְחָ֖הּ מִקְשָׁ֣ה הִ֑וא כַּמַּרְאֶ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֶרְאָ֤ה ה’ אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֔ה כֵּ֥ן עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הַמְּנֹרָֽה:

“2 [And God told Moshe] speak to Aharon and tell him: ‘when you set up[1] the lamps, the seven lamps should shine towards the Menorah [the middle shaft[2]]’.

3 And Aharon did it:  he set up the lamps towards the Menorah; just as God had commanded Moshe’.

4 And this is how the Menorah is made: beaten gold, from its shaft to its flowers  – it shall be beaten; just like the image God showed Moshe, that’s how the Menorah is made.”

There are numerous questions to be asked about this brief, three-versed episode – some textual, others contextual[3]. The larger, contextual question is why was Moshe commanded to relay the message of the first verse at all? This exact instruction was already relayed back in Shemot, during the original instructions for the construction of the Menorah:

שמות כה:לז וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ אֶת־נֵֽרֹתֶ֖יהָ שִׁבְעָ֑ה וְהֶֽעֱלָה֙ אֶת־נֵ֣רֹתֶ֔יהָ וְהֵאִ֖יר עַל־עֵ֥בֶר פָּנֶֽיהָ:

“[And God told Moshe] make seven lamps; and the one who sets up the lamps, he [must cause them] to shine towards [the Menorah]”.

It could be argued that no specific person was specified in this original instruction and therefore the command here was to single-out Aharon as the performer of this responsibility. But, already at the end of Parshat Tetzaveh the Torah connected Aharon’s personal responsibilities concerning the daily ketoret with his personal responsibilities for cleaning and lighting the Menorah (Shemot 30:7-8)! So, if we already know it was supposed to be Aharon from the very beginning, why does God repeat the command here?

Another question:  why does Aharon actually perform this action the moment he’s commanded? God specifically used the language of ‘when you set up’ the lamps, i.e. this is how you should do it when it’s time[4]; and, additionally, two perakim earlier (6:23), when God commanded Aharon and his sons concerning birkhat kohanim – where it specifically says ‘bless the nation’ (with no ‘when’ introduction) Aharon doesn’t bless the nation right then and there! So what inspired/allowed him to immediately perform God’s command here?

And textually problematic is the blatant discrepancy between the Divine command and what Aharon actually subsequently does. The command to Aharon is when he sets up the lamps, he should do it in such a way that the lamps shine towards the middle. Two verbs: when Aharon performs the first (sets up the lamps) the second then needs to be the uniquely, Divinely instructed result (that they will shine towards the middle)[5]. However, when we are given the report of what Aharon did in the next verse, it states:

ג וַיַּ֤עַשׂ כֵּן֙ אַֽהֲרֹ֔ן אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה הֶֽעֱלָ֖ה נֵֽרֹתֶ֑יהָ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה ה’ אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה:

‘and Aharon did it: he set up its lamps toward the Menorah’

While he performed the ‘placing’ action, there’s no mention of the all-important setting up of the ‘shining’ one! The first action (in itself unremarkable and common) is there to specifically set up the second action (uniquely, Divinely instructed); but he’s not recorded as having accomplished that unique, purposefully set-up consequence. And yet, the Torah specifically states ‘and Aharon did it’ and ‘just as God commanded Moshe’!

We are therefore forced to understand that what truly ‘completed’ God’s commandment to Moshe wasn’t in fact the conclusion of the action but its preparation! What this brief episode tells us is that even the preparation stage of merely setting up the lamps so that ultimately they would shine as God desired is also labeled as Aharon completing his charge, ‘just as God commanded Moshe’. And now we can clearly understand why this command is repeated. If we had only read of this command in Shemot, in the context of the building of the Menorah, we would have erroneously assumed that the entire construction – from middle stem to placing the lamps – was only as important as the subsequent service these preparatory stages allowed. However, the Torah records at the beginning of this parsha that this is specifically not the case; the service and its preparations are both important[6].  God is declaring that part and parcel of the significance of the mishkan service is its pre-stages; the effort, energy, material and focus that go into ensuring God’s will is performed as commanded is also similarly labeled ‘just as God commanded Moshe’[7].

In Pirkei Avot (1:15) Shamai describes one of the necessary methods to solidify one’s Torah by: אמור מעט ועשה הרבה – say a little and do a lot. If ‘action’ is his focus (do it a lot vs. a little) why would it be important to ‘say’ at all? Just focus solely on the actions! Rather, while there’s no doubt action is the Torah–solidifying agent according to Shamai, what he’s relaying to us is that any significant action must be founded upon a prior consciousness, an ‘expressed’ introduction to that following action. For then, the subsequent action can be understood as a purposeful expression of a thought-through awareness instead of just a random and undirected behavior. So too, with the service of the mishkan: surely the perfect actualization of the Divine service is the focus, but what we are being taught in this brief episode is that the ultimate action is only truly ‘completed’ when its preparations are purposeful, consciously directed, and correctly performed, too.

Chazal instituted the practice of brakhot – ‘kavanah directors’ – before completing our Divinely obligated mitzvot to reflect this distinct charge. Surely the performance of a mitzvah is the goal, but this goal is only truly and most properly performed when the preparation for its actualization also becomes an essential focus; only when the initial stages that allow the mitzvah to occur are also significant and purposeful in their own right can we truly claim the mitzvah is ‘just as God commanded’.