Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash
By Faustine Sigal, International Director of Jewish Education
Parashat Tetzaveh “You Shall Command”
Our parashah starts this week with the commandment of the perpetual light, the ner tamid, which was meant to shine in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple, and now in synagogues. The rest of the portion, along with several of the ones we’ll read before and after, is replete with technicalities on how to build, decorate, displace, and use the Tabernacle. As a child, I remember being at best intrigued, if not slightly annoyed to have to go through those details.
A few years ago, I remember Hadar Cohen, one of my then-Moishe House colleagues writing that according to her, maybe the raison d’être of these details is for us to be asking ourselves continually, if, why, and how our ancient tradition can stay evergreen in our modern world. It is by no means an easy question – but the good news is that the answer doesn’t matter as much as the lifelong effort, as Jewish leaders, to grapple with this question and to build community around it. I think this is also the message of the ner tamid: as Rashi reminds us, there is no such thing as an inherently – or miraculously – perpetual light. But there are lights that we decide are important enough to warrant a collective effort to sustain and grow perpetually.
How are you showing up this week to continue the perpetual light?
How are you designing your community’s energy towards this goal?
