׳׳אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח לא תכבה׳׳ ויקרא ו;ו
“A constant fire shall burn on the Altar; it shall not be extinguished” Vayikra 6:6

This pasuk is immediately preceded by a pasuk which begins -׳׳והאש על המזבח תוקד בו לא תכבה׳׳ “The fire on the Altar shall burn on it; it shall not be extinguished.” What is the reason for the repetition of the command that the pyre atop the Altar shall not be dimmed?

We can explain as follows. There are two sources of inspiration. Inspiration that comes from Above and inspiration that we engender within ourselves. The Taz writes in Shulchan Aruch at the beginning of אורח חיים , that a person cannot rely strictly on Divine Inspiration, rather he must motivate himself down here, after which he will receive a boost from Above to help propel him further. Teshuva which comes about as the result of Divine Inspiration is called תשובה מיראה (repentance out of fear) and is not everlasting, seeing as when the inspiration leaves the person he may very well return to his past ways. However Teshuva that is born from ones own motivation and goodwill, without coercion or for fear of punishment, is called תשובה מאהבה (repentance out of love), which lasts forever. There is no one in Klal Yisrael who does not return to Hashem, it’s only a matter of their motivation, be it from their own heart or because Hashem had to send them a strong and fearsome message.

A person should not wait until Hashem must impel him to repent, rather we should ignite a fire within ourselves to love and fear Hashem on our own accord. The רוח טהרה (spirit of purity) that is sent down to us from on High should not suffice – we should come to purify ourselves with our own will ׳׳והבא לטהר מסייעין לו׳׳ . Through Divine inspiration alone a persons Avodah will not remain steadfast and will eventually peter out. But through our own motivation to get close to Hashem, the fire of our devotion will not dim and will be everlasting.

This is why the pasuk restates ׳׳אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח׳׳ . The fire of devotion to Hashem shall constantly burn inside the body of a person, which is referred to as ׳׳מזבח אדמה׳׳ as that is where אדם הראשון was created from (see Rashi Beraishis) and shall not be extinguished. But someone who is lax in his Avodas Hashem and waits until he is woken up suddenly by punishment; his Teshuva is not everlasting and will be nullified and broken.

The world is falling apart. Businesses are closing left and right and the economy is crashing. People are getting sick or worse. But it’s not too late. Let’s wake up. Hashem is sending us a message. Let’s not wait for punishment and sorrow to start doing Teshuva and repent. Let’s start now. Let’s do something to stop this plague. Let’s motivate ourselves down here to do Teshuva and return to Hashem because we love him and we understand that the reason why we are here in this world is to do His Avodah and strive to get close to Him. Let’s inspire ourselves to do תשובה מאהבה that will be everlasting and show Hashem that we care about His Torah and Mitzvos. Let’s show Him that it hurts us to have to daven at home, without a minyan. That we are in pain because our Yeshivos are closed and that the הבל פיהם של תינוקות של בית רבן has been בטול . In this Zechus may Hashem bring an end to our current plight and allow us to be זוכה to ביאת גואל צדק במהרה בימינו אמן.

Moshe Rothenberg / MMHK