Tzav: A Flame Continually Burning
Rabbi Mira is with IfNotNow NYC.
Esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach, lo tichbeh, lo tichbeh.
“An eternal flame shall be kept burning on the altar;
it should not be extinguished.” (Leviticus 6:6)
I returned home to New York, uncharacteristically subdued, back in the cacophony of my city after the IfNotNow Action at AIPAC in DC. As I assumed my regular schedule, I noticed that “Esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach” had become a mantra looping freely through my mind. I would look around in the subway or in synagogue, performing Cheshbon Nefesh, reflecting, accounting for my soul after the Action, asking myself where to go from here:
“Which side are you on? Which side are you on?”
With “Esh Tamid” swirling in and out of my head, I was not surprised to see the verse leap out of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Tzav (command). As a speaker of several languages, I often think about the translation of a word in another language in order to understand its meaning or to capture a different nuance. Translating the word Tzav into the Spanish ordeno conjured up even more dramatic images of ordination, sacerdotal duty, and incense smoke curling up into the sky. Having started the Book of Leviticus on the afternoon before the AIPAC conference, I was captured by the Hebrew name of Leviticus, Vayikra, “and He called.” This book which is often referred to as Torat Cohanim, or Teachings for Priests, is indeed a heady combination of calling, command, and ritual.
Rashi (1040–1105), the Biblical commentator from medieval Northern France, explains esh tamid as “a fire that it is burning continually.” Hi she’madlikin bah et hanerot: it is also the fire with which the priests kept the lamps of the Menorah burning continually. In a previous reading in Parashat Tetzaveh in the Book of Exodus, this command was introduced:
“And you shall command (Tetzaveh) the Israelites that they shall bring
to you olive oil that is clear, crushed for illumination, to light a lamp
continually.” (Exodus 27:20)
We learn from that verse that the perpetual flame of Esh Tamid was also Le’haalot Ner Tamid, “to light a lamp continually.” The Kohanim who were entrusted with this responsibility, Aharon and his sons, “raised” and “were raised” through the act of keeping the Menorah ever burning. Rashi expounds that the Menorah had to remain lit only from evening until morning, but that it continued to be fed with wood, even on Shabbat.
“The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out; every morning
the priest shall feed wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, turn into
smoke the fat parts of the offerings of well-being.” (Leviticus 6:5)
Today’s modern solar or electrical Ner Tamid over the Aron Kodesh in our synagogue connects us to this practice in the Mishkan and makes it possible for us to invite the Divine Presence in wherever we pray.
The design of the Mishkan of the Israelites’ portable sanctuary included an inner area with the Ner Tamid, the perpetual fire that was one of the Menorah’s seven lights, and an outer area with its own Mizbe’ach or altar. The other perpetual fire was the Esh Tamid, which burned continually over the Mizbe’ach in the outer court of the Mishkan. These two fires burned continually in the Mishkan.
Torah Temimah asks from where the Kohanim derive the fire to keep the flame of the Ner Tamid burning continually. The Kohanim take the fire from the Esh Tamid of the Mizbe’ach from the external court, and light the Menorah with it. A Biblical verse teaches that the eternal flame that was discussed elsewhere, i.e. the fire of the Menorah in Exodus 27:20, should be at the top of the Mizbeach in the outer court as it was taught in Masechet Bavli Yoma 45:2. This is what Torah refers to when it writes tamid, that the Menorah must be kept burning perpetually with fire taken from the Mizbeach HaOlah, the altar for sacrifices in the outer court.
Tukad al hamizbeach teaches that the second arrangement of wood should be located on top of the Altar.
That flame coming from the external altar was brought to the internal altar in order to light the Menorah, keeping the flame alive as a result of human cooperation and earthly collaboration. This is the”external help” that we contribute to our communities through acts of loving kindness — including when we bring constructive tochachah (rebuke) to institutions that have calcified in helplessness and acquiescence.
Rebuke often comes in staccato. Similarly Leviticus 6:5 and 6:6 deliver a staccato of Lo Tichbeh Lo Tichbeh — the fire “should not be extinguished.” According to Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, since the Torah gave permission for the Kohanim to remove ashes from the altar, it might be construed that one can extinguish the embers and remove the ashes from the Altar. The answer to that is a resounding Lo Tichbeh. You must say that one may not extinguish the fire on any account (Masechet Bavli Zevachim 91B).
Lo Tichbeh even when the Israelites are in transit. The Yerushalmi Talmud Yoma notes that even when the Israelites were travelling, the fire was not extinguished but maintained and covered in a large vessel. Wherever they went, the Israelites erected the Mishkan as a structure wherein they could feel the Divine Presence during a seemingly endless journey.
Esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach is each person’s internal flame. We have been blessed with the Torah which has been likened to Fire: “Is it not my word like as fire? says the Lord?” (Jeremiah 23:29). That is why “A continuous fire shall be upon the altar” of the heart. It should never be extinguished.” Just as fire does not kindle by itself, in the same way, the words of Torah do not endure with one who studies alone. (Masechet Bavli Taanit 7A) Grounded in Jewish tradition while simultaneously celebrating diversity of the many ways we are Jewish, we join in the cadence of the verse. We acknowledge that we need to hear it again and again. An Eternal Flame should be kept burning and it should not be extinguished!
When all is said and done and one is calm, one may feel protected against surprises and detours. After all, when everything seems to be working and one is embraced by friends and loved ones, there is no reason to falter in commitment to God/the Source of all Life. But in transit and in strange places without friendly faces, one may feel unmoored and threatened. Psalm 128:1 supports us: “Praiseworthy is each person who has awe/’fear’ of God, who walks in God’s ways.” When one is able to breathe into equilibrium in the spiritual present, then one is in Yirat Shamayim, “in awe of the Heavens.” The Torah alludes to this, mandating that the fire on the Altar should be kept burning at all times, even during periods of masaot or journeying in the desert.
I journeyed to an Action because I believe that the response of American Jewish leadership to a 50 year old occupation comes across, at best, like the garbled announcements in the New York subway system. Initially, I was intrigued by a movement that did not appear to be led by Rabbis or by Jewish professionals. I was also curious if other Jews of Color like me can be welcomed into the community as allies. We focus on what unites rather than what divides us.
Standing outside the AIPAC Conference in DC with IfNotNow, I witnessed and felt the power of Jewish voices and bodies on the line. Here was collective action that was not conceived or choreographed by Rabbis or Jewish professionals. As a Person of Color, I know what it is to stand outside, to be informed that the time has run out, or that “my issues” are not in the interest of the whole. “Which side are you on?” These words resonated painfully because many of us have living relationships with Israel. We who were outside had friends, family members, and colleagues inside those hallowed halls. “Which side are you on?” We seek to end American Jewish support for the occupation.
I could only imagine Rabbis and Jewish professionals looking out from the AIPAC windows, scratching their heads, thinking: “Why can’t I get them into my shul?” I chose to stand with IfNotNow because I sense the power of Yer’ei Shamayim, those who are in awe of the Divine and attuned to the desolate of the world. I respect those who are not afraid to challenge the established guardians of Jewish tradition who remain evasive and apologetic towards the occupation. If not now, when?
In the Mizbeach of our hearts, may the Eternal Flame burn with the ardor of spiritual consciousness, leading us into Passover. Let us gather strength, calling out to each other, singing not alone, marching with arms linked in solidarity:
An eternal flame shall be kept burning at the altar; it should not be extinguished.
Esh tamid tukad al hamizbe’ach. Lo tichbeh, lo tichbeh.
Rabbi Mira Rivera received her ordination at The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2015 with an M.A. in Jewish Studies. She was graduated with a B.F.A. Honors from New York University in Film. She has served as a Chaplain Resident at Mount Sinai Hospital and is a current Chaplain Fellow at DOROT in New York City. Weaving contemplative practices and the arts, Rabbi Rivera teaches children and adults preparing to become Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Bar/Bat Torah. She also teaches at multifaith and racial justice encounters, as well as to a growing network of Jews of Color, allies, and co-conspirators through Harlem Hevruta, a new partnership with Dr. Renee L. Hill.
