Beha’alotcha
How do we find light and life in what is routine?
Reflection by Naso by Ronen Gradwohl, graduate of Or HaLev’s Tiferet Teacher Training:
"In Parashat Beha’alotcha, God commands Aaron to light the lamps of the Mishkan, one of the priestly duties. Later, the parashah emphasizes that Aaron indeed acted according to the command. Rashi wonders about this emphasis and explains that it is stated in praise of Aaron, shelo shina - that he did not `deviate` - from the command. But this is a little strange: why would Aaron deviate from God’s command?
The Mei HaShiloach (Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica) notes that Rashi’s words, shelo shina, can also be read as `he did not repeat`, in the sense of doing something so often that it becomes habitual. In other words, Aaron’s praise lies in the fact that he did not turn the lighting of the lamps into a routine, mechanical act, even though he performed it again and again. Each time, he approached the act `like something new that a person does with joy and alacrity.`
Later, the Mei HaShiloach compares a mitzvah performed out of habit to a carcass devoid of life. By contrast, a mitzvah performed as `something new` is a living action: an act through which joy and the flow of life are received.
We, too, do many things each day out of habit: prayer, work, conversation, or meeting someone close to us. What kind of presence do we bring to these daily actions? Are they done out of empty routine, or with living attention? Perhaps all it takes is a small pause, a moment of attention to breath, a renewed intention before the act, to approach it as `something new.` In this way, maybe routine itself can become a place of inspiration: not a lifeless carcass, but the discovery of new light within the very same familiar act.”