{"id":42879,"date":"2018-10-26T09:35:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T06:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=42879"},"modified":"2022-05-22T18:39:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T15:39:48","slug":"what-is-voluntary-and-what-is-obligatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-voluntary-and-what-is-obligatory\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Voluntary And What Is Obligatory"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":50634,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[629,411,616,680],"acf":{"old_id":"42879","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37918,"related_cahpter":"77","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"There is no spiritual life without discipline and commitment","content":"<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our chapter, God instructs Moses: \u201cYou shall further command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps perpetually (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">le-ha\u2019alot ner tamid<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)\u201d (Exodus 27:20). Rashi understands \u201cperpetually\u201d (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tamid<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) to mean that the lamps must be lit every evening and stay aflame until morning. But a midrash insists that \u201cperpetually\u201d means that one lamp is to burn constantly, day as well as night; and all other lights are kindled from it (Sifre, Beha\u2019alotkha 59).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plain sense (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">peshat<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) of the text accords with Rashi\u2019s reading. The cantillation marks show a pause between <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>ner<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(light) and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>tamid<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(perpetually), indicating that a better translation would be \u201cfor kindling lamps, regularly.\u201d Over the course of Exodus, God has shown that God will be present for Israel; God now asks that Israel be present for God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The light burning in the mishkan (tabernacle) makes the statement that God and the people are perpetually committed to, and present for, one-another.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yehudah Brandes notices an important tension between the names of the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">parashiyot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Terumah and Tetzaveh, that convey God\u2019s instructions for the building of the mishkan: Whereas the word \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">terumah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (gift) connotes voluntary giving, the word \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tetzaveh<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (command) connotes obligation. Parashat Terumah appeals to the hearts of the Israelites: God instructs Moses to \u201ctell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts\u201d (Exodus 23:2). In stark contrast, parashat Tetzaveh commands\u2014not requests\u2014that the people bring oil for kindling the lights regularly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is true of service of God is true of any relational commitment we make: We commit that we will be present even when the spirit does not so move us. We decide that we will love even in moments when we are not overcome with feeling. To be sure, in order for existential commitment to endure, there need to be moments of fervor. But this is what the rituals of constancy in Parashat Tetzaveh serve to remind us: There is no spiritual life without discipline and commitment. This may just be the most encompassing\u2014and for many of us, the most challenging\u2014principle in the Torah<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":54841,"id":54841,"title":"jo24-Commitment","filename":"jo24-Commitment.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/consequences-of-commitment\/jo24-commitment\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo24-commitment","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":54840,"date":"2019-05-04 19:56:44","modified":"2022-05-22 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Is Voluntary And What Is Obligatory","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"There is no spiritual life without discipline and commitment","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":54841,"id":54841,"title":"jo24-Commitment","filename":"jo24-Commitment.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jo24-Commitment.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/consequences-of-commitment\/jo24-commitment\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo24-commitment","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":54840,"date":"2019-05-04 19:56:44","modified":"2022-05-22 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