{"id":42885,"date":"2018-10-26T09:37:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T06:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=42885"},"modified":"2022-05-22T17:46:06","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T14:46:06","slug":"tamid-the-eternal-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/tamid-the-eternal-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamid: The Eternal Presence"},"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":[384,444,629],"acf":{"old_id":"42885","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38047,"related_cahpter":"77","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Realizing the partnership, and matching the divine presence with our own","content":"<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is customary for synagogues to keep a small light, called the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ner Tamid<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or Eternal Light, lit above the Ark, day and night, whether the room is in use or not. The light is often explained as signifying the constant presence of God.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Hebrew name <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ner Tamid<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is derived from Exodus 27:20-21 where Aaron and his sons are instructed light lamps regularly, outside the curtain which is over the Ark of the Testimony (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">edut<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) \u00a0from evening to morning before the Eternal<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Here, and elsewhere in the Bible (I Samuel 3:2-3) the lamp burns \u201cfrom evening until morning,\u201d to illuminate the darkness \u200eof the night, only. Each evening it is kindled again.<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reform.org.il\/Heb\/holidays\/WeeklyPortionArticle.asp?ContentID=144\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rabbi Yehoyada Amir suggests<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that the reliable, daily relighting of the lamp testifies not to God\u2019s presence, but rather to ours, attentive and ready to serve as partners in the work of holiness and creation. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What might explain the radical change in procedure and meaning?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One possibility is Rabbi Yitz Greenberg\u2019s <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">three eras of Jewish history<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Dating from the first era, the written Torah represents a time when God\u2019s presence was concentrated in a single place, first the Tabernacle and then the Temple. In that scenario, people presented themselves to God in order to be seen (cf. Deuteronomy 16:16).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the second era, after the Second Temple was destroyed, holiness became diffuse, and God\u2019s presence harder to perceive. Therefore, the Eternal Light in synagogues became a form of testimony to the covenant between God and Israel. However great the darkness, however small the light, it affirmed that God was with God\u2019s people if only they would take the time to look.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now in the third period, triggered by the Holocaust, God is even more hidden. R. Greenberg describes the covenant as voluntary, it \u201ccan no longer be commanded\u2026 because one cannot <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">order<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> another to step forward and die.\u201d Moreover, most Jews are no longer subject to communal enforcement mechanisms. Yet, despite it all, Jews remain committed to God, Torah and Israel (or some subset thereof).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this era, I propose that we need both types of light. The Eternal Light of the synagogue represents the presence of God that we must match with consistent, reliable, active commitment \u2013 analogous to the Biblical <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Ner Tamid<\/em> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 to realize our partnership in making that Presence real, for more people in more places, more often.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":75356,"id":75356,"title":"ez39-Ner_Tamid","filename":"ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-lamp-that-is-tamid\/ez39-ner_tamid\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez39-ner_tamid","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75355,"date":"2020-05-30 18:59:56","modified":"2022-05-22 14:46:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":450,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Tamid: The Eternal Presence","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Realizing the partnership, and matching the divine presence with our own","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":75356,"id":75356,"title":"ez39-Ner_Tamid","filename":"ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-lamp-that-is-tamid\/ez39-ner_tamid\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez39-ner_tamid","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75355,"date":"2020-05-30 18:59:56","modified":"2022-05-22 14:46:03","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":450,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez39-Ner_Tamid-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"old_create_date":"","links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105029,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42885\/revisions\/105029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}