Last week, I made the mistake of thinking it was the Shabbat before Pesach, Shabbat HaGadol. However, the true Shabbat before Pesach is this Shabbat. This year Pesach is Motzei Shabbat, and while it may be hard to have three days back to back, it is something so beautiful.
In Parshat Tzav, we are told that the fire on the Mizbeach must not go out. This is us this Shabbat. Korbanot are used to bring us close to Hashem, and they were given on the Mizbeach, which was never allowed to have no flame, symbolizing that we can always choose to continue our connection with Hashem. That being said, nowadays we don’t have korbanot or a Mizbeach. We have tefillah, mitzvot and chagim to get close to Hashem. This year, having Pesach after Shabbat means having this constant light lit on the Mizbeach. The light is our opportunity to get close to Hashem at any time. May we recognize how lucky we are to have this built-in fire to connect to Hashem. May we all use Shabbat, chagim, and tefillah to get closer to Hashem and to show Hashem that we want the Beit Hamikdash with a Mizbeach and physical Ner Tamid speedily in our days.
Shira Sedek is a passionate educator at the Ramaz Middle School who loves teaching and learning Tanach and inspiring others.
