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Just as the Ner Tamid has become a feature of our synagogue sanctuaries today, so too the passion of the priest must burn within us as well. Lessons for Today
The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: 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 alter all night until morning, while the fire on the altar is kept going on it. (Leviticus 6:1-2)
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Rabbi Pinchas Peli wrote:
Again, three verses later: "The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out" (Leviticus 6:5) and again, the next verse, "A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out." (Leviticus 6:6).
The above quotes are taken from the new Jewish Publication Society translation. Most of the other English translations of the Bible we consulted offer similar translations, with the exception of the Authorized King James version, which in this case is truer to the Hebrew original in that it distinguishes clearly between the fire burning on the altar (al ha-mizbeach) and the fire burning in it (tukad bo), or, if you wish, in him, namely in the officiating priest.
It is not enough to have a fire burning on the altar, says the Chassidic interpretation pointedly, emphasizing that there must also be a "perpetual fire" of enthusiasm within us when we truly worship God.
From Peli, Torah Today, A Renewed Encounter with Scripture, (Washington: B'nai Brith Books, 1987), p.111.
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Simcha Bunem of Przysucha addresses the apparent conflict in scripture between the Book of Leviticus, where God explicitly commands Israel to offer sacrifices, and the later message of the Prophets who seem to dissuade sacrifices in favour of mitzvot. He resolves the conflict by using a passage from the Talmud to tie the two ideas together. He teaches:
"Behold, it is said in 1 Samuel 15:22, 'Does the Eternal delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to the Eternal's command? Surely, obedience is better than sacrifice, compliance than the fat of rams.'
It says in the Gemara (Menachot 110), 'All who occupy themselves in Torah have no need for the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, nor for the guilt offering.'
And this is Scripture's intention here: 'Command Aaron and his sons saying' that they shall say to the Children of Israel - 'This is the Torah of the burnt offering,' that is, the principle is in the Torah of the burnt offering. Better that they should learn the Torah of the burnt offering than that they bring a sacrificial offering."
From Kushner & Olitzky, Sparks Beneath the Surface - A Spiritual Commentary on the Torah, (New Jersey: Jason Aronson, 1993), p.126)
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Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., and the accompanying end to the priesthood and the offering of sacrifices as the primary form of Israelite worship, our Sages have struggled with the problem of what to do with the mitzvot related to sacrifice. Despite the fact that we no longer can offer sacrifices, we are still obligated by the commandments to sacrifice. Almost the entire book of Leviticus deals with sacrifice. Do we simply ignore one whole book of the Torah until such time as a third temple is build and the priesthood is re-established?
Obviously not. We continue to read these laws and study them on a daily basis. The trick is to find meaning in the laws of sacrifice, even if we do not actually worship through sacrifice today. This is what our commentators strive to do.
Rabbi Pincas Peli seeks meaning on a metaphoric level by paying close attention to the language of the text, and the message that the Torah text seems to be emphasizing. He notices that three times in six verses the Torah exhorts that the fire on the altar is to be kept burning always, not to go out. This is the precedent for the Ner Tamid, the eternal light that we keep burning over the ark in our synagogues today. And in looking closely at these verses, Peli notes that the language is very precise: it refers both to the fire burning "on the altar" (al ha-mizbeach) and the fire "burning in it" (tukad bo). What, Peli asks, is the "it" in which the fire should be kept burning? Is it the altar itself? Perhaps, but not necessarily. If it is the altar, then why would the text use the preposition "on" in the first instance, and then the preposition "in" in the second reference in the same sentence? Therefore, the commentator decides, the "it" in which the fire burns must be something other than the altar. He looks around the context of the passage and concludes that the "it" must be the priest himself to whom Moses is addressing the commandment.
Peli then draws on a Chassidic teaching to make meaning out of this new understanding of the text. The perpetual fire that burns within the officiating priest himself represent the passion and enthusiasm that we must bring to our worship of God.
Lessons for Today
If the Torah is telling us that a "fire" must be kept burning in the one who worships, then this seems to be a message about kavanah - the intention that we bring to our approaches to God. Just as the Ner Tamid has become a feature of our synagogue sanctuaries today, so too the passion of the priest must burn within us as well. The Cohen - "priest" - served as an intermediary between the individual and God, serving as an proxy for the worshipper. Today, we worship God directly, without the use of an intermediary (Rabbis have not replaced priests in this role; they are primarily teachers, not facilitators of worship. Jews do not need anyone to lead worship for them). Therefore, the passion that was to "burn" within the priest during worship is now to be kindled within ourselves. We can fulfil our minimum obligation to worship simply by joining with a minyan and going through the order of prayer which constitutes the modern prayer service. This may often be our experience of the services we attend. However, this minimum compliance can only lead to minimal spiritual enrichment. Like so many things in life, you get out of worship what you put into it. We have to be sensitive not only to what we get out of worship, but, considering worship as an "sacrificial offering," what do we bring to worship that will help bring us closer to God? By stoking the fire within our souls; by keeping the fire within burning and developing our kavannah and the "intentionality" that we bring to our worship experiences, we fulfil our both the mitzvah of worship, and we truly become closer to our God.
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