Tsav: the eternal flame is an everyday job

אֵ֗שׁ תָּמִ֛יד תּוּקַ֥ד עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לֹ֥א תִכְבֶּֽה

`The fire must be always kindled on the altar, it shall not go out` (Lev 6:6)

The instruction about the aish tamid, the eternal flame, is one of the first instructions given to the Kohanim in the opening of our parasha.

But isn't that an oxymoron?

Fire, by definition, burns itself as it burns for us.

Fire is actually quite vulnerable. Just like love. Just like our spiritual practice.

It is easy to get kindled. As easy to go out. So what makes any flame 'eternal"? The word "tamid"- eternal, always, in hebrew, shares its root with the word "hatmada"- consistency. What makes anything last is consistency. Starting again everyday. This may be the opposite of the image we have of love, and passion. It doesnt need to be intense. It just needs to be about patient, caring, repeated action, everyday. We don't need to rely on the spontaneity of the flame. We just need to rely on our commitment to rekindling it every day. So it goes for love. So it goes for our spiritual practice.

This is what the Zohar says about the ner tamid:

`This is surely the light of the divine, the light that shines within the soul of every person. Come, light it within her.` (Tikkunei Zohar 73a:2)

תקוני הזהר ע״ג א:ב׳

נֵר יהו''ה אִתְקְרִיאַת וַדַּאי, אוֹר דְּנָהִיר בֵּיהּ נִשְׁמַת אָדָם, קוּם אַדְלֵיק בָּהּ

The eternal flame is within us. It is already alive within. But then we need to rekindle it, within. For ourselves and in each other. This year as I go into Shabbat ha Gadol, the "Great Shabbat" before Passover, the inner light I want to shine is one of hope. Hope that my brothers still captive, for the second excruciating Pessach in a row, will come out alive. And hope in their hearts, right now. This shabbat, and this Pessach, I will dedicate my prayers, my cups of wine, every bite of food I will taste and of conversation about freedom I will say, to them. To rekindle, over and over again, the light of life and strength and faith and hope within them. May this festival of Liberation bring their liberation.