Keeping Up the Fire
This week’s parsha opens with fire. The fire burns on the altar all day and all night, at God’s command. The command here is key — it is the name of the parsha, the first word we hear: “Tzav.” In other places, God ‘says’ or ‘speaks,’ but God commands this fire. Rashi tells us that this word Tzav/command is used when an action is intended to be done immediately in the narrative and also in the future. The idea comes from the Talmud (Kiddushin 29a) taught in the name of Rabbi Yishmael: “Command is nothing other than galvanization both immediately and for generations to come.” With this one word, I learn that God is talking to Aaron and his sons, and also to me– a Jewish woman living in a future that Moses could never have imagined.
And what are we being commanded to do? The verse says: “Command Aaron and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the burnt offering: The burnt offering itself shall remain where it is burned upon the altar all night until morning, while the fire on the altar is kept going on it” (Vayikra 6:2). The end of the book of Shemot brought us the mishkan. The final parshiot described in great detail the building and the vessels and tools, and the scene is set. In Vayikra and Tzav we finally get the dance that fills the holy stage. The altar is no longer a construction project; it is home to a fire that must be kept burning.
Ramban notices how our opening verse says not only to light the fire, but to keep it burning and explains that this requires extra wood: “It is for this reason that our Rabbis have said that [in addition to the large wood-stack burning on the altar] there was a second wood-stack solely for the purpose of keeping up the fire.” Lighting the fire for this sacrifice is a two-step process. First, the fire must blaze hot enough to burn the animal on the altar, and only then is more wood added to keep the fire burning into the long night.
The ritual contains a microcosm of the longer-term command. The priests plan for the day, and also for the night ahead. There is so much for us to learn from this insistence on the ongoing impact of our ritual life. As Jews, our rituals must be relevant and useful to us in the present moment, connecting us to God and bringing meaning to our lives. And as Jews our rituals can never be just about the present moment; we must always remember that what is commanded for us is and must remain relevant for generations to come. The fires that we light today must be robust enough to keep burning even after the sun has set and everyone has gone home.
I think a lot in my work as a rabbi about what fires I am lighting and how they will or won’t keep burning for future generations. Like Honi of the Talmud, who plants a tree so that his grandchildren can eat the fruit seventy years later (BT Taanit 23a), I wonder what seeds I might plant to feed my own children’s children someday. But as I read Parshat Tzav this week I am left thinking about the other direction– the fruit we have inherited. Or in this case, the fire. I read about the fires my ancestors built on the altar before me and I ask how I might access their heat and holiness. I imagine our ancient priests with piles and piles of wood at the ready, never allowing the fire to go out, even until today when it reaches me. I long to feel the warmth.
We don’t have the altar anymore. There is no way for me to literally fulfill this commandment despite the charge from Rabbi Yishma’el and Rashi. I feel deeply connected to this holy fire that has been prescribed for us too. We don’t have the mishkan or the altar, but we have the words, the story and the commentary. In these words I find connection — to my ancestors and to God. In these words I hear my mandate to pass it all on for generations to come.
Parashat Tzav (Leviticus 6:1-8:36)
By Rabbi Avi Killip
Rabbi Avi Killip is Executive Vice President at Hadar. A graduate of Hebrew College Rabbinical School, Avi serves as a Trustee of Hebrew College. She also holds Bachelors and Masters from Brandeis University. Avi teaches as part of Hadar’s Faculty and is host of Hadar’s podcasts, Responsa Radio and Ta Shma. You can reach her at [email protected].
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