With all the strife in our world we welcome the teachings of Tetzaveh, Exodus 27:20-30:10) this week.
With all the strife in our world we welcome the teachings of Tetzaveh, Exodus 27:20-30:10) this week.
The word Tetzaveh, from the root Tzav, implies “connection.” It is also in the word Mitzvah, right actions that connect us to each other and the Life-force of the universe.
In the Parasha we are instructed to regularly “raise up” the light of the Ner Tamid. We know that the Light represents the divine presence and embodies Joy, Wisdom, Love, Freedom, Chesed, and doing Mitzvot. The Israelites are instructed to keep this Light burning day and night!
However, it is curious that the Torah teaches that the light of the Ner Tamid and the fire upon the altar must be kept burning “even on Shabbat” and “even under conditions of ritual impurity.” Hm…
This is where our Hassidic masters help us. Menachem Mendel Shneerson z’l taught that the fire is our “internal altar” that can and must be kept burning at all times. He wrote: “No moment in your life is too exalted or too debased to sustain your passion and enthusiasm in the fulfillment of the purpose to which you were created, which is to raise up to God the materials of your everyday existence.”
Last week Amnesty International came out with a devastating report identifying Israel as an apartheid state. Their report, some 280 pages, has raised much concern, both for its observations and accusations but also for its blind spots. How can we raise up the Light given this report? I recommend that you read the statements referred to on our website from T’ruah and the Reconstructionist Movement in Judaism. Members of Am Kolel are planning some evenings that will be devoted to understanding how we can respond to this report and also to the growing violence toward the Palestinians. You can read the above mentioned statements here: https://www.amkolel.org/a-response.
Raise the Light!
Reb David