Torah
May 9, 2008
Parshat Emor
Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen
Special to the Jewish Times
Rabbi I know tells about showing the sanctuary to a preschool class. As she points around the room, she asks if anyone knows the name of the items. “What are these?” “Shabbat candles!” “And this?” “The ark!” Finally, she points above the ark and asks, “Does anyone know what this is called?” A bright-eyed little boy raises his hand excitedly and shouts, “Ooh, ooh, I know… that’s the internal lamp”
In this week’s Torah portion, God tells Moses, “Command the Israelite people to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling the perpetual light (ner tamid)” (Lev 24:1). Over the course of the centuries, this perpetual lighting of the Temple lamps would evolve into the sanctuary feature called the eternal light or lamp, the flame that is never extinguished.
In any Jewish sanctuary, anywhere in the world, you will find a lamp or light that is always on. Like God’s presence, like the Jewish people surviving through the hardships of the centuries, like our human quest for meaning and truth, the ner tamid is a constant.
Judaism is an eternal light –– for Jews and for the world. And the little boy’s sweet confusion of eternal and internal teaches Judaism is an internal light as well. An allegory found in Itture Torah, a collection of Chasidic teachings by Aaron Jacob Greenberg, echoes this idea by teaching ner –– nun, resh –– can be seen as an acrostic for nefesh ruach, a soul with spirit. Thus the eternal lamp is transformed into the little boy’s internal lamp, but with real adult meaning.
The internal lamp is what our modern society calls “spirituality.” It’s the relationships we make with God, the uplift of our souls, the healing and growth that take place within us when we are connected to our Judaism and feel life has meaning and purpose.
The Torah commands the Israelites bring oil of beaten olives for the kindling of the ner tamid. To remain aglow, this fire needed fuel, needed the participation of the entire community. Olive oil was the original fuel for the eternal lamp, but today’s ner tamid can be run on electricity or natural gas, or even a solar power source like the one at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda. In most congregations, our modern ner tamid burns 24/7 without much attention. We don’t need to regularly refill the oil reserve, stoke the coals, or trim the wicks to receive its constant light.
But the internal flame is different. More like a campfire than a fluorescent bulb, the internal lamp requires a lot of attention –– the periodic addition of fuel, regular checking and occasionally, when the fire goes out, it must even be relit. In our modern, busy, materialistic world, our internal flames are constantly in danger of going out, not from lack of caring, but from lack of attention.
What is the fuel for the internal flame? There are as many Jewish answers as there are Jews in the world (and probably more). Some Jews will find their fuel in study and worship, others in acts of righteousness and tzedakah. Some will use the mystical traditions of Kabbalah to fan the flames of their ner tamid, others will use the practical details of kashrut and ritual observance. Whatever the source of that energy, whatever makes that Jewish internal flame glow, it is clear it takes time, attention, care and effort.
In the same verses that command Aaron personally to set up and tend the perpetual fire in the Tent of Meeting, the Torah command says, “It is a law for all time throughout the ages” (Lev. 24:3). In our day, in our world, keeping our spiritual flames alive takes time, attention, care and work. The Torah says it is both our responsibility and our right to stoke the fires of our internal flames with whatever fuel they require, so that the illumination of Judaism will remain for us and for our world an eternal light.