{"id":42887,"date":"2018-10-26T09:37:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T06:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=42887"},"modified":"2022-05-22T15:21:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T12:21:59","slug":"olive-oil-crushed-for-the-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/olive-oil-crushed-for-the-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Olive Oil, Crushed For The Light"},"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":[461,629,381,354,680],"acf":{"old_id":"42887","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33923,"related_cahpter":"77","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":" Our task is to bring light to the dark places of our and other peoples\u2019 lives","content":"<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cCommand the Israelites to bring you clear olive oil, crushed for the light, so that the lamp may always burn\u201d (Ex. 27:20). The sages drew a comparison between the olive and the Jewish people. \u201cRabbi Joshua ben Levi asked, why is Israel compared to an olive? Just as an olive is first bitter, then sweet, so Israel suffers in the present but great good is stored up for them in the time to come. And just as the olive only yields its oil by being crushed \u2013\u00ad as it is written, \u2018clear olive oil, crushed for the light\u2019 \u2013 so Israel fulfils [its full potential in] the Torah only when it is pressed by suffering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The oil was, of course, for the menorah, whose perpetual light \u2013 first in the Sanctuary, then in the Temple, and now that we have no Temple, the more mystical light that shines from every holy place, life and deed \u2013 symbolises the Divine light that floods the universe for those who see it through the eyes of faith. To produce this light, something has to be crushed. And here lies the life-changing lesson.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Suffering is bad. Judaism makes no attempt to hide this fact. The Talmud gives an account of various sages who fell ill. When asked, \u201cAre your sufferings precious to you?\u201d they replied, \u201cNeither they nor their reward.\u201d When they befall us or someone close to us, they can lead us to despair. Alternatively, we can respond stoically. We can practice the attribute of <em>gevurah<\/em>, strength in adversity. But there is a third possibility. We can respond with compassion, kindness and love. We can become like the olive which, when crushed, produces the pure oil that fuels the light of holiness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When bad things happen to good people, our faith is challenged. That is a natural response, not a heretical one. Abraham asked, \u201cShall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?\u201d Moses asked, \u201cWhy have You done harm to this people?\u201d Yet in the end, the wrong question to ask is, \u201cWhy has this happened?\u201d We will never know. We are not God, nor should we aspire to be. The right question is, \u201cGiven that this has happened, what then shall I do?\u201d To this, the answer is not a thought but a deed. It is to heal what can be healed, medically in the case of the body, psychologically in the case of the mind, spiritually in the case of the soul. Our task is to bring light to the dark places of our and other peoples\u2019 lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crushed for the Light, Covenant &amp; Conversation, Tetzaveh <\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(5778)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61098,"id":61098,"title":"Oil Splash Crown","filename":"2sam5-Oil-Splash-Crown.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam5-Oil-Splash-Crown.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-third-anointing-shepherd-warrior-leader\/oil-splash-crown\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"oil-splash-crown","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61091,"date":"2019-08-14 19:34:26","modified":"2022-05-22 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