Good lighting

Taken from Geshmak Torah
Posted by Zev ben Menachem

There were four keilim that were kept inside the Mishkan – the Shulchan (table), the Aron (Ark), the Mizbeach (altar) and the Menora.

וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר מִבַּיִת וּמִחוּץ תְּצַפֶּנּוּ וְעָשִׂיתָ עָלָיו זֵר זָהָב סָבִיב – And you shall overlay it with pure gold; from inside and from outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make upon it a golden crown all around. (25:11) – Aron

וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ זֵר זָהָב סָבִיב – And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and you shall make for it a golden crown all around. (25:24) – Shulchan

וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר אֶת גַּגּוֹ וְאֶת קִירֹתָיו סָבִיב וְאֶת קַרְנֹתָיו וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ זֵר זָהָב סָבִיב - You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its walls all around, and its horns; and you shall make for it a golden crown all around. (30:3) – Mizbeach

The Aron, Shulchan, and Mizbeach all had “crowns”, a gold design that bordered their edges, whereas the Menora is the odd one out, it had no crowns. What is the cause of tis discrepancy?

The Mishna in Avos 4:17 says רבי שמעון אומר, שלושה כתרים הן–כתר תורה, וכתר כהונה, וכתר מלכות; וכתר שם טוב, עולה על גביהן – R’ Shimon said, “There are three crowns – the crown of Torah, the crown of Kehuna (priesthood), and the crown of malchus (royalty) – and the crown of a good name supercedes (is better than) all.

The Aron represents the crown of Torah, as that was where the Torah was kept. The Mizbeach represents the crown of Kehuna, as the Avoda was the Kohanim’s job. The Shulchan represents the crown of malchus, as a table represents prestige and prosperity. But what is a crown of a good name, the כתר שם טוב, and why is it עולה על גביהן, better than the other three?

The Shem Mi’Shmuel answers this using Koheles 7:1 טוֹב שֵׁם, מִשֶּׁמֶן טוֹב – A good name is more precious than good oil. The nature of oil is to diffuse, to spread out, so too does a good name spread.

The Menora’s function was candles fuelled by oil – by it’s very nature it must diffuse. The Menora could not have a crown, as a crown’s power and sphere of influence are confined to within the crown’s empire, and if it were to have a crown, it would limit the function the Menora served.

We can read this into the Mishna too – the כתר שם טוב is not an actual crown – it diffuses, and spreads further than the three crowns. As an aside, if it were an actual crown (to the degree the others are), then surely the Mishna would have said “There are four crowns” instead of the three, above which is שם טוב.