(20) You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. (21) Aaron and his sons shall set them up in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain which is over [the Ark of] the Pact, [to burn] from evening to morning before the LORD. It shall be a due from the Israelites for all time, throughout the ages.
The teaching is a light,
And the way to life is the rebuke that disciplines.
Revealing all his inmost parts.
(ג) דָּבָר אַחֵר, זַיִת רַעֲנָן, רְאֵה הֵיאַךְ דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה מְאִירִין לָאָדָם בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁעוֹסֵק בָּהֶן, וְכָל מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹסֵק וְאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ הוּא נִכְשָׁל, מָשָׁל לְמִי שֶׁעוֹמֵד בָּאֲפֵלָה בָּא לְהַלֵּךְ מָצָא אֶבֶן וְנִכְשַׁל בָּהּ, מָצָא בִּיב נוֹפֵל בּוֹ הִקִּישׁ פָּנָיו בַּקַּרְקַע, לָמָּה, שֶׁלֹא הָיָה בְּיָדוֹ נֵר, כָּךְ הֶדְיוֹט שֶׁאֵין בְּיָדוֹ דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, מָצָא עֲבֵרָה וְנִכְשַׁל בָּהּ וָמֵת, שֶׁכֵּן רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ צוֹוַחַת (משלי ה, כג): הוּא יָמוּת בְּאֵין מוּסָר, וְאֵין מוּסָר אֶלָּא דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ד, יג): הַחֲזֵק בַּמּוּסָר אַל תֶּרֶף. לָמָּה הוּא מֵת לְפִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ בַּתּוֹרָה וְהוֹלֵךְ וְחוֹטֵא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ד, יט): דֶּרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים כָּאֲפֵלָה לֹא יָדְעוּ בַּמֶּה יִכָּשֵׁלוּ, אֲבָל אוֹתָם שֶׁעוֹסְקִים בַּתּוֹרָה הֵם מְאִירִים בְּכָל מָקוֹם, מָשָׁל לְמִי שֶׁעוֹמֵד בַּאֲפֵלָּה וְנֵר בְּיָדוֹ, רָאָה אֶבֶן וְלֹא נִכְשָׁל, רָאָה בִּיב וְלֹא נָפַל, לָמָּה, עַל שֶׁהָיָה בְּיָדוֹ נֵר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים קיט, קה): נֵר לְרַגְלִי דְּבָרֶךָ וְאוֹר לִנְתִיבָתִי. וְכֵן (משלי ד, יב): אִם תָּרוּץ לֹא תִכָּשֵׁל, וְכֵן (משלי כ, כז): נֵר ה' נִשְׁמַת אָדָם, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יְהֵא נֵרִי בְּיָדְךָ וְנֵרְךָ בְּיָדִי, וְאֵיזוֹ נֵרוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, זוֹ תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ו, כג): כִּי נֵר מִצְוָה וְתוֹרָה אוֹר, מַהוּ כִּי נֵר מִצְוָה, אֶלָּא כָּל מִי שֶׁעוֹשֶׂה מִצְוָה הוּא כְּאִלּוּ מַדְלִיק נֵר לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּמְחַיֶּה נַפְשׁוֹ שֶׁנִּקְרֵאת נֵר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: נֵר ה' נִשְׁמַת אָדָם. וּמַהוּ וְתוֹרָה אוֹר, אֶלָּא הַרְבֵּה פְּעָמִים שֶׁאָדָם מְחַבֵּב בְּלִבּוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִצְוָה, וְיֵצֶר הָרָע שֶׁבְּתוֹכוֹ אוֹמֵר מַה לְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִצְוָה וּמְחַסֵּר אֶת נְכָסֶיךָ, עַד שֶׁאַתָּה נוֹתֵן לַאֲחֵרִים תֵּן לְבָנֶיךָ, וְיֵצֶר טוֹב אוֹמֵר לוֹ תֵּן לַמִּצְוָה, רְאֵה מַה כְּתִיב: כִּי נֵר מִצְוָה, מָה הַנֵּר הַזֶּה כְּשֶׁהוּא דּוֹלֵק אֲפִלּוּ אֶלֶף אֲלָפִים קָרוֹינִין וְסֶבָּקִין מַדְלִיקִין הֵימֶנּוּ אוֹר בִּמְקוֹמוֹ, כָּךְ כָּל מִי שֶׁיִּתֵּן לְמִצְוָה, אֵינוֹ מְחַסֵּר אֶת נְכָסָיו, לְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר: כִּי נֵר מִצְוָה וְתוֹרָה אוֹר.
What is the meaning of the text: "For the commandment is a lamp"? --Man's heart frequently prompts him to perform a good deed ("commandment"), but the evil inclination inside him says: Why should you perform a good deed at the expense of your pocket? Before you give to others, give to your children (i.e. charity begins at home). But the good inclination says to him: Give for a worthy cause ("commandment"). See what is written! For the commandment (mitzvah: good deed, worthy cause) is a lamp." Just as the light of a lamp remains undimmed, though myriads of wicks and flames be lit from it, so he who gives for a worthy cause does not make a hole in his own pocket. Wherefore it is written: "For a commandment is a lamp and Torah a light".
Halakhic Man (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik), 105
When man, the crowning glory of the cosmos, approaches the world, he finds his task at hand-- the task of creation. he must stand on guard over the pure, clear existence, repair the defects in the cosmos, and replenish the "privation" in being. Man, the creature, is commanded to become a partner with the Creator in the renewal of the cosmos; complete and ultimate creation-- this is the deepest desire of the Jewish people.
Talmud Bavli, Sota 14a
And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: For what reason was Moses buried near Beth Peor? In order to atone for the incident that transpired at Beth Peor (Numbers, chapter 25).
ואמר רבי חמא ברבי חנינא מאי דכתיב (דברים יג, ה) אחרי ה' אלהיכם תלכו וכי אפשר לו לאדם להלך אחר שכינה והלא כבר נאמר (דברים ד, כד) כי ה' אלהיך אש אוכלה הוא
And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Lord your God shall you walk, and Him shall you fear, and His commandments shall you keep, and unto His voice shall you hearken, and Him shall you serve, and unto Him shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:5)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire.
אלא להלך אחר מדותיו של הקב"ה מה הוא מלביש ערומים דכתיב (בראשית ג, כא) ויעש ה' אלהים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם אף אתה הלבש ערומים הקב"ה ביקר חולים דכתיב (בראשית יח, א) וירא אליו ה' באלוני ממרא אף אתה בקר חולים הקב"ה ניחם אבלים דכתיב (בראשית כה, יא) ויהי אחרי מות אברהם ויברך אלהים את יצחק בנו אף אתה נחם אבלים הקב"ה קבר מתים דכתיב (דברים לד, ו) ויקבר אותו בגיא אף אתה קבור מתים
He explains: Rather, the meaning is that one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He. He provides several examples. Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, visits the sick, as it is written with regard to God’s appearing to Abraham following his circumcision: “And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead.
W. Gunther Plaut and Mark Warshofsky, Teshuvot for the Nineties: Reform Judaism's Answers to Today's Dilemmas
It will not do to argue that we can link ourselves to Jewish religious tradition without the halakhah, that we can substitute other "friendlier" texts in place of the legal literature... [Judaism's] dominant expression is not the search for correct belief but rather a standard of practice that sanctifies us to God's service. And that branch of traditional Jewish literature which most directly concerns practice is the halakhah... There is, in other words, no "tradition" of Jewish practice without halakhah.
Haim Nahman Bialik, Revealment and Concealment: Five Essays
A generation is growing up in an atmosphere of mere phrases and catchwords, and a kind of go-as-you-please Judaism is being created out of the breath of empty words... But what is this love-in-the-air worth? Love? But where is duty? Whence can it come? On what is it to live? On Aggadah? But Aggadah is by its very nature the emodiment of volition; it admits something between yea and nea. A Judaism all Aggadah is like iron that has been heated but not cooled. Aspiration, good will, spiritual uplift, heartfelt love-- all these are excellent and valuable when they lead to action, to action which is hard as iron and obeys the stern behests of duty... Let there be given to us moulds in which we can mint our fluid and unformed will into solid coin that will endure. We yearn for something concrete. Let us learn to demand more action than speech in the business of life, more Halakhah than Aggadah in the field of literature.
Leon Wiener Dow, The Going: A Meditation on Jewish Law (2017)
The Divine voice that bursts forth into the wide open from the written verses of Torah demands actualization, and the halakhah is its fulfillment. The unremitting insistence of the halakhah is that the encounter with the Divine must, for the sake of its veracity, find expression in the world... Holiness must manifest itself in all aspects of life, private and public. The "language" of doing thus becomes constitutive of community: the halakhah, in this respect, is none other than the shared doing of the Jewish people.
Leon A. Morris, "What Do We Mean When We Say, 'We Are Not Halkhic'?"
If halakhah were seen as an indispensible component of liberal Jewish life, Jewish identification would shift from feeling to action, from ideas to concrete ways in which those ideas would be expressed through deed. An engagement with halakhah would promulgate the notion that practice is primary and would thereby encourage all Jews to do more-- more social activism, more ritual practice, and more acts of kindness. / A deeper engagement with halakhah would also broaden our realm of Jewish study... A renewed engagement with halakhah would also remind us that we are not (or do not want to be) isolated individuals. We live with others in community. We seek to build Jewish communities with some measure of shared behavioral patterns through which our commitments are lived out and best expressed. Halakhah is a way, as Wiener-Dow explains, for "human beings to meet in time."