This week's parsha, Beha'alotecha, and the Talmudic elucidation of it, discusses the manner in which the Kohain-Priest would kindle the Menorah in the Temple. In order to light the Menorah, the Kohain would go up three steps to be able to reach the top of the Menorah which stood about six feet tall.

The difficulty with the use of these steps was that it appears to contradict the Torah's clear prohibition for the Kohain to climb stairs as he would approach the Altar. Instead of a staircase, the Torah requires that a ramp be built. And the reason given for the prohibition against climbing stairs to reach the top of the Altar was to avoid taking wide strides that would expose the Kohain to the Altar. And even though the Altar was an inanimate object, the Torah wanted to teach us sensitivity even to a rock, how much more so to a fellow human being.

That being the case, why was there no ramp built for the lighting of the Menorah?

One answer that can be offered that sheds some light on the way we must display sensitivity towards others is based on the different roles of the Altar and the Menorah. The Altar was intended primarily to bring about atonement for the sins of the people who brought the offerings. Even the daily offering served to cleanse the people of certain sins. Now when a person is down and broken because he or she realizes how they've become degraded because of their sins, while the Kohain is climbing up to the Altar, a wide moral gulf between the two is thereby created.

On the one hand, we have a lowly and broken hearted sinner; on the other hand we have a spiritual giant, who is climbing to greater heights in the process of offering the sacrifice on behalf of the lowly sinner.

At a time like that it is critical that the Kohain should not act condescendingly by demonstrating how he is rising to greater heights and is vastly superior to the sinner. And while it is necessary for the one who helps another rise from the dust to enjoy a measure of distance from the lowly individual, in order to lift him up, it must always be performed with utmost sensitivity?with a healthy dose of modesty. There should be no sense of superiority. Don't make the sinner feel more rejected, dejected and lowly than he or she already feels. On the contrary, gently lift them up, slowly but surely; take them with you on your journey to higher places.

By contrast, the Menorah was not intended for the sinners. It was intended to kindle the souls of the Jewish people so that their souls, already on fire, can climb higher and higher. For people of this caliber it is crucial that each one recognizes their place. They must know that there is a hierarchy; every person must know his or her spiritual location and not think they are on par with someone who is more spiritual. If we can't recognize the fact that someone is on a higher rung, we will never feel the need to grow. A sense of complacency will set in.

Moreover, if we err about where we belong on the ladder of spiritual development, not only will it retard our growth; it might cause us to lose balance and fall backwards, G-d forbid.

Thus, when lighting the Menorah, the Kohain had to climb a set of stairs that accentuated the different levels and grades, to indicate that the objective of the Menorah lighting was to rise to the highest rung, putting misguided modesty aside.

With this premise we can also answer one of the questions asked by commentators as to why the Torah emphasizes that Aaron did precisely as he was told. Why would anyone think that Aaron would not comply with the commandment given to him to light the Menorah?

Perhaps, we might suggest that since lighting the Menorah involved recognizing the need to put aside modesty for the sake of growing and helping others grow, Aaron might have not complied with this because of his modesty. Aaron by nature was one of the people. Everyone loved him precisely because he did not act as a leader, but worked within the community. Aaron's personality shunned the notion of him climbing a ladder to show the way for others to grow. As such, he might have not been able to perform this particular service with precision.

To dispel this notion, the Torah tells us that Aaron did not deviate even one iota from the commandment to kindle the Menorah. Even before his personality of modesty came his loyalty and devotion to G-d. Aaron, in effect, transcended his own spiritual nature of humility to conform to G-d's will. And, in the final analysis, that approach did more for the people than misplaced modesty.

It is not easy to strike a balance between modesty, when dealing with a person whom we have to help climb out of the morass, on the one hand, and the lighting of our own soul's flame, where modesty takes a back seat, on the other hand. To alternate between these two opposite sentiments requires the transcendence of our own nature.

One individual who will be capable of performing this balancing act will be the Moshiach. On the one hand, Moshiach will be a powerful monarch, whom everyone will recognize for his superior spirituality. At the same time, Moshiach will be recognized as the most humble person. One of Moshiach's tasks is to imbue us with the ability to combine the two by helping us reveal the essence of our souls. When that essence is revealed we can transcend all the other aspects of our personality.