Tzav

The fire for the altar shall be kindled upon it; it must not go out. Early in the morning the Kohen shall lay upon it logs of wood to burn there; he shall arrange the ascent offering upon it and shall make the fat parts of the peace offering go up in smoke on it. Fire shall constantly be kindled upon the altar, where it must never go out.

6:5-6

Because the fire on the Altar burned around the clock, “all night long” therefore also the parts of the daily evening sacrifice which had not been totally burned by nightfall retain their sanctity and the rules concerning them had to be observed meticulously…Although nigh time is considered a period prone to defilement and impurity, the presence of the Heavenly fire has changed all that…

Moshe Alshich (15^th Century)

The letters that spell the word “TKBH” (extinguished), also spell the word “TBKH” (to cry). Thus, we may say that God promised the nation that as long as the flame on the altar is not extinguished, as long as there remains a national interest in searching out closeness to, and forgiveness from, God, through the bringing of sacrifices, the nation will not have to shed the tears of exile.

David Feinstein (Contemporary)

Even a short term objective need not be considered as having failed, when the lesson it was supposed to have taught is absorbed by a change of our lifestyle. If, say, sacrifices were meant to bring man closer to God through his having offered himself vicariously through the animal, then a lifestyle which includes three daily prayer sessions certainly can be said to be evidence that man has come closer to God, views Him as the source of all he strives for…

Akedat Yitzchak (15^th Century)

There were two eternal flames; the flame of the altar emanating from and dedicated to the Divine, and the flame of the menorah, symbolizing the seven branches of human wisdom and the 70 nations of the world, emanating from and dedicated to humanity. This “human” flame must likewise be strengthened and kindled by the “whole burnt offering” fire of the Divine. Hence there were two applications of the eternal fire: the altar and the menora…Apparently the sages want to make us sensitive to the fact that fire, able simultaneously to shatter and forge, sever and solder, pulverize and purify, emanated from two creations; a Divine act and a human act…When we kindle the Havdala flames at the conclusion of Shabbat, invoking the name of Elijah, forerunner of the Messiah, and combining the flames of at least two wicks, we are in effect announcing that only when the Divine fire and the human fire…are joined, only when heaven andearth stand as one, will the period of peace be at hand.

Shlomo Riskin (contemporary)

Crowning the end of the biblical story of creation is the creation of Adam and Eve. Soon after their coming into the world comes the first Shabbat. When the first Shabbat was over, Adam saw the sun go down for the first time and an ever-deepening gloom enfold the created world. Adam’s heart was filled with terror; he felt helplessly lost in the dark. God then took pity on him and endowed him with the intuition to take two stones and rub them against each other, and so to discover fire…This story stands in direct contrast to Greek mythology, which represents Prometheus as stealing fire from the jealous gods and secretly giving it to humans, for which he was…tortured endlessly…(according to the Torah) fire must not be kindled on the Shabbat “in all your dwellings’ (Exodus 35:3. The one exception is the perpetual fire on the altar, which must be kept aflame even on the Shabbat. It is in the sanctuary where both the “eternal light” and the “eternal fire” are kept.

Pinchas Peli (20^th Century)