Tetzaveh
Exodus 27:20-30:10
Précis: The parasha continues with a description of ritual items in the Tabernacle, including oil for the lamp, priestly clothing, the ephod, breastplate, robes, plate, and miter. Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar are designated as Priests and are consecrated with sacrifices and ceremony. The parasha concludes with a description of the daily sacrifices and incense to be offered at the Tabernacle.
Exodus 27:20 “And you will command the Israelite people to bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to burn regularly.”
This week’s reading makes a change from how the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and its equipment are to be made to how they are to be used in worship. As a kind of recapitulation of creation, God’s first command is to light a “ner tamid” (usually translated as “eternal light” because its oil was replenished every day, and kept burning all of the time).
“Light” has great prominence in the Bible. Light is called“good” in the Creation story. The most terrible plagues in the Exodus from Egypt take place in darkness. Midrash (Exodus Rabbah 36:2) suggests that God doesn't need light in the Mishkan, but that the ner tamid is for human beings so that "you can return light to Me as I give light to you."
Today, the ner tamid in our sanctuaries serves as a visible reminder that we are linked to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and to the Temple in Jerusalem. Both were at the center of our ancestors’ worship. But perhaps even more important, since all of Creation began with light, the ner tamid is an ever-present reminder of the blessings of God’s on-going creation in which we play a part.
