RABBI'S THOUGHTS:

This week's parsha speaks of the prohibition of kindling a fire on Shabbat (the Sabbath).

There are various melachot - weekday, work-type activities which the Torah proscribes on Shabbat, based on the activities which were carried out in building the Tabernacle.

The Rambam, Maimonides, in his compilation of Jewish Law, qualifies the law regarding kindling a fire on Shabbat, starting with the condition that "when is a person held liable for kindling a fire on the Shabbat - when he needs the ash". In other words, a person would not be considered to have actually performed the forbidden action until the point where the fire actually produced a physical product, in this case, ash.

The Torah is the blueprint for our lives and everything that we learn from it can be applied to our own daily lives, our self-improvement and our spiritual efforts.

The human soul is described as the 'candle of G-d'. Fire, in spiritual, soul terms, represents a burning love, a desire, and inspiration for spirituality. Often this may lead to distaste for physicality - the more spiritual and inspired the person becomes, the less desirable 'reality' will seem to them.

This is the nature of a flame - it flickers upward, trying to reach its source, moving away from the wick. The human soul does the same thing - as we become inspired, we feel removed and long to get away from physicality, to 'lose oneself' in the spiritual realms.

However, we learn from the prohibition of kindling a flame on Shabbat, that the action of kindling a flame is not considered complete until there is an actual, physical, end product.

Additionally, since we are told that G-d desired a 'dwelling place in the lower realms' which is accomplished by our transforming the physical world and infusing it with spirituality, it follows that the closer and more spiritual a person becomes, the closer they will become to appreciating this G-dly will and, consequently, will desire to leave a mark on the physical, material world around them, rather than floating away on lofty spiritual clouds.

Inspiration, spirituality, good intentions - these are all very good, admirable and, indeed, desirable, but they must subsequently translate into actions which change the world around us. Without the end result, without affecting some change in ourselves or in the material world around us, we are like the flame burning, but without any lasting effect, not affecting any real change, nor fulfilling the ultimate goal of transforming this world into a divine, spiritual dwelling-place.

Shabbat Shalom