Leviticus Chapter 24 begins with a reference to kindling lamps regularly- in Hebrew – LHA-A-LOT Neir Tamid – in the ancient Tabernacle. This echoes, almost word for word, a similar commandment in the book of Exodus.
I have spoken many times of the moment several years ago when I noticed at 6:40 pm, before our 7pm service, that the light bulb in the Neir Tamid above the ark had gone out. It was the first time that had ever happened to me in all the years of my rabbinate. I rushed to my car, made the 1 minute, 150 yard drive home, found a Compact Florescent Bulb, and quickly returned to Temple. One of our congregants graciously and firmly held Temple’s really tall step-ladder from below while I went up on the ladder at least one rung further than I was comfortable. But I had to do it. I successfully replaced the bulb and it’s still shining today!
Of course, we aren’t praying in the sanctuary these days. So the light that we generate comes from our souls, the sounds of the prayers and the music, and the magic of being together, whether or not we can see each other’s faces. Presenting worship online week after week is probably a lot more like what the Ancient priests had to do to organize worship for the Israelites than OUR normal routine of walking in the building, turning on the lights and sound, putting out the materials we need for worship, and then starting the service. I can tell you that, from my end, it doesn’t get old or mundane because this is a holy responsibility for me as a leader and for you who are watching and joining us.
The next verses in Leviticus 24 describe 12 loaves of bread that were baked for worship, carefully placed out on a table in two rows. They were to remain out for a week. The rabbis of the Talmud asked, “Wouldn’t they go stale?” They said, no, of course not.
Samson Raphael Hirsch, a great Orthodox rabbi in Germany in the 1800s, responded to the rabbis of the Talmud with an interpretation that said, basicially, “not so fast!” The bread actually may have gone stale – we don’t really know. Hirsch taught that we should look at the ritual in a symbolic sense. He explained that the ancient tabernacle was immune to the possibility of boredom and habit setting in, where the rituals would no longer have meaning. It was their special place in a sacred space that didn’t go stale.
So, look at us now. We pray to God as a creator who rested one day every week, so that we now have that landmark in time that keeps us on schedule. We acknowledge in our prayers that our tradition can lead us to love, to hope, to see our days as meaningful, to view our lives through a lens of gratitude, to create peace where there is strife, and to remember loved ones no longer with us who still inspire us.
If those are repeating habits, we need them, because they keep us balanced and grounded. They can assure that our souls, like the 12 loaves of bread in the ancient place of worship, will not become stale. May we find something special every day to keep us moving forward with a sense of connection with one another, with unbridled optimism, and with amazement that our gatherings at a distance can still bring us together as one.
Shabbat Shalom
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