BS"D

Parshath Tzav
By Yitzhak Kolakowski

IT SHALL NOT GO OUT!

"Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar 
continually; it shall not go out."
(Leviticus 6:6)

Now, my dear friends, we know in our deepest hearts that everything comes directly from
G-d.  Really, in the truest sense we don't do anything.  But G-d loves us so, so much.
G-d is the Ultimate Good.

If we want to be good, the best good is to do good to someone else.

However, when we earn something, it is much sweeter than when we get a free gift.

If we put these two together, we see that the best good a person could do is to
make someone think that they themselves are doing it.

This is why Hashem gives us the mitzvos.  He loves us so much that He wants to do us
a favor, but He makes us think that we are doing it, and so it is earned, the greatest
good.

Now, the fire on the altar came directly from heaven.  We didn't need to do anything.
But we have a special mitzvah to keep the fire going.  Why?  Hashem keeps it going anyway.
What do we have to do?  Because this is the sweetest fire in the world, when we think
we are doing it.

We have to keep the fire of the love of Hashem, Israel, and Torah burning.  Even though
it would go by itself, it is our work which makes it sweet.

With every mitzvah, we have to burn with the fire of these loves.  We can't let the fire
go out!

May the fire burn again to sweeten and purify the whole world.  May we find every speck
of dirt in every hidden crevice, and burn that holy and sweet fire again on that holy altar
from Yerushalayim to the whole world.

Gut Shabbos and Zissen Pesach.