Fire: Fusion, Forgiveness and Fruition
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
After seven preliminary days of “practice”, on the eighth day after the completion of the Mishkan, Bnei Yisroel gathered to inaugurate the Mishkan/Tabernacle into full service for Hashem. “Vatetzei aish milifnei Hashem/A fire went forth from before Hashem and consumed upon the altar the elevation offering… the people saw vayoronu vayiplu al peneihem/and they sang glad songs and fell on their faces.”
What was so special about this fire that evoked such dual emotions in Bnei Yisroel, emotions of joy and of awe simultaneously? After all, reminds us Rabbi Schwadron, Bnei Yisroel had already witnessed so many open miracles, including the splitting of the Sea, and these miracles did not evoke these extraordinary responses. As a further question, in addition to the inauguration of the Mishkan, only one other major idea is discussed in this parsha, the laws of pure and impure foods. of those that are permitted and those that are prohibited. What is the connections between these two themes, asks the Tosher Rebbe in Avodat Avodah.
We begin our discussion with Rabbi Mintzberg who explains in Ben Melech the major difference between Hashem’s revelation in earlier experiences and His revelation in the Mishkan. While Hashem appeared to Bnei Yisroel so many times earlier, these revelations were all transitory, lasting only for a short time. In contrast, Hashem’s presence in the Mishkan was to be permanent, ensuring Hashem’s constant presence and love of Bnei Yisroel.
The Ben Melech notes that Hashem appears three times through the medium of fire. First Hashem appears to Moshe in the burning bush. In spite of the fire, the bush was not consumed. Hashem’s message here was a message of love, for Hashem was initiating the redemption of Bnei Yisroel. Then Hashem appeared to Bnei Yisroel from atop Har Sinai when Bnei Yisroel were accepting the yoke of Heaven with awe and trepidation. If Bnei Yisroel would transgress these laws and break the covenant they here established with Hashem, the fire would be a consuming fire of punishment. This third fire that Hashem sent from heaven to consume the offerings on the altar of the newly dedicated Mishkan was a synthesis of the chesed and love of that first fire with the awe and fear of that second fire. With the inauguration of the Mishkan, Hashem’s presence would never leave Bnei Yisroel while providing a path to redemption from transgressions through the offerings upon the altar. This fire represented tiferet/glory/splendor. Therefore, Bnei Yisroel reacted with both joy and humility, by singing and by prostrating themselves before God.
Although we no longer have a Mishkan and a Beit Hamikdosh, this model is relevant today as we turn to Hashem in tefillah/prayer, suggests Rebbetzin Smiles. While we joyously sing praises to Hashem, we stand before Him in humility at our own unworthiness as we ask Hashem to accept our prayers. We too combine awe and joy.
The Tosher Rebbe quoting the Midrash notes, that the dedication of the Mishkan is introduced with Vayehi bayom hashmini/And it was on the eighth day. This terminology echoes the language the Torah uses for each of the seven days of creation, “Veyehi erev vayehi boker yom echad.., vayehi erev vayehi boker yom sheni…/And there was evening and there was morning one day…, and there was evening a second day,” ending with “vayehi erev vayehi boker yom hashishi/And there was evening and morning the sixth day.” With this pattern, the Tosher Rebbe suggests that creation wasn’t completed until this eighth day, for Hashem created the world so that He would have am abode in the world He created, a presence among His creations, among mankind. That purpose was stated in Parshat Terumah, “Veasu li mikdash veshachanti betochom/Let them make for Me a Tabernacle that I may well among them. When Adam and Chava sinned, that goal was subverted. When Bnei Yisroel accepted the Torah, they reinstituted that sanctity of creation, only again to destroy it with the sin of the golden calf. Finally, with the completion of the Mishkan, that purpose for the initial seven days of creation was being actualized, and Hashem’s presence would again be manifest in the world.
But while Aharon placed all the offerings on the altar, the heavenly fire did not descend immediately to accept the offerings and consume them. Perhaps Hashem had not fully forgiven them for the sin of the golden calf. Perhaps His presence would not reside and be manifest among them. But after Moshe entered ohel moed/the tent of meeting, prayed with Aharon and they then came out to bless Bnei Yisroel did the fire came down and accept the sacrifices. Then Bnei Yisroel knew that they had been forgiven for the sin of the golden calf. In appreciation, they burst out in joyous song.
But this joy and appreciation was coupled with a sense of humility, of understanding that they were non existent without Hashem. This sense of nullification translated naturally into the melting of their bodies into prostration before Hashem. It was the connection to Hashem as the be all and end of their existence that sustained the sanctity of Bnei Yisroel from one foot festival to the next while the Beit Hamikdosh existed. Then Bnei Yisroel would go up to Yerushalayim to be seen [by Hashem] and to prostrate themselves before Him in the manner they did here, at the dedication of the Mishkan. This is the mindset we still declare today at the end of each prayer service as we recite Aleinu as we acknowledge and bend our knees and bow before Hashem, and yearn for in a state of perfection in the future.
The Tosher Rebbe now makes the connection between the dedication of the Mishkan and the laws of acceptable foods. Hashem desires to reside within each of us, as He did during the time of the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdosh. But just as we needed to be pure in Hashem’s presence in the Sanctuary, so do we need to maintain our purity and sanctity now, when we longer have that place of connection. [May that condition change soon.] Since the food we eat gets integrated into our blood, and hadam hu hanefesh/blood is the very soul of man, we are commanded to eat only those foods which would maintain that sanctity and purity.
At least equally important to the foods we eat are the middos, the character trait we inculcate within ourselves, and the environment we surround ourselves with. The proper focus on all these will help us preserve both physical and spiritual purity, for both my spirit and my body need to be dedicated to Hashem’s service. How we interact with each other, especially husbands and wives, and how we face our challenges will create the role models our children will follow.
When Hashem did not immediately respond to the sacrificial offerings with His fire, Bnei Yisroel felt that they remained guilty for the sin of the golden calf. They sorrowfully accepted their responsibility. When Hashem then sent His heavenly fire to consume the sacrifices, Bnei Yisroel felt they had been forgiven, breaking out in songs of gratitude and praise, writes the Tiv Hatorah. Only when everyone takes his personal responsibility for his actions, as did Aharon and each member of Bnei Yisroel, can we hope to bring God’s presence into our lives and into our homes. A husband and wife who look inward at their own failings and responsibilities rather than at each other for their difficulties invite God’s presence into their home, teaches us the Brisker Rav.
Understanding that we are inadequate and taking responsibility are the very core of the teshuvah process. Only when we feel our brokenness can we begin the process of repair. Only when the seed begins to disintegrate and rot can the new plant begin to grow, says the Netivot Shalom.
We now return to the eighth day as the completion of creation. With the Mishkan now in place as the “dwelling lace” of Hashem on earth, both heaven and earth can be joyous and sing praises to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. The earth can now mirror the joy of heaven at the culmination of creation, yismechu hashamayim vetagail ha’aretz/the heavens will be joyful and the earth will be glad (Tehillim 91:11), writes Rabbi Schorr.
Herein lies the true meaning of galus/exile and geulah, redemption writes Chochmat Hamatzpun citing Ramban. Galus and geulah have less to do with residing in our land than with our connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Full redemption came about when Hashem took us to be His nation, not when He took us out of Egypt. That connections remains within us even when we are dispersed among the nations.
In the context of the eighth day of creation, we can now better understand why this was an appropriate time, at the inauguration of the Mishkan, to sing praises to Hashem, writes Rabbi Druck. The first song of praise, Mizmor shir leyom haShabbos/A song of praise for the Shabbat Day (Tehillim 92) is attributed to Adam Harishon. While it seems to have very little to do with Shabbos, it is a song of praise thanking Hashem for all of creation. Similarly, we bless Hashem for each creation, from thunder and lightning to the foods we eat. But it is only by stepping back on Shabbat that we take in the full panorama of creation and thank Hashem for its entirety, for the creation of the entire world. Similarly, Bnei Yisroel now witnessed a new fire from heaven, come down, signifying a new dimension of creation, Bnei Yisroel sang a new song of praise just as the first man sang a song of praise at the completion of the initial phase of creation.
Rabbi Mandelbaum, quoting Rav Moshe Shapira brings a novel interpretation to our discussion of shirah. In another context from the commentator Onkelos, defines shir as a circular adornment, a bracelet. In this interpretation, a song is a circle that brings you back to the beginning, to complete the circle. This eighth day was the day that completed the original vision for creation, bringing us back to the beginning, closing and completing the circle. This circle was now a spiral, raising the world to a higher level where mankind, specifically Bnei Yisroel, were only now elevated enough to receive and accept the laws of purity in foods, laws that would enable us to retain that elevated status.
Bnei Yisroel had spent many months building the Mishkan, and a full seven days inaugurating it. Yet, the Shechinah did not come down. Only after Moshe and Aharon and Bnei Yisroel approached Hashem in prayer would God’s presence come down. This is the lesson for each of us in our own lives, writes Rabbi Wolbe. We toil in so many ways for so many things, especially in doing teshuvah and in all areas of Torah study and spirituality. If we want to succeed, we must not forget to include tefillah/prayer to bring Hashem’s presence and providence into our endeavors and into our lives.