Lighting the Light One Chapter at a Time

Friday February 11, 2022 – י׳ אַדָר א׳ תשפ״ב

 וְאַתָּ֞ה תְּצַוֶּ֣ה ׀ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת זָ֛ךְ כָּתִ֖ית לַמָּא֑וֹר לְהַעֲלֹ֥ת נֵ֖ר תָּמִֽיד׃
(שמות כז:כא)

“You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.” (Exodus 27:21)

Anyone who grew up going to synagogue, or anyone who’s ever set foot in one, will recognize the standard appearance of the ner tamid at the front of the sanctuary right above or in front of the ark. Oh sure, you might think, the eternal light – the candle or lamp that is lit consistently or all the time in front of the Ark in a synagogue – as we commonly refer to it, yeah; doesn’t every synagogue have one?

How did this come about? And what does Ner Tamid really mean anyhow?

Our answers can be found in this week’s parashah, Tetzaveh, but ramifications of those answers might just have profound and far-reaching implications. Tetzaveh begins with the command to kindle the ner tamid, the lamp in the Tabernacle which, we are told, is to burn Tamid. But how should we understand the concept Tamid?

There seem to be a number of different ways to translate/interpret the term. Some offer that this light should burn continually or perpetually, echoing the notion of an ‘eternal’ light (in Hebrew נצחי and not תמיד). Yet, others contend that the light should be lit regularly on a daily schedule.

Ramban (1194-1270 CE –  Spain) succinctly threads the needle here in establishing that the light ‘burnt constantly’:

“Thus, it is clear that even at daytime he kindled the neir ma’aravi, (Westernmost candle) for that lamp always burnt constantly [and not as Rashi has it that the candelabrum was lit only in the evening].”

However, Ramban, then offers a different possibility:

“Doing something each and every night is called tamid [just as one would say, olah tamid (a continual burnt-offering) Numbers 28:6.] –  and yet it was brought only from day to day – not constantly, but repeatedly.

This may be an example when we generally have a unified approach to fulfilling this mitzvah literally. Ner Tamid does not differ drastically from one movement to another, unlike other mitzvot. We also know that light serves as a metaphor for Torah. Proverbs teaches, ”A mitzvah is a candle, and the Torah is light” (Proverbs 6:23) and “A candle of God is the soul of a human being” (Proverbs 20:27). The mystical commentator, Sfat Emet (Yehuda Arieh Leib Alter, Warsaw – 1847-1905), explains that performing a mitzvah is like lighting an internal candle.

Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus further teaches that in the Midrash, the Rabbis compared the light from the lamp to the study of Torah:

“See how the words of Torah give light to one who studies them. . .. Those who study Torah give forth light wherever they are. It is like one standing in the dark with a lamp in his hand; when he sees a stone he does not stumble, neither does he fall over a gutter because he has a lamp in his hand, as it says, ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light for my path’ (Psalms 119:105). What is the lamp of God? The Torah, as it says, ‘The commandment is a lamp, and the Torah a light’ (Proverbs 6:23). (Shemot Rabbah 36:3).”

The concept of Tamid, or one who is a “Matmid,” should not be lost on us as Reform Jews. We should understand the benefit of being devoted to a task “Tamid,” regularly, consistently, and repeatedly. In addition to our emphasis on action, our work to repair all that is broken the world, it ought to be incumbent upon us to be well-versed in our story, our collective narrative, the source of our Jewish legal system. Since we are inspired by the Biblical prophets, it behooves us to know what those prophets actually said.

Here is our chance.

I am inviting you to join me in a new cycle of reading the TaNaKh, the Bible, the Good Book, the Written Torah, the Book of Books, one chapter a day for the next 929 days.

There are 929 chapters in the TaNaKh. This week we have begun a new cycle of reading one chapter a day through the Israeli cutting-edge 929 project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in the Hebrew Bible – the formative text of Jewish heritage. 929 English invites Jews everywhere to read and study Tanakh, one chapter a day, Sunday through Thursday together with a website with creative readings and pluralistic interpretations, including audio and video, by a wide range of writers, artists, rabbis, educators, scholars, students, and more. As an outgrowth of the web-based platform, 929 English also offers classes, pop-up lectures, and events across North America. We invite you to learn along with us and be part of our dynamic community.

To join 929’s listserv for new and dynamic content each week click here

929 is an opportunity for a personal challenge that is full of interest, meaning, learning, curiosity, and enjoyment: a challenge in which many others are partnering as they walk this long and fascinating trail, and share the abundance that it offers us as individuals and as a learning community.

Why Tanakh?

Countless words have already been written about it. It is our foundational text, a common denominator on an international level, whose stories and ideas reach out and echo within our own lives, to this very day. As a book, Tanakh is amazingly rich: enjoyable, adventurous, and moving – but also contradictory, thought-provoking, and controversial. It encompasses a kaleidoscope of subjects: from history and politics to poetry and law – even design and cuisine! It offers us the journeys of individuals and families, private loves and national empire-building, moments of kindness and epic world wars, amusing anecdotes, and myths that transcend cultures, angry prophecies alongside tender poetry, stirring legends, and words of deep philosophy.

But more than anything else, we should study TaNaKh because it is ours. This is our story. It shows where we came from and offers a blueprint for where we are going. It will bind us to Jews all over the world and give us a common foundational language and frame of reference.

So, if you seek to know more, or are searching for insight, or if you want to bring new meaning into your daily life, or would like to discover new voices within yourselves while being part of a broad community that is marching along the same road, join us a little bit each day.

Let us put the ‘ritual’ back in ‘spi-ritual’ and join in with Klal Yisrael to participate in the oldest running book club in the world, one chapter a day!

Shabbat Shalom.