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Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk.  | | " The windows in the Temple were...to illuminate the outside world" | | |
People might have thought that, seeing that there were
no windows inside the Tabernacle, there was a need for the lights of the
Menorah, whereas in the Temple, which was equipped with windows (Kings I 6:4),
there was no need for interior illumination. The Book of Kings makes a point of
stating that the windows in the Temple were very narrow on the inside and wide
on the outside, suggesting that their purpose was not to let light enter, but,
on the contrary, to illuminate the outside world with the spiritual light
contained therein. Our sages (Tanchuma Behaalotcha 2) phrased it thus:
when the average person builds himself a house, he arranges for the windows to
be narrow on the outside and wide on the inside in order to admit the maximum
amount of daylight. Solomon did the reverse. He made the windows narrow on the
inside and wide on the outside in order for the Temple to radiate the maximum
amount of spiritual light to the outside world. This conveyed the message that
the entire Temple was a source of light, and that G-d most certainly did not
require man-made light to light up the interior for Him.
[Selected from the seven-volume English edition of "The
Torah Commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya".]
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