A few weeks back our family was invited to stay by friends in their luxury home in Midtown for a Shabbat. I planned to drive my family to the house then return to park the car at home before catching a train back. Unfortunately for me, three years in Manhattan still hasn’t taught me that a plan such as this requires a time span of at least three hours plus. Arriving at my friend’s house an hour before Shabbat wasn’t the greatest idea, I soon realized, after I had dropped off the family and found myself sitting in a traffic jam that closely resembled a parking lot. Left with no other choice, I hastily parked in a local garage before racing back to their house… only to discover that Shevy had no matches with which to light her candles. I flew out the house; entered the first door I saw (which turned out to be a gym), and, through pants and heaves, asked a guy on a treadmill for matches. He thankfully obliged and Shevy was able to light her candles with only seconds to spare.
Confident that things had settled down, I went to shul and returned to join my family for the Shabbat meal. It was during the first course that I accidently knocked a plate of food against the candles. They tipped over and within seconds the food was aflame! Talk about drama. The Jewish law of pikuach nefesh flew into my head as I hastily extinguished the blaze, an action generally forbidden on Shabbat, but permitted (and even obligatory) in this case, as its purpose was to avoid a potential tragedy and possible loss of human life.
This week’s parsha of Beha’alotcha details the daily lighting of the Menorah in the Temple. A flame is among the most intriguing phenomena in this world. Its incessant flickering grants it a mysterious quality that can only be defined as a frantic bid to return to its source (Judaism explains that the origin of fire is found “under the orb of the moon”). The wick of the candle is the flame’s only deterrent of its goal, ensuring it remains down below, where it belongs. But the flame constantly struggles against this force, desiring to cleave to its source and become nullified within it.
Traditionally, the soul of man is compared to a glittering flame: “ki ner hashem nishmat adam” the Talmud tell us. The similarity is seen in the soul’s inherent desire to connect with G-d, to cleave to its source above, thus transcending this material world, while at the same time wishing to remain inside a physical body. (As a point of interest, the soul’s flickering nature can clearly be seen in the classic Jewish worshipper who sways back and forth while in the throws of prayer.)
The easiest and most practical way the soul establishes a connection with G-d is through the performance of mitzvot, such as lighting Shabbat candles. Sometimes, however, the bond can only be formed by committing what would ordinarily be considered a sin. G-d treasures human life above all else, and therefore He gave us a mitzvah to disregard the regular Torah law in a situation where adhering to it may lead to loss of life.* Therefore extinguishing the candles on Shabbat becomes a wonderful mitzvah and a perfect opportunity for the soul to connect with G-d. I personally managed to connect with G-d in this manner on a separate occasion, when Shevy went into labor with our son Mendel on a Friday night. I found myself on Shabbat morning in a taxi with my tallit on the way to the hospital. It was the only time I remember riding in a car on Shabbat and fulfilling a mitzvah…
All this leads to an interesting point to ponder: if G-d can thrust aside His prized Torah for the sake of safeguarding our very mortal existence, surely we owe it to Him to live our lives not as empty shells, but as refined beings, souls in bodies that work toward an acknowledgement and an acceptance of the Divine will.
*Lest one err in taking this as a given, it should be noted that there are three times when this rule does not apply: in a situation where one is demanded to kill another, or to worship a foreign deity, or to commit adultery at the cost of his life, he is obligated to forfeit his life rather than perpetrate any of these heinous crimes.