ויקרא כ״ד:א׳-ד׳

צו את בני ישראל. זוֹ פָרָשַׁת מִצְוַת הַנֵּרוֹת, וּפָרָשַׁת וְאַתָּה תְּצַוֶּה לֹא נֶאֶמְרָה אֶלָּא עַל סֵדֶר מְלֶאכֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן, לְפָרֵשׁ צֹרֶךְ הַמְּנוֹרָה, וְכֵן מַשְׁמָע: וְאַתָּה סוֹפְךָ לְצַוּוֹת אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל כָּךְ:

צו את בני ישראל COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL [THAT THEY BRING UNTO THEE CLEAR OLIVE OIL, BEATEN, FOR THE LIGHT] — This is the section containing the commandment concerning the lamps, whilst the section beginning with ואתה תצוה (Exodus 27:20 ff.) which also deals with the lamp is only mentioned there for the sake of giving an orderly account of the work of the Tabernacle, to explain what the purpose of the candlestick was — for thus do those words ואתה תצוה imply: “and thou wilt at some future time command the Children of Israel” about this.

שמן זית זך. שְׁלוֹשָׁה שְׁמָנִים יוֹצְאִים מִן הַזַּיִת, הָרִאשׁוֹן קָרוּי זָךְ, וְהֵן מְפֹרָשִׁין בִּמְנָחוֹת (דף פ"ו) וּבְתֹ"כֹּ:

שמן זית זך CLEAR OLIVE OIL — Three different qualities of oil come forth (are extracted) from the olive tree, the first of which is called זך, “clear”. They are all fully explained in Treatise Menachot 86a and in Torath Cohanim (Sifra, Emor, Section 13 1-3).

תמיד. מִלַּיְלָה לְלַיְלָה, כְּמוֹ עוֹלַת תָּמִיד, שֶׁאֵינָהּ אֶלָּא מִיּוֹם לְיוֹם:

תמיד (continually not continuously) here implies from night to night. It has the same meaning as in עולת תמיד a “continual” burnt offering which was only sacrificed from day to day (cf. Rashi on Exodus 27:20).

לפרכת העדת. שֶׁלִּפְנֵי הָאָרוֹן שֶׁהוּא קָרוּי עֵדוּת; וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ דָרְשׁוּ עַל נֵר מַעֲרָבִי, שֶׁהוּא עֵדוּת לְכָל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם שֶׁהַשְּׁכִינָה שׁוֹרָה בְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁנּוֹתֵן בָּהּ שֶׁמֶן כְּמִדַּת חַבְרוֹתֶיהָ, וּמִמֶּנָּה הָיָה מַתְחִיל וּבָהּ הָיָה מְסַיֵּם (שבת כ"ב; מנחות פ"ו):

לפרכת העדת [WITHOUT] THE PARTITION VAIL OF THE TESTIMONY — i. e. the Partition Vail which is before the Ark which on account of its contents (the Tablets, termed לחות העדות in Exodus 37:15) is called “Testimony”. Our Rabbis, however, explained it (the word העדות) as referring to the western light of the candlestick which was a testimony (עדות) to mankind that the Shechinah dwelt in Israel through the miracle wrought in connection with it; for he (the priest) put only as much oil into it as was the quantity put into the other lamps and yet he began the lighting of the other lamps in the evening by it and finished the work of cleaning with it [since it continued to burn miraculously until the following evening] (Sifra, Emor, Section 13 9; Shabbat 22b; Menachot 86b).

יערך אתו אהרן מערב עד בקר. יַעֲרֹךְ אוֹתוֹ עֲרִיכָה הָרְאוּיָה לְמִדַּת כָּל הַלַּיְלָה, וְשִׁעֲרוּ חֲכָמִים חֲצִי לֹג לְכָל נֵר וָנֵר, וְהֵן כְּדַאי אַף לְלֵילֵי תְּקוּפַת טֵבֵת, וּמִדָּה זוֹ הֻקְבְּעָה לָהֶם (מנחות פ"ט):

יערך אתו אהרן מערב עד בקר AARON SHALL SET IT IN ORDER FROM EVENING UNTO MORNING — The meaning is not that he shall occupy himself the whole night with setting the lights in order, but he shall arrange it in such a manner (lit., by such an arrangement) that will prove adequate for the length of the whole night. Our Rabbis by experiment (cf. Menachot 89a) fixed the quantity at a half log oil for each lamp, ascertaining that this would suffice also in the long nights of the Teveth quarter; and this quantity therefore became to them the fixed measure [for all the seasons of the year].

המנרה הטהרה. שֶׁהִיא זָהָב טָהוֹר; דָּ"אַ עַל טָהֳרָהּ שֶׁל מְנוֹרָה, שֶׁמְּטַהֲרָהּ וּמְדַשְּׁנָהּ תְּחִלָּה מִן הָאֵפֶר (עי' ספרא):

המנרה הטהרה THE PURE CANDELABRUM — It was so called because it was made of pure gold. Another explanation is: he shall set the lights in order upon the purity of the candlestick, implying that he must first purify (cleanse) it and remove its ashes beforehand (the words therefore mean: on a clean candlestick; cf., however, Sifra, Emor, Section 13 12 where the word is explained differently).