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Parshat Tetzaveh
2006
Passing the Torch
Some of you may know that I twirl fire baton - it's true. My favorite part of fire twirling is when my fire baton would be lit by another twirler and eventually, very quickly, the entire field would be lit up with glowing hues.
When I began to look at Parshat Tetzaveh, the opening lines of the Torah portion brought back many fire twirling memories. "And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee clear olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually." This opening line describes how God tells Moses to ask the children of Israel to obtain oil so that Aaron can kindle the menorah flames for the mishkan, the portable tabernacle. But why did God or Moses not provide the light? Why did the Israelites need to provide it?
In an ideal world, I would envision that the soul of each Jew is an eternal emission of light - a ner tamid (eternal lamp), if you will. Light symbolizes the goodness in the world or the potential in each of us to perform acts of kindness by engaging in social justice, engagement or other "good deeds." Our bodies are the vessels that hold the necessary ingredients to create light – that is, a wick and the oil. The wick represents the physicality of light in the world - the positive actions that we perform. The wick, burning alone, however, will eventually be extinguished. It is only with the help of the oil's fuel that the wick will continue to burn, and our bodies, these sacred vessels, will continue to emit light. The oil, then, provides the fuel for the light in the world. God did not simply provide the oil, nor did Moses, because God is requesting that we find the oil, the fuel, the energy within ourselves to make this world a better place.
God then helps us determine how to find this energy, the oil, within ourselves. God does this by requesting a specific kind of oil - clear olive oil that is beaten. Rashi, a biblical commentator, tells us that the clear oil refers to pure oil, meaning that God wants our motives to be free of jealousy, hatred and evil. It specifies olive oil to maintain our Jewish identity, for, like the Jewish people, the olive oil does not mix well with other liquid - meaning, we must hold fast to our unique identity and find ways of being a "light unto the nations." (Isaiah). Finally, we need "beaten" oil because, accordingly to the Talmud, we perform our best when we "press" ourselves to be our best. When we provide light to others around us, we encourage others to do the same.
But more important than the specific type of oil is what we do with that oil, what we do with that energy to create more "light" in this world. When we return to the text, the opening lines of the parsha then continue: "[The ner tamid] shall be a due from the Israelites for all time, throughout the ages." In other words, we have an obligation to continue to pass the torch onto future generations by being a light unto the nations.
I now know why my favorite part of fire twirling was when our batons would be lit by another twirler - for I appreciated the human interaction passing off the "light" to others. As Jewish professionals, we, too, can pass off the torch. When we help ignite the sparks in Jewish students on campus, we empower them to find their own oil, their own fuel, so that they, too, can continue to pass the torch and help build a world full of radiant, sustained light.
Prepared by Jennifer Schlosberg, senior associate, Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Tetzaveh at MyJewishLearning.com.
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