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Posted on June 7, 2002 (5757) By Rabbi Yissocher Frand | Series: | Level:

These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape #201, Fasting on Tisha B’Av: Is It For Everyone? Good Shabbos!


The Pitfall of Consistency: Been There; Done That

Parshas Pinchas contains a long list of sacrifices that are brought on various occasions. The first offering the Torah discusses is the Korban Tamid – the Daily Sacrifice. When the Temple is standing there is a Biblical command to offer a Tamid Offering, every single day — “One Lamb is to be offered in the morning and one Lamb is to be brought toward the evening” [Bamidbar 28:4]. This offering is brought every day of the year, even on Shabbos, even on Yom Kippur.

There is something beautiful about consistency. But consistency does have one major pitfall.

This pitfall is hinted to, by an incongruous verse in the middle of the chapter of the Daily Sacrifice. For no apparent reason, the Torah inserts, into the description of the Korban Tamid, the verse, “The continual Burnt Offering which was made at Mt. Sinai for a pleasant aroma, a Fire Offering, before HaShem [Bamidbar 28:6].”

What does the Olah that was brought on Mt. Sinai have to do with this section about the Daily Sacrifice? That which happened on Mt. Sinai is history! Why is it mentioned in the middle of the section of the Korban Tamid?

In the Sifrei and the Talmud [Chagiga 6b], the Tanaaim are all bothered by the question, “What is this verse teaching us?” One opinion states that the Olah on Mt. Sinai needed accompanying libations; one says it did not need libations; one says they did not offer the Daily offering at Mt. Sinai and that it only started later on. They are all troubled by the presence of this verse over here.

Rav Yosef Salant says that although the Rabbis of the Talmud are arguing about a halachic issue, there is also a very important hashkafic point that we derive from the presence this verse. That hashkafic point relates to relates to this pitfall of consistency.

When something is done day in day out, as wonderful as it may be, it eventually becomes done by rote. It becomes stale. It becomes automatic, without thought.

One only needs to have the nachas of seeing a son put on Tefillin for the first time, to remember what it was like. We can come in late and quickly put on our Tefillin in the time between Yishtabach and Borchu [names of specific prayers] and still have time to answer ‘Yehei Shmei Rabba’. That is the amount of time it takes us to put on Tefillin!

But watch a Bar Mitzvah boy put on Tefillin, making sure they are straight and making sure they are tight enough and that every strap is in order. What is the difference? We have been putting on Tefillin for forty years. On the one hand that is great — it is ‘Tamid’. We can look back and say, we never missed a day! But that ‘Tamid’ becomes ‘old hat’ and sometimes lacks the true meaning of the Mitzvah. That is the pitfall of Tamid.

Therefore, the Torah inserts, “The Continuous Burnt Offering that was offered on Mt. Sinai for a pleasant Aroma, a Fire Offering before HaShem,” in the middle of the parsha of the Korban Tamid that applies for all generations.

Remember that first Tamid! Remember the Tamid that was brought on Har Sinai with all the enthusiasm and all the newness and excitement. Remember that! There should always be a little of that Tamid in the Tamid that is brought every single day.

That is the way it should be with our Tefillin and with our Kerias Shemah and with our Shmoneh Esreis [names of specific prayers]. We cannot lose the whole value of consistency by letting that very value become the pitfall.

King David says in Tehillim, “I asked one thing from G-d, that is my request; to dwell in the House of G-d all the days of my life, and to visit His Palace.” [Tehillim 27:4] The commentaries all ask what David is saying. First he asks to dwell in G-d’s House his entire life, and then he asks to be a visitor? Which is it — a Resident or a Visitor? Is he a “shivti b’veis HaShem”-nik or is he a “L’vaker b’Heicholo”-nik?

David’s request is to have it both ways. He wants to be one who dwells everyday in G-d’s house, but he wants to feel as if he is only a visitor. He always wants it to feel special and new.

This is a difficult request, because these two qualities are almost mutually exclusive. When one has ‘Tamid’ he does not have ‘Chiddush’ and when one has ‘Chiddush’ he does not have ‘Tamid’.

But this is the goal and this is the lesson of the Korban Tamid. It needs to be “One every morning and one every evening” but it also must be “like the first one which was ever offered, on Mt. Sinai.”


Personalities & Sources:

Sifre — Tanaitic halachic Medrash to Bamidbar and Devorim


Glossary

Korban Tamid — Continuous (Daily) Sacrifice
Eved HaShem — Servant of G-d
nachas (ruach) — pleasure of spirit
halachik — legal
hashkafic — ethical, philosophical
Tefillin — Phylacteries
Chiddush — newness


Transcribed by David Twersky; Seattle, Washington.
Technical Assistance by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, Maryland.


This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah portion (#201). The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is: Fasting on Tisha B’Av: Is It For Everyone? The other halachic portions for Parshas Pinchas from the Commuter Chavrusah Series are:

  • Tape # 064 – The Yarmulka: At Home and In the Office
  • Tape # 154 – Writing a Halachicly Sanctioned Will
  • Tape # 246 – Hilchos Brachos: Ikar VeTofel
  • Tape # 291 – The Do’s and Don’ts of Kashering Kelim
  • Tape # 336 – Tisha B’Av on Motzoei Shabbos
  • Tape # 381 – Making a Zecher Le’churban
  • Tape # 425 – Minhagim of the Three Weeks

Tapes or a complete catalogue can be ordered from:

Yad Yechiel Institute
PO Box 511
Owings Mills, MD 21117-0511
Call (410) 358-0416 for further information.


Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand’s essays. The book is entitled:

Rabbi Yissocher Frand: In Print

and is available through Project Genesis On-Line Bookstore: http://books.torah.org/