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Exodus 8:4 “and this is how the lampstand (candlestick) ‎was made, etc.” [I have not figured out, why our author ‎suddenly quotes a verse from Numbers 8,4, instead of using a ‎verse from our portion. Ed.]We have a rule that ‎there are three types of “love” in the universe, (objects of love). ‎‎1) The most common object of love are tangible phenomena. The ‎Torah warns not to “love” certain tangible phenomena. 2) There ‎are some tangible phenomena, which at first glance appear as ‎permissible objects to be loved, but which on closer examination ‎are only symbols of what is permitted to love, i.e. not the object ‎itself but the concepts which the object represent. Therefore, the ‎third type of love is our love for the essence behind the external ‎symbols, the mitzvoth, in this instance, i.e. our love for ‎‎Hashem.‎When we love G’d in this manner, we succeed in helping the ‎‎“sparks” to return to their original habitat as part of the ‎‎Sh’chinah, (as explained in our translation on pages 21-23.)‎It is not permissible for us to ever claim that there exist ‎phenomena in our universe that are totally apart from their ‎origin, from their holy roots. It is up to us to try and find behind ‎phenomena that appear totally divorced from their holy roots, ‎the point of contact through which such a thread, however ‎slender, still exists. According to our author, the ‎פנימיות‎, inner ‎essence, of any phenomenon, is a reflection of this “love.” In ‎order to serve the Lord properly, the worshipper must get hold of ‎this “love” and use it as the vehicle with which he relates to his ‎Creator. He considers that other ‎מדות‎, attributes, virtues, must be ‎used in a similar manner. He claims that there are a total of seven ‎such ‎מדות‎, virtues, and that the seven arms of the lampstand, or ‎candlestick in the Tabernacle, symbolized these seven virtues. He ‎considers Numbers 8,2 as the key phrase in the Torah referring to ‎this concept, when the Torah writes: ‎בהעלותך את הנרות אל מול פני ‏המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות‎, “when you elevate the lights of the ‎lampstand they shall be focused on the center shaft so that all ‎seven lamps will be providing light.” The “centre shaft” ‎symbolizes the Sh’chinah, presence of G’d.‎At that point the Torah continues with the words: ‎וזה מעשה ‏המנורה מקשה‎, “and this is the essential ingredient of this ‎lampstand, it is hammered out of a single piece (of gold)”. This ‎verse teaches that true Judaism when it is practiced with all the ‎required virtues, will result in a completely unified, harmonious ‎personality of the worshipper. It is our task in this multifaceted ‎material universe, to reflect the unity of the Creator by emulating ‎His virtues to the best of our knowledge and ability.‎The Torah underlines this by adding: ‎עד ירכה‎, “to its physical ‎foundation;” this is an allusion to physically permitted love when ‎it serves duly married couples to engage in marital intercourse for ‎the purpose of “uniting” their input through bringing into this ‎universe a child that combines the parents’ best qualities in a ‎single body. [Some of these words are mine, but I trust ‎they reflect the author’s meaning. Ed.] ‎When the Torah relates how G’d set about creating the first ‎human being, (Genesis 1,26) ‎נעשה אדם בצלמנו‎, “let Us make man ‎in our image, etc.” the words ‎בצלמנו כדמותנו‎, “in our image, ‎similar to Our likeness,” are parallel to the description of the ‎candlestick being out of one chunk of gold, ‎עד ירכה עד פרחה‎, ‎colloquially speaking “from head to toe,” i.e. all of it. Although ‎the human being contains parts difficult to associate with ‎sanctity and holiness, as their function is to turn excess food into ‎excrement, for instance, in the final analysis even dung is ‎connected and remains connected to its Creator in heaven. We ‎are asked to relate with love to that aspect of the phenomenon ‎even if its exterior disgusts us. The word ‎פרחה‎ in Numbers 8,4 ‎whose numerical value is 288, clearly is a hidden reference to the ‎‎288 sparks of which we wrote on pages 21-23. The words ‎מקשה ‏היא‎ are an allusion to the ultimate unity of the Sh’chinah, ‎when all of these sparks have returned to its holy origin.‎