Towards the end of the parshah, we are commanded to offer the korban tamid. The korban tamid was a sacrifice offered every day without exception- including shabbat. In the middle of explaining the specific details of how and when to offer the korban tamid, the Torah strangely interjects “[This is] a daily sacrifice which was offered on the mountain of Sinai etc.” (28:6). Why would the Torah pause in the middle of these laws to tell us that the korban hatamid happened to have also been sacrificed on Mount Sinai? What does this seemingly irrelevant historical fact have to do with the practical laws of the daily sacrifice?

R’ Yissocher Frand suggests an answer that can teach us a deep insight into human nature and can help us improve our own daily avodah. We have all witnessed that even the most exciting and exhilarating life experiences can very quickly become stale and boring, if they are repeated too often. Anything part of a daily routine can be sapped of its freshness, as our senses become dulled over time. If so, the mitzvah that is most susceptible to be drained of its exhilaration and to be performed by rote is the mitzvah of the korban hatamid. R’ Frand says that the Torah, which is always aware of the spiritual dangers that are prone to harm a Jew, prescribes the medicine that can prevent our everyday avodah from becoming mundane and repetitive. The Torah tells us that we can energize our daily lives by constantly reminding ourselves of the thrilling and stirring feelings we once felt when we first began our routine. In the middle of the laws of the korban hatamid, the Torah interjects and tells us that we need to always remember the awe-inspiring feelings that were felt when the koban hatamid was first sacrificed, in order to prevent the korban hatamid avodah from becoming spiritually dry and boring. R’ Frand says that the Torah was not giving us an insight that’s specific to the avodah of the Korban hatamid, rather the Torah is telling us how to strengthen and revitalize our everyday lives. We need to first identify the mitzvot or relationships in our lives that have become dull, and then we need to remind ourselves on a constant basis how excited and inspired we were when they began.

R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurbach zt”l would always give a brachah to a bar-mitzvah boy who was putting on tefilin for the first time, that he should be zocheh to have the same feelings of freshness and joy that he has now, when he puts on his tefilin 20 years down the road. May we ourselves be zocheh to find the inspiration to utilize the time of the Bein Hamitzarim to do a proper introspection and renew our relationship with Hashem.

Shabbat Shalom