You did not come to Kabbalat Shabbat with me last week, so you missed this. Here it is, just for you...
תְּצַוֶּה And you
(Moshe) shall command bnai Israel that they bring pure olive oil crushed
for the light to raise an ever lasting flame.
When I arrive at shul I often look to the נֵר תָּמִיד -
I look for reassurances from fear or seeming
darkness. I reflect with gratitude that we are at peace to maintain it without
persecution. But I do not often reflect that we are tasked to bring the light
there. It is not just olive oil that is commanded, but pure and crushed. The
Talmud discusses that olives will only give light when pounded. But how do I
react when I am shaped in this way by life.Rabbi Akiva once remarked that as the rocks of
a river are shaped by gentle water, how may he be shaped by the words of the
Torah. Yet when I have the opportunity to be a smoothed out rock or a light for
a dark time or place, I can instead be merely human and reduced to a whiner, a
frustrated nag, a worn out killjoy.So sometimes I have the opportunity to be
shaped by hardship, by truth or reality, by the doldrums of the day to day. By difficulties with patience with my children, the illness of a loved one, being yelled at by a frustrated patient...But as Aaron and his sons are chosen to serve, as Moshe is given instructions for the garments, the breast plate, the modesty, the ordination of priests, the instructions regarding the alter, the incense... I am reminded of what I am tasked or chosen to do.
What do I bring to my family in the morning, at the end of a “long day”? Do I bring the light? Am I smoothed over or jagged. What do I bring to shul, to the passerby, the friend, the patient before me? Does everyone bear the brunt of my existence? Or do I allow the crushing to embue the purity.As it is said...
I will dwell among the children of Israel... And they shall know that I am the L-rd their G‑d who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them;
So what is the difference. Remaining true to myself for me is to follow mitzvot and carry them before my heart. Just following the rules may bring purity, the crushing of life may just leave me crushed. But put it together and to follow this path, from the heart...that I may look to the light and know I brought it to bear.
אִמָא
