The Hearth
At the center of the home, the hearth provides warmth and light, food and protection. Symbolizes love, fertility and life. Combines both the masculine fire and the feminine receptacle. Hospitality and sanctuary go along with feelings of protection. Carries with it omens; any anomaly in kindling or burning predicts a simliar event to members of the house.
At the center of the home, the hearth provides warmth and light, food and protection. Symbolizes love, fertility and life. Combines both the masculine fire and the feminine receptacle. Hospitality and sanctuary go along with feelings of protection. Carries with it omens; any anomaly in kindling or burning predicts a simliar event to members of the house.
אֵ֗שׁ תָּמִ֛יד תּוּקַ֥ד עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לֹ֥א תִכְבֶֽה׃ (ס)
A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out.
לא תכבה. הַמְכַבֶּה אֵשׁ עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ עוֹבֵר בִּשְׁנֵי לָאוִין:
תכבה לא IT SHALL NEVER GO OUT — One who extinguishes the fire on the altar transgresses two negative commands (this and that contained in v. 5).
(א) אש תמיד תוקד. טעם זה הפסוק להוסיף תמיד:
(1) A fire must continually be kept The point of this apparently redundant verse is to add the word continually .
אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח לא תכבה. תמיד אף בשבת אף בטומאה. לא תכבה. אף במסעות. וזאת כו' זאת אינ' נוהגת בבמה. הקרב אתה. כשירה ולא פסולה. אתה כלה כאחת. בני אהרן. ולא בנות אהרן:
Always, even on Shabbat, even in a state of ritual impurity. Do not extinguish. Even on journeys. And this does not apply to other altars.
לא תכבה אף במסעות, כבוד שמים הוא שלא תהא כירתו בטלה, מה עושין לה כופין עליה פסכתר דברי רבי יהודה.
לא תכבה, “where it will not go out.” Even while the Israelites were journeying through the desert, G-d’s honour demanded that precautions be taken that this flame be kept going. According to Rabbi Yehudah in the Sifra. they used a kind of metal dome fixed above it to insure that it was kept going.
Your Inner Fire
Take a moment and close your eyes, and imagine your inner fire. Using all of your sense, what is your inner fire like? What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? How does it make you feel?
Like any fire, it needs fuel, oxygen and energy. Israel's perpetual fire needed protection to keep it going at all times.
What fuels your inner fire?
What gives it the space to burn?
What keeps it going?
How do you protect it?
Take a moment and close your eyes, and imagine your inner fire. Using all of your sense, what is your inner fire like? What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? How does it make you feel?
Like any fire, it needs fuel, oxygen and energy. Israel's perpetual fire needed protection to keep it going at all times.
What fuels your inner fire?
What gives it the space to burn?
What keeps it going?
How do you protect it?