Parshat Tzav Drash 5786

OK, all you pyromaniacs out there, this week’s parshah is for you. 

Part of the priestly charge was to ensure a sufficient supply of wood for the altar at all times, so that the pyre would burn brightly, day and night, and never be allowed to go out. In fact, the original fire stayed lit for 889 years, from the time of Moses to the reign of the evil king Menasseh at the end of the First Temple period. Interesting historical factoid.

We are also taught that when an offering was placed upon the altar, a heavenly fire descended, lightning-bolt style, to consume the offering in its entirety, indicating Divine favor with the offering.

So…if the offering was consumed by the heavenly fire from above, what was the big deal about keeping the fire lit from below? 

The Ba’al HaTurim helps us out. He points out that the Torah itself is likened to fire, and brings several verses to prove it. 

So let’s think that simile through. 

Any idea is but an abstraction, every desire like a flickering flame. Both are ethereal. How is Torah like fire? It reflects Hashem’s desire with regard to how we are to conduct our lives, how to treat one another, and the proper ways to serve Him. So in that sense, Torah is a tzimtzum – an embodiment, a coalescence – of Gcd’s will for mankind. That’s what the Talmud means when it says that the “Torah” existed before Hashem created the universe – Gcd’s will pre-dates the created universe.

Who got to light the first fire on the altar? Actually, the Divine lightning bolt lit the wood the very first time, during the week-long investiture of Aaron and his sons, as recorded in our parshah. Similarly does Torah, as Hashem’s manifest will, come from on high to bring enlightenment to mankind.

But guess what? That fire doesn’t stay lit by itself. It takes nurturing, attention and care by the flame keepers. 

We Jews didn’t start the fire, but we have been tasked with the holy charge of keeping G-d’s light burning brightly in this (otherwise) very dark world.

How do we accomplish this? By studying Torah. Teaching it to our children. Donning tefillin. Doing unrequited acts of kindness. Pouring our hearts out to G-d in prayer. Refining our thoughts and behaviors. Sharing a hug or a smile or a kind word. Building another Jewish home in Israel. And another. And another. Every positive mitzvah we perform brings us closer to A-lmighty G-d.

Having his human servants keep the flame alive is but another example of the close bond Hashem desires with the Jewish People. Why did G-d hire Moshe to redeem the Israelites from bondage in Egypt? Surely G-d could have handlily defeated Pharaoh by himself! Yet history repeatedly teaches us that G-d always prefers that His will be carried out through human agency. Moshe. Joshua. Devorah. Gidon. David. Solomon. Esther. Mordechai. The list just goes on and on.

We spoke earlier about how the Mishkan was an architectural macrocosm of the human body. SO carrying that oidea forward, as our soul is a spark of the Divine fire, we have a moral obligation to keep that fire alive. “Seek out G-d where He is to be found.” In Hebrew, people with a burning passion to seek out G-d are called “Mevakshim.” And those who have that fiery drive burning inside of them to seek out G-d, G-d Himself seeks them out.

My masmich, i.e., the rabbi who conferred ordination upon me, HaRav Daniel Channen, shlita, points out that a careful reading of our verses reveals that the Cohanim are warned twice not to let the fire go out on the Mizbeach (altar). Why the double admonition?

He writes that there are two ways to extinguish a flame: douse it with water or starve it of fuel and air. The Cohanim are prohibited from using either method.

You know how to extinguish the human soul-flame? Douse it with water, that is, withhold praise, withhold affection, criticize everything, tell a kid they’re worthless, that they’re a nothing. Do you know why Zero Mostel took that curious name? Because when he told his father that he had chosen a career as an actor, his father told him he was a nothing, a zero, and that he would be a nothing for the rest of his life. So he wore that name like the skin of the lion.

The other way is to starve the human soul by not performing mitzvot. If you don’t study Torah, don’t engage in Jewish ritual performances, if you don’t behave kindly to the stranger, don’t give tzedaka to the orphan and the widow – you are suffocating your holy soul. And we have all, sadly, met such people, those who have strangled their spirituality through neglect.

There is a very famous, very inspirational song called “Bilvavi,” perhaps some of you are familiar with it:

בלבבי משכן אבנה להדר כבודו, 

ובמשכן מזבח אשים לקרני הודו, 

ולנר תמיד אקח לי את אש העקידה, 

ולקרבן אקריב לו את נפשי, את נפשי היחידה.

In my heart will build a Mishkan/Tabernacle to glorify His honor//

In this Mishkan I shall [also] place an altar to acknowledge His splendor//

And for the eternal light I shall take the fire of the Akeidah//

And for the offering I will offer my own unique and special soul//

BTW, this was written by the young Rabbi Yitzhak Hutner, long before he became one the greatest rabbis of his time. Originally from Warsaw, Hutner was the long-time dean of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, New York. He passed from this world in 1980. How strong was his soul-flame to compose such a stirring lyric as such a tender age?

The question is: what are you going to do today to nurture the flame? 

We again find ourselves at war against a formidable alliance of enemies who are determined to extinguish the Jewish flame. Whether or not we are in Israel, we each have a role to play in combatting this evil. 

The mainstream media have all but ignored Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion, because it doesn’t fit the “the Jews are to blame for everything” narrative. Contrary to what you see on NBC or ABC or MS Now, I’d like to disabuse you of the notion that this is just another meaningless skirmish, just two knuckleheads duking it out on the playground. 

To the contrary: here is a seismic geopolitical shift currently underway; an apocalyptic battle between good and evil, and the forces of good will no doubt prevail. We all hope and pray that when all the dust settles, the people of Iran will rise up to reclaim their destiny and their country and usher in an era peace, prosperity and goodwill for all the peoples of the region. 

But think about what has changed: Israel is no longer considered a pariah state by the Gulf Arabs and other regional players; indeed, we are being recast as the protector of Arab interests in the region, because we dared to act against a common enemy while they dithered. Countries – even not-so-friendly ones – are lining up to purchase Israeli defensive technology to protect their own populations. 

The crescendo of shrieking, irrational choruses of Jew-hatred heard around the world is a reaction to Israel’s ascendancy as a voice for compassionate, ethical monotheism. Israel and the Jewish People stand firmly opposed to the chaos and moral relativism that characterizes the West today. 

I will share a secret with you: The Maharal of Prague wrote in Netzach Yisrael that the fourth kingdom, that is, Western Civilization, must fall before the Messiah can emerge. Let me ask you: what do you think is happening in western Europe as we speak?

Most importantly, this war is a huge step forward in the Divine plan for mankind and brings us closer to the fulfillment of the verse that lions will lay with lambs, swords will be beaten into plowshares, when the art of war will be learned no more.

It is hard not to see G-d’s benevolent hand at work in this war. Thousands of missiles and rockets lobbed at Israel, millions, if not billions, of dollars of property damage, and yet – miraculously – relatively few fatalities, about 30 people, many of whom were not in a protected space when they died. By way of contrast, during the London Blitz from September 1940 – May 1941, over 43,000 Brits lost their lives. 

Those who seek the end of the Jew and Judaism will be bitterly disapointed. V’nahafoch hu – we will yet live to see that those who plot our destruction will find that their murderous schemes boomerang back on them.

85 years ago, we had no Jewish army. Thank G-d we have Jewish soldiers dedicated to protecting the Jewish people wherever they are under threat. And the world looks to Israel for guidance – the Am HaNivchar, G-d’s Chosen People.

May we all merit to see the Gcd’s Supernal Fire illuminate Israel; and through us, illuminate and elevate all of mankind, speedily in our days, amen.

Shabbat Shalom.