Tetzaveh
What is the only gift we can truly offer?
Reflection by Or HaLev teacher, Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Weil:
"The opening verse of parshat Tetzaveh describes the mitzvah of the constantly burning lamp in the mishkan:
`And they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually.`
וְיִקְח֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת זָ֛ךְ כָּתִ֖ית לַמָּא֑וֹר לְהַֽעֲלֹ֥ת נֵ֖ר תָּמִֽיד
The expression `ner tamid`, eternal light, sounds like an oxymoron: by definition, a flame is transient.
In fact, it may be the definition of the ephemeral: it is its very aliveness that consumes it.
Why then would it be called the `eternal flame`?
As Rashi points out, it is, just like the `korban tamid,` the eternal offering, a type of sacrifice offered in the temple twice a day. The tamid here doesn’t mean there is something unmovable that is always there. Rather, that it is offered `from day to day.` What makes something `eternal`, enduring, is consistent repetition.
Accessing the infinite, for human beings, can happen in an instant. These are instants of transcendence - when we listen to music, when we dance, make love, when we look at our child, when we experience deep presence in meditation or moments of creativity. These are experiences of eternity.
But creating eternity demands consistency.
The flame needs to be continually reignited.`Tamid`, on this plane of existence, is a call for constant re-creation. The body will become tired, hungry, and thirsty. It will need to receive, over and over again, sleep, food, and water. This we are reminded of every time we fast, as some of us will do soon before going into the celebration of Purim.
In meditation and in everyday life mindfulness, we learn to come back to practice, over and over again. We learn to renew our presence, over and over again.
Eternity is made of repeated gestures. No gesture is too small to be sublime.
When we breathe consciously”