TZAV ASKS US TO ENTER WITHIN and inspect the condition of the innermost fire upon the altar of the heart. We are challenged to look at our lives and ask the serious and probing questions about what supports that fire as well as what puts it out.
The fire itself speaks to me and says, "You must provide the spark. Be with the people who spark your creativity and enthusiasm. Keep reading and learning. Seek out places of beauty. Let yourself be challenged by difficult and interesting projects. Make music and colorful art. Travel to exotic places. Find reasons to celebrate."
Seeing that I am listening, the fire grows bolder saying, "And I need space to burn. Spacious air. The breath of life. Spirit. Wind. Open spaces. If you schedule every minute of your day; if you fill the silence with words; if you clutter up your life with so much stuff ... how can you expect me to have enough space to burn?"
The fire begins to open to me and so I speak to her directly. "What will you use as fuel? What keeps you burning?"
The fire flickers brightly at my question and whispers, "The love that you give and the love that you receive... that is my fuel. For love is as fierce as death... no river can sweep it away" (Song of Songs 8:6-7).
"AND ONE MORE THING," says the fire, flashing righteously, "you must remove the dead ashes every day. I cannot burn clean and pure if the refuse of the past is allowed to accumulate within you. Each morning you must remove that which is old and done" (Click here for the full peirush/interpretation).
What is the fire that burns within you? How do you sustain it? How do you clean out the old to make way for the new? Please use our comments section of the blog to share your own spiritual insights into this parasha.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Jonathan E. Blake
Rabbi Blake, as Chassidism explains, likens the fire (of the altar) to "the spiritual passion that keeps the heart engaged in a life of meaning and purpose", and, as he says, "burns perpetually".
ReplyDeleteRabbi Gold too speaks of it as our innermost search for meaningfulness - but deviates from the chassidic teaching or metaphor of the soul in an important way, by saying the fire can be "put out".
The chassidic magnum opus, the book of "Tanya", explains in depth the spiritual anatomy of man. The human being has - not one soul, as an animal - but two. Man's psychology therefore resembles a war between two opposing forces, and the intellectual mediator between the two, the "Animal soul" and the "Godly soul", determines which soul's agenda is granted viability.
Briefly, the "Godly soul" seeks to promote Torah-true behavior, while the "Animal soul" seeks physical pleasure. But both reside in the body ALL THE TIME, one of them albeit rather suppressed while the other dominates.
The altar's fire represents the Godly soul's yearnings. Just like fire seeks to break away from its wick in constant upward motion, this soul wants to elevate man by doing God's bidding, which is why God gave it to us in the first place. But "free choice", which God gave us as well, gives the other soul plenty of leeway as well.
Perhaps, by "putting out the fire", then, Rabbi Gold does not mean put out - as in extinguish - for that soul cannot be extinguished as long as man has life in him, but rather means to imply, vanquished (by the "Animal soul") for the time being.
May you all have a happy and kosher Passover!
A continuous fire should burn on the Altar.
ReplyDeleteIt must not go out.
- Vayikra 6:6 -
The Altar represents the heart of man.
Deep within the heart, there lies a continuous flame,
which burns with passionate love for its Creator.
The quote from Vayikra is part of the daily prayers recited in place of the actual sacrificial ceremony practiced at the time when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem.
This one particular verse always strikes me as being so fundamental and so real. With the chassidic insight about the altar representing the heart of man, this verse is teaching us about the truth of our soul. This verse informs us that there is this deep, fiery passion found in the heart of every Jew which burns constantly. Meaning, regardless of ones actions and beliefs, the Torah teaches us that there is a quintessential point which survives it all and keeps aflame forever. This is the soul. This is what we are really about.
Going deeper, the real challenge is to access that flame and allow it to light our entire personality. Meaning, one may live externally and never really delve below the surface. However, with the right tools, being Chassidus, and seeking out the right teachers, together with discipline and introspection, a person can illuminate every aspect of their life with their inner flame.