The sidre of today began with the instruction: “Command the Israelite people to take for yourself clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.” The expression in Hebrew is “ner Tamid”, the same as the eternal light that is above every Aaron haKodesh in every synagogue. However, in our synagogues the ner tamid is lit all the time, while this one is continuously lit, daily, “[to burn] from evening to morning before Adonai regularly” just as God’s light guiding our ancestors in the desert. The word “tamid” in Hebrew means both perpetually and regularly. “Tamid” therefore represents two important rhythms: the persistent, non-ending; and that which reoccurs.
North American academic Bex Stern-Rosenblatt teaches "a beautiful midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 31:4) recounting a conversation between God and Adam shortly after the formation of the world, the creation of all that light. We read that God said to Adam: “Your light is in my hands and my light is in your hands.” The source text for our light being in God’s hands is Proverbs 20:27, “The light of God is the soul of man.” The source text for God’s light being in our hands is our parashah, “to light a continual light.” We both hold each other, our souls form God’s light from which our souls are then formed. So perhaps God does need us to light the menorah. Perhaps God’s eternal light is dependent on our eternal lighting.”
In the Temple there was another fire which was never extinguished, established in Leviticus 6:6 “A perpetual fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out.” There was an eternal light, but it wasn’t a lamp and it wasn’t the menorah, it was the esh tamid on the altar, from which the lamps would be kindled each and every day. And it was never to be extinguished.[1]
These two fires are symbolic Judaism and of our communal and individual lives as Jews. To be a Jew is an individual choice, a daily choice. Every day, when morning comes, we decide to begin a new day as Jews. We light our Jewish light within ourselves and keep the Jewish rituals that we chose for our daily routines: some of us more, some of us less. This is our lamp, our personal Ner Tamid: the reoccurring one. However, as a community, we have to maintain a central fire, where all the lamps can be rekindled. This eternal flame can only be found here, inside the synagogue. It is represented by this Ner Tamid, this is our Esh Tamid, our persistent, never-ending fire.
In the times of the Temple, the Esh Tamid was “an open flame, a visible pillar of fire, casting heat and light, the engine of combustion generating noise and smoke”, while our Ner Tamid, the one we find in synagogues today is “distant from that sensory experience. It is a symbol of a symbol.”[2] Therefore, it is even harder to be maintained, and that is our challenge nowadays. While keeping Judaism is a silent light, noises around us seem to preach the extinction of our flames.
A light that burns or is lit forever does not seem to need much care. Once in a while the oil has to be refilled or the bulb of the light has to be changed. However, a light that has to be lit daily needs dedication, discipline, intention-kavanah. As per parashat Emor’s text, this is not a task for one person, but for the whole Israelite people. We are all commanded to bring the oil and light the flame, every night. What could have been an individual action, is commanded as a community action. This is a light that brings the whole people together.
In order to keep the Ner Tamid burning we need each other, we need the Esh Tamid. By being together, building strong congregations, vibrant communities and a new united movement, we are maintaining the Esh Tamid alive. By being present in our communities, by keeping Judaism alive and relevant in our homes, we are constantly lighting the fire of our Ner Tamid.
We need to understand the importance of rekindling our Jewish flame every day. To establish routines, as difficult as they may seem to be, to connect us to our personal Ner Tamid. But we also need to have always in mind the importance of maintaining the Esh Tamid, the central eternal flame, eternally. We have to feed the fire, renew it, keep it burning, so that we can spread this light, as it is taught in parashat Emor: Each one of us will set up the lights over the Menorah before God Tamid – regularly, persistently.
Shabbat Shalom.
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