Weekly Bible Chapter: Deep Math: The Indivisible One by Michal Kohane
Published: February 17, 2026
Kabbalistic insights into the structure of the Menorah and the Torah
The Menorah was made of 7 branches, 9 flowers, 11 knobs, and 22 cups, as described in Exodus 25:31-29. The Kabbalists say that the Menorah is like the whole Torah because it constantly sheds light. They tell us how its construction symbolizes it:
In the 1st verse of the Book of Genesis, there are 7 words, like the 7 branches.
In the 1st verse of the Book of Exodus, there are 11 words, like the 11 knobs.
In the 1st verse in the Book of Leviticus, there are 9 words, like the 9 flowers.
In the 1st verse of the Book of Deuteronomy, there are 22 words, like the 22 cups.
Last, if we add all these (7+9+11+22), we’ll get 49, same as the number of days between Passover and Shavuot, and the walk from slavery to freedom, to coming to Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. Inside both words, Torah and Menorah, hides the word “or”, light. This was the first thing God created, which the Torah immediately defined as “good”.
The Menorah is not a “thing” made of many parts. Rather, it is many parts of an indivisible One.
Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah.
What is 929?
For more details, read https://www.929.org.il/pages/aboutEN.html
Postscript of Avraham Norin
I thoroughly enjoyed Michal Kohane‘s teaching of the connection the Menorah haswith the starting verses of the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. However, you might wonder (as I did), how do the 17 words of the first verse of Numbers fit into this picture?
In her original post, Michal Kohane suggested that the 17 verses from Numbers connect with the 17 tefachs (tefach being the Biblical measurement of about one fist wide) of the Menorah’s height. Although the Talmud states the Menorah was 18 tefachs high, there is a Kabbalistic tradition from the Ari who felt the Menorah’s height was actually 17, and a bit, tefachs.
I would like to show another connection between the Menorah and the 17 words from the first verse of the Book of Numbers. We find that Solomon did not only make one Menorah, as there was in the Tabernacle. Rather, he built tenMenorahs for the Temple:
וַ֠יַּ֠עַשׂ אֶת מְנֹר֧וֹת הַזָּהָ֛ב עֶ֖שֶׂר כְּמִשְׁפָּטָ֑ם וַיִּתֵּן֙ בַּֽהֵיכָ֔ל חָמֵ֥שׁ מִיָּמִ֖ין וְחָמֵ֥שׁ מִשְּׂמֹֽאול׃
He made ten lampstands of gold as prescribed, and placed them in the Great Hall, five on the right and five on the left. (The Book of Chronicles 2, chapter 4, verse 7)
Why did he do that? The verse says he did this כְּמִשְׁפָּטָ֑ם. This word is often translated to mean “as prescribed”. However, it can also be translated “as those sentences“. If this is indeed the translation of the word, we can understand Solomon’s calculations. He understood that the Menorah needed to connect to all the sentencesstarting each Book of the Torah. While the sentences of four of the Books were clearly represented through the 7 branches (Genesis), the 11 knobs (Exodus), the 9 flowers (Leviticus), and the 22 cups (Deuteronomy), the 17 words in the first verse of Numbers were without representation. Therefore, he built ten seven-branched Menorahs, which represented the number 17. Solomon then places five of the Menorahs on the right of the sanctuary and five on the left of the sanctuary. Placing the ten seven-branched Menorahs in this way exemplified the equal representation from all five Books of the Torah in the Temple. This idea of the combination of the Temple with the Torah can also be found in the last verse of Psalm 93:
עֵֽדֹתֶ֨יךָ נֶאֶמְנ֬וּ מְאֹ֗ד לְבֵיתְךָ֥ נַאֲוָה קֹ֑דֶשׁ ה’ לְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמִֽים׃ {פ}
Your decrees are indeed enduring;
holiness befits Your house,
O ETERNAL One, for all times