Parashat Tetzaveh: On Light

This week’s parsha, which continues the instructions concerning the building of the Tabernacle, begins with the Ner Tamid, the “eternal light" of the menorah.

The Ner Tamid has always been the focus of great attention and interpretation. Its position in the Torah is already marked, as it stands in the center of two parshiyyot, both of which deal with instructions concerning the building of the Tabernacle. Moreover, its placement in the narrative is curious. As an instruction concerning the ingredient to be used for the lighting – clear beaten olive oil – it should have been included earlier, with the description of materials. And as an instruction concerning the process of lighting, it should have come later, together with other instructions concerning the priests’ daily jobs, in Leviticus. Standing here, at the center of the Tabernacle instructions and at the start of a new parsha, it is begging to be interpreted. As the Rabbis often say: this verse says darsheni –Interpret me!

And so it has received layer upon layer of interpretation over the centuries: The Ner Tamid is a symbol of God’s Eternal Presence in the Tabernacle. It is the divine light that was originally created on the first day of creation but then hidden away for the messianic age. It is the light of Torah that guides us through the dark world, helping us, like a little lamp, to see the potholes and stones in our way so that we do not trip and fall.

On the other hand, there are those who see this light, not as God’s light, but as our own. It is the light of the mitzvoth —good deeds – that we do. It is the shining of our little divine lights, our souls. This olive oil that was used in the Tabernacle -- it came from us. We are, according to one verse, compared to olives. And, expounds the Slonimer Rebbe, we, like olives, have a power to illuminate, a power which is hidden deep inside us. Other fruits, even if you squeeze them and process them, they still remain essentially a food (or drink). But the olive is exceptional. If you pound and beat and grind it, what emerges is a magical, creative power, the power to produce light.

Which one is it? Is the light God’s or ours? Both. God created the lights above, but also gave us the tools to make light down below. The midrash notices that the verse says leha’aolot Ner Tamid, literally, “to make the Ner Tamid go up.” The priest must light the flame until it is capable of going up on its own. The process is one of empowerment, for God and us as well. God, like a good teacher, kindles our flames in a way that helps us to produce light on our own.

Surprisingly, the help does not go in only one direction. According to another midrash, God says: Neri beyadekhat venerekha beyadi. My light is in your hands and your light is in My hands. God has entrusted His light, the Torah, into our hands, and we have entrusted our light, our souls, into His. We are partners, enmeshed and intertwined, dependent and deeply connected to one another. Together we keep the light eternally aflame.