Parshat Tzav, (Leviticus 6:1-6:11), 3/9/14

“And he shall lift out of it in his fist, from the fine flour of the meal offering and from its oil and all the frankincense that is on the meal offering, and he shall cause its reminder to [go up in] smoke on the altar as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord."

I read, “and the fire shall not go out,” meaning that one has to retain the faith ... and this faith continues to light the Earth. It is the constancy of our actions that makes so much difference. It is easy to make a fire, but much harder to keep it going, especially as one tires.

I thought the line “Any male among Aaron's sons may eat it” was curious until I read Rashi's interpretation that even if a son has blemishes he can eat it, and this eating of the unleavened bread shall continue through the ages. All people (men) have the opportunity to become holy (obviously the chauvinism is disturbing). And because this offering is holy, anything that touches the sons will also become holy. If we do good work, whatever we touch will do good work.