In the opening verses of the Torah portion of Tzav we are taught the laws about the elevation offering brought by the cohanim, the priests, each morning on the alter in the Tabernacle, and later in the holy Temple in Jerusalem. Within but six verses the word fire appears four times along with two warnings not to let the fire on the alter be extinguished. According to the teachings of Kabbalah and Chassidut the service as performed in the Temple is a paradigm for each person in their quest to come close to God and in finding one's purpose and rectification in this world. Therefore it behooves us to look deeper into the symbol of the fire on the alter to glean helpful teachings for life.
In general the continual fire on the alter represents the unceasing service of God and the need to be aware of his Presence and existence at all times. Whether at work or at play, during the weekdays or Shabbat and holidays, or when feeling up or feeling low, the service of God as defined by the Torah never ceases. Every situation in life affords us the opportunity to experience God, perform mitzvot and bring light, healing and rectification to ourselves and the world.
On a deeper level fire represents the longing of the soul to flame upwards in a passionate desire to be one with God. Therefore, fire is a symbol of the enthusiastic and exuberant love of life and service of God. When Reb Shlomo Carlebach would be teaching, leading prayer services or performing at a concert and he felt the people were lacking in enthusiasm he would stop and plead with everyone by yelling out: "More fire!! More fire!!" It usually did the trick by upping the voltage and breaking the spell of complacency.
Another concept very connected to the idea of fire is simcha, joy, which actually begins with the letter shin, the letter which most symbolizes fire, as seen in the word for fire itself being aish (the letters alef and shin.) In the book of Deuteronomy it is stated that future exiles would occur because "you did not serve Your God with joy." The Arizal, the famous Kabbalist of Safed explained this to be quite literal on a national as well as individual basis. It was exactly this point that the Baal Shem Tov emphasized so strongly when teaching the importance of inspired praying, learning, performance of mitzvoth and living life in general.
A man once came to his Rebbe and told him how sad and depressed he was due to a whole list of things going wrong in his life. The Rebbe, who knew him well, explained to him it was actually just the opposite - because he was always so sad and depressed that is why everything was going wrong!
Not only is the idea of joy connected to channeling the fire of the soul to "serve God with gladness" but the concept of holiness is associated as well. The word for holy, kadosh, is a combination of two words: yikod aish, which means "ignited fire."
On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, the high Priest would enter the holy of Holies with a pan of burning coals on which he would burn incense. The Holy of Holies on a personal level represents the most inner point of holiness of the soul. In this most inward place the soul is on fire with love of God.
When God first appears to Moses he does so in a burning bush that is not consumed by the flames. This is a powerful image relating, in our case, to the secret of how to burn with the fire of serving God and fulfilling ones purpose in life without "burning out" as so many people do. Learning how to renew ones enthusiasm for life on a daily basis is one of the key teachings of Chassidut. This is so important because it takes great effort to attain this level. Without this renewal most people slide into a comfort zone of complacency at best and stagnation at worst.
When Shneur Zalman, the founder of the Chabad movement, first came to his teacher, the Maggid of Mezrich, he was new to the Chassidic way of life and its teachings. The Maggid, who saw in his young student enormous potential, once called him into his private study and repeated intently the following verse from our portion ten times: "A permanent fire shall remain aflame on the alter; it shall not be extinguished." He explained that the words "lo yichbeh," "it shall not be extinguished" could also be read "the no [symbol of all negativity] shall be extinguished." He further explained that learning Chassidut and its deep teachings fan the natural tendency of the soul to be ignited with the love of God. This in turn extinguishes all the negative influences trying to cool off our passion for holiness and the burning desire to be close with God.
As each person attempts to build an inner alter where the fire of holiness and joy burn continually we should remember the teachings of this portion and be inspired to fan the inner most spark of the soul until it becomes a flaming bush that burns but is not consumed.
