“The fire that descended in the days of Moses did not depart from the Copper Altar until they reached the Beit HaOlamim (Temple)” – Sifra (Nedava 5:10)
The Sages tell us that although the kohanim were required to arrange wood and then light a fire atop the Copper Altar, there was, in fact, already a fire there. “And the sons of Aharon the Kohen will light a fire atop the altar”: Even though the fire descended from heaven, it is a commandment to light a fire from a regular source. (Lev. 1:7 with Sifra, Rashi).
No doubt, it must have been particularly fascinating to spy the fire that arrived from heaven. The Sages report, as we mentioned earlier, that it stayed there until the construction of G-d’s permanent home, the Beit HaMikdash.
Of course, if there was a fire already upon the altar that descended from heaven, we must ask why there is a commandment to add a flame of our own to it in the first place. As much as watching the flame from heaven must have been mesmerizing, the kohanim adding fire must have looked rather redundant.
In fact, this is a recurrent theme in Jewish law. We are all familiar with the requirement to say Kiddush on Shabbat. Yet, of course, Shabbat is holy whether or not we say Kiddush. In the words of the Ramban, the recitation of Kiddush is very much like the declaration that the Rabbinical Court makes regarding the sacred Yovel year. In that case, the court declares mekudash, mekudash, that the Yovel is “separate, sacred”:
“Our Sages understood… that we must sanctify the Sabbath through its mention, like the commandment ‘And you will sanctify the 50th year,’ which requires sanctification in the rabbinical court, saying that the Yovel is mekudash, mekudash, separate and sacred. So too here, He commanded that we mention the day of Shabbat when we sanctify it” (Ramban to Ex. 20:8).
Unlike the Jubilee, which gets its designation from the Rabbinical Court, Shabbat is of course holy because G-d declared it so. Yet, He commands that we add to its holiness, declaring it sacred and separate from the rest of the week just as the Sages of old would separate and sanctify the 50th year.
Another example of this surprising phenomenon can be found in the laws of the bechor, the first born male sheep or cow that must be offered as a sacrifice in the Temple. Although the cow or sheep is set aside for worship from the moment it is born, it is a commandment for the owner of the bechor to say, “This is kodesh, set aside for holy use” (Mishna Torah, Bechorot 1:4).
The halachot teach us a remarkable message. G-d wants us to partner with Him. Whether it be in time, property, or in worship, He seeks out – demands, even – that we play a starring role in the state of His world. As the Sages say in Shabbat (10a), “Any judge who judges a true judgment truthfully, even if he sits in judgment only one hour, the verse ascribes to him as if he became a partner to the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the act of Creation.”
The requirement to partner with G-d is, it seems, also a fulfillment of the commandment to imitate G-d and walk in His ways:
“[Our Sages] taught [the following] explanation of this mitzvah: Just as He is called ‘Gracious,’ you shall be gracious; Just as He is called ‘Merciful,’ you shall be merciful; Just as He is called ‘Holy,’ you shall be holy” (Mishna Torah, Middot 1:6).
Adding fire to the flame and declaring Shabbat holy are dress rehearsals, practice runs that not only remind us of our role to play but that give us a chance to play it. Each Shabbat, on Friday night, in the morning, and then again when we make hHvdala, we play a role in declaring and even making the status of the day. Even Shabbat is only fully sacred when we take responsibility for it and make it so. So too with the rest of our time and so too with everything else that G-d has put at our disposal. He gives us space and responsibility, the opportunity to thrive or fail on our own merits; He waits, so to speak, to see what we will do with this beautiful world that He has given us. Will we clothe the cold? Care for the sick and the grieving? Teach those who do not yet know?
We are all well aware of what we should do, as a general rule. Yet, we do not often recall that if we do not act directly, if we do not take responsibility for the people nearest to us, then it will not happen. Sometimes, Hashem makes a flame and asks only that we add to it. Other times, however, He waits to see if we have learned to start the flames ourselves.
