Shiurim

Back to Shiurim List

The Ner Tamid and the Shulchan in Emor

By: SFW Students & Alumna

Compiled by Adena Muskin. Special thanks to those who contributed to this week’s dvar torah, including: Malkie Ziegler.              

This week’s dvar Torah is written in honor of all those who valiantly died while defending our country.

In this week’s parsha, immediately after reading about the chagim we suddenly read of two mitzvot which do not seem to belong. First we read of the Ner Tamid (the Eternal Light) of the menorah followed by the command surrounding the Lechem HaPanim of the shulchan. These mitzvot do not seem to belong here. One may say that they ought to be placed in Parshat Tetzaveh with the other commands surrounding the klei haMishkan (the vessels of the Mishkan). In fact, they are mentioned in Parshat Tetzaveh, so why does the Torah repeat the commands in Vayikra perek 24?

Many commentators are struck by this textual problem and offer their solutions.

Rashi, after expressing his surprise at the text answers that perhaps the two commands were two stages of the same command. That is to say, the Torah in Parshat Tetzaveh commanded the Ner Tamid and the Lechem HaPanim as a part the Seder HaMishkan. Now, in Vayikra, Bnei Yisrael receive the actual command to perform the mitzvah.

The Ibn Ezra explains that the “repetition” in Sefer Vayikra is actually written to give us more details about the menorah and the shulchan, and explain to the Jewish People how to perform the mitzvah during a time of need. It is placed in Vayikra and not with the other commands for the klei haMishkan in Shemot because now that the mitzvot and halachot of the Mikdash are finally being implemented, practical problems arise. Therefore, the Torah lists these mitzvot here to help Bnei Yisrael through the first awkward stages of performing the avodah in the Mikdash.

The Ramban offers a two-fold answer. First, he says that the mitzvah in Shemot may have seemed like mitvot l’shaah, a one-time event. In Parshat Tetzaveh Bnei Yisrael are told to offer their olive oil to the Mishkan along with their other donations to the Mishkan. But it was the nesi’im, the heads of the tribes, who brought this oil. Now once this oil had been used up, it was commanded that Bnei Yisrael offer pure olive oil from their communities for all future generations. The Ramban’s second answer is that the Torah here explains the laws of the menorah and helps Bnei Yisrael understand the exact conditions wherein they may or may not light the menorah. This command is written here as a reminder that the mitzvot of the menorah and the other klei haMishkan are mitzvot to be carried down through the generations.

The Ohr HaChaim points out that these commands do not appear “randomly” in Sefer Vayikra at all. Quite the contrary! The numbers all number 7 throughout the parsha. There are 7 days of Succot, 7 days of Pesach, 7 weeks counting from Pesach to Shavuot, Shabbat is the 7^th day of the week, and the menorah has 7 branches. Thus, the mention of these mitzvot in Parshat Emor flows thematically.

Rav Yonatan Grossman offers a different answer. He suggests that the wording of the command itself helps solve the problem of its repetition. The Torah chooses to command us specifically about the Ner Tamid here, not any other part of the menorah. The word “tamid” (meaning regularly) is extremely prevalent in the command in Sefer Vayikra, but not at all in Sefer Shemot. The Torah is emphasizes that in the Mikdash everything occurs regularly. There are no disruptions, only God’s complete sanctity. When interpreted this way, the Korban Tamid, the daily sacrifice brought in the morning and the afternoon, seems the epitome of this theme. However, it is not mentioned here because it occurs outside of the Mishkan itself. Instead, the two mitzvot of the Mikdash mentioned here are the “tamid”s inside the Mikdash: the menorah, which is lit constantly, and the shulchan, which always has bread upon it.

With this in mind, we can now understand the exact placement of these commands immediately following the commands for the chagim. The Torah writes the command about the "tamid" of the Mikdash here, after the perek on the sanctification of time in the outside world, in order to ease the tension between the two types of sanctifying time. In the previous perek, Bnei Yisrael were commanded to sanctify time through the holidays. In the mundane, outside world, there are two ways to sanctify time: either within one’s control, or not. Shabbat occurs independently. It is constant, and therefore can truly be the day set aside to honor God as the Master of the Universe. The Chagim are to be celebrated on specific dates, and therefore require human intervention. After listing these two ways of sanctifying time, the Torah reminds us that there is one more way, one which can be found in only one place on earth. Time is sanctified constantly in the Mikdash, Hashem’s home on earth. This is exemplified through the menorah and the shulchan, but more importantly what is constantly upon the menorah and the shulchan – the Ner Tamid and the Lechem HaPanim. These are the true testaments to God’s constant sanctity. This cannot be expressed through the Korban Tamid, for the korban is not a constant in the Mikdash, it is merely a regular, once every morning and once every afternoon. The Ner Tamid of the menorah and the Lechem HaPanim of the shulchan, however, never cease to exist. They are “tamid” and they can truly exemplify God’s constant, never-ending presence in the world.