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Drash
V'iyun on Tzav
Hagaon
Rav Drash
V'iyun zt”l on Parshat Tzav
(from
Drash
V'iyun quoted in Mayana Shel Torah)
The
Travelling Fire
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"The fire should burn on the altar constantly; it
should never be extinguished." (Vayikra 6:6)
The Yerushalmi in Yoma (4:6) comments from the extra,
"it should never be extinguished," we learn that
even while the Mishkan is being transported the
fire should stay lit.
When a person is at home in familiar surroundings
he has a natural protection against straying from
appropriate behavior. Regular home life and the
positive influence of a healthy environment are
a good insurance against improper action.
However, when travelling to places where people
do not recognize him, coupled with the natural strain
that goes with being on the road, it is much easier
to drop from the kind of behavioral standards that
a person usually keeps.
There is a verse in Tehillim (128) that reads, "Happy
is the man that fears G-d, going in His path ("haholeikh
bidrakhav")." [We translated it "His path", referring
to G-d's path.] This can also be read as referring
to a man's own path, when he is travelling. Happy
is a man who remains G-d-fearing even when travelling
in strange places. A person whose fear of G-d is
not contingent on external conditions and a familiar
environment is truly G-d-fearing.
This is what the Torah is hinting at here. Just
as "The fire should burn on the altar" - on the
altar of a person's heart, burning with the love
and fear of Hashem - so also "should the fire not
be extinguished" - even when "being transported"
- even when travelling in strange places a person
should equally burn with love and fear of Hashem.
A Jew should glow inside even when he finds himself
in cold places.
[prepared
by Eliezer Kwass] |
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