ועשית מנרת זהב טהור מקשה תיעשה המנורה ירכה וקנה גביעיה כפתריה ופרחיה ממנה יהיו ... (כה-לא)
The Menorah was intricately ornamented and designed, all from one chunk of gold. What is the deeper message that lies therein? Why is this holy vessel from the others? There’s a pshat said over from the Chasam Sofer zt”l explaining this posuk. He says that even the way we attempt to explain the Torah and expound on it must be "ממנה" - originating and derived from Torah sources, and not from outside influences. Those years were extremely turbulent ones; with the different “isms” (conservative, reform, haskala, etc.) wreaking havoc on so many Yidden, who nebech fell prey to the negative ideologies of the times. This is perhaps the driving thought behind the pshat of the Chasam Sofer.
Another explanation can be as follows. The Menorah corresponds to the Torah. The כפתרים and פרחים can metaphorically be referring to all the other beautiful and enjoyable aspects of life. The Torah is teaching that even those “other” things in life must be "ממנה". For example, the vacations, excursions, downtime we tend to busy ourselves with are not antithetical to a Torah life. Rather, they must be conjoined with the ratzon Hashem and the Torah. We must always be cognizant of the fact that Hashem resides even in the most obscure vacation spots.
This idea is an excellent complement to the vort said by tzadikim on the words of Chazal, קבעת עתים לתורה. They explain that this refers to the posukim in Koheles which list the famous 28 עתים: "עת ללדת ועת למות עת לטעת ועת לעקור נטוע. עת להרוג ועת לרפוא עת לפרוץ ועת לבנות. עת לבכות ועת לשחוק עת ספוד ועת רקוד. עת להשליך אבנים ועת כנוס אבנים עת לחבוק ועת לרחק מחבק. עת לבקש ועת לאבד עת לשמור ועת להשליך. עת לקרוע ועת לתפור עת לחשות ועת לדבר. עת לאהב ועת לשנא עת מלחמה ועת שלום."
After 120 years on this earth, we will be asked if all of our עתים were in sync with the Torah’s way of life. Let us sincerely hope that in all our actions we can be מקדש שם שמים, living our lives as Torah true Jews 24/ 7.