Extending the Almond Branch: The Menorah Vayakhel-Pekudei 5781

(17) He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand—its base and its shaft—of hammered work; its cups, calyxes, and petals were of one piece with it. (18) Six branches issued from its sides: three branches from one side of the lampstand, and three branches from the other side of the lampstand. (19) There were three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on one branch; and there were three cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on the next branch; so for all six branches issuing from the lampstand. (20) On the lampstand itself there were four cups shaped like almond-blossoms, each with calyx and petals: (21) a calyx, of one piece with it, under a pair of branches; and a calyx, of one piece with it, under the second pair of branches; and a calyx, of one piece with it, under the last pair of branches; so for all six branches issuing from it. (22) Their calyxes and their stems were of one piece with it, the whole of it a single hammered piece of pure gold. (23) He made its seven lamps, its tongs, and its fire pans of pure gold. (24) He made it and all its furnishings out of a talent of pure gold.

(16) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (17) Speak to the Israelite people and take from them—from the chieftains of their ancestral houses—one staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house: twelve staffs in all. Inscribe each man’s name on his staff, (18) there being one staff for each head of an ancestral house; also inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. (19) Deposit them in the Tent of Meeting before the Pact, where I meet with you. (20) The staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout, and I will rid Myself of the incessant mutterings of the Israelites against you. (21) Moses spoke thus to the Israelites. Their chieftains gave him a staff for each chieftain of an ancestral house, twelve staffs in all; among these staffs was that of Aaron. (22) Moses deposited the staffs before the LORD, in the Tent of the Pact. (23) The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Pact, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds.

(9) The LORD put out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: Herewith I put My words into your mouth. (10) See, I appoint you this day Over nations and kingdoms:

To uproot and to pull down,

To destroy and to overthrow,

To build and to plant.

(11) The word of the LORD came to me: What do you see, Jeremiah? I replied: I see a branch of an almond (shaked) tree. (12) The LORD said to me: You have seen right, For I am watchful (shoked) to bring My word to pass.

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, do this: take some of the choice products of the land in your baggage, and carry them down as a gift for the man—some balm and some honey, gum, ladanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds.