On Light, Fire, Being Commanded and Memory

This week’s Torah portion, T’tzaveh, Shmot (Exodus) 27:20-30:10 starts with a commandment from God for Moses to command the Children of Israel concerning the lighting of the Menorah (Candelabrum) of the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai.  There is a lot to unpack in this opening, in only two verses of text – a ritual object, the symbols of light and fire, and first, trying to understand what it means to be commanded.

I’ve worked with a lot of students and teachers in the last 20 years, and one thing that seems increasingly difficult to understand and accept in the 21^st Century is the notion of being commanded.  It seems that for many people, a long list of electives and options are constantly available, and the notion of being commanded, that there is an authority that dictates prescribed behaviors, has become rather quaint or outdated.  We pick and choose our behaviors, positive and negative, we pick and choose our affiliations, and in the freedom that is present day America, we even have the opportunity to try on different belief systems (or at the very least, different paths within the same belief system).

This sense of personal autonomy and freedom from commandment, has led to a decrease in communal activities and shared experiences.  When I was a child, we all watched World of Disney and Ed Sullivan on Sunday nights, we heard the same songs played on the radio – we had shared cultural experiences as a community; now everyone has their own playlist, and everything is available on demand – and we have fewer shared cultural experiences.  It could be, that for those attending synagogue, the weekly Torah reading is one of few cultural experiences that the worldwide Jewish community still shares in real time (more or less) each week.

Moses is commanded (from the beginning of last week’s portion about the construction of the Tabernacle and the series of commands continues into this week’s; the name of Moses is not mentioned in this week’s portion) to command the Children of Israel to bring pure olive oil for the lighting of a Ner Tamid (most frequently translated as Eternal Light).  Of all of the commandments regarding the building and operation of the Tabernacle, this is actually the only one that is still kept today with the on-going tradition of having a Ner Tamid in our sanctuaries and chapels. 

In the artful D’rash (commentary) section of the Etz Hayim Torah Commentary (RA, USCJ, JPS 2000) edited by Rabbi Harold Kushner, we find on page 503 and insightful explanation of the symbolism of the Ner Tamid:

Why has light been such a favorite symbol of God?  Perhaps because light itself cannot be seen.  We become aware of its presence when it enables us to see other things.  Similarly, we cannot see God, but we become aware of God’s presence when we see the beauty of the world, when we experience love and the goodness of our fellow human beings.  Similarly, fire has been used to symbolize God’s presence.  Like light, fire is not an object.  It is the process of liberating the energy hidden in a log of wood or a lump of coal, even as God becomes real in our lives in the process of liberating the potential energy in each of us to be good, generous and self-controlled.  If light is a symbol of God, then fire – the product of human technology—represents human efforts to bring the reality of God into our world.

Looking at light symbolically, light in Judaism is also a metaphor for knowledge.  Light reveals.  We can see what is around us, light reveals obstacles that might lie before us.  Darkness - ignorance – conceals, keeping us from learning about even those things that might be closest to us.  We are able to learn with the assistance of light; things hidden by darkness remain mysterious.

The lesson of the Ner Tamid is that God wants to be known by us.  God always wants a light to be lit in the places we go to for seeking God out.  It is the task of humanity universally, and in particular the Jewish people, to keep the light lit, to bring the pure fuel for the fire, so that God’s light can shine and be seen by our world for all time.

Questions for discussion:

1.     Can you describe a time when lighting a light took some effort, but was worth it for helping you learn an important lesson?

2.     Why do you think the Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) is a symbol that has endured until modern times?  Does it provide more than symbolic meaning in our synagogue design?

3.     A synagogue has a Ner Tamid but is not required to have a mezuzah (reminder of God’s word on our doorpost).  A home is required to have a mezuzah but not a Ner Tamid.  Is there a connection between these two ritual objects that we are commanded to place in different places?  Are their purposes similar or different?