Not Once, But Twice Everyday
The daily offering in the temple was offered twice every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. As the Torah relates in this week’s portion, G-d conveys the message to the people of Israel through Moses:
And you shall say to them: This is the fire offering which you shall offer to the Lord: two unblemished lambs in their first year each day as a continual burnt offering. The one lamb you shall offer up in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer up in the afternoon. (Numbers 28:3-4)
Similarly, there is one other commandment that we are commanded to perform not just every day but twice every day: the commandment to recite the Shema, the declaration of the most fundamental principle of Judaism, the unity of G-d.
In general, life can be divided into two phases: morning and evening. Morning represents the times when the figurative light is shining, we feel the blessings in our lives, we are filled with joy and enthusiasm, and we sense the Divine presence at our side. Life, however, contains moments and experiences of “evening” and “night”, moments of pain, darkness and despair, when we feel abandoned, alone, and G-d’s embrace is not felt.
Judaism’s most important principle, the unity of G-d, means not only that there are no other G-ds, but rather that there is nothing that exists independent of G-d, and that G-d permeates all of reality. The mystical meaning of the verse in Genesis, “and there was evening and there was morning one day” is that both the figurative “evening” and the figurative “morning” are part of the “one”, the oneness of G-d.
Twice a day, we declare, and in the tomes of the temple, we express through the daily offerings, that G-d is present and available both in the morning and in the evening, both in the times when we can sense his presence and in the moments when he can be felt through faith alone.
“The one lamb”, representing complete devotion and connection to the one G-d, is offered in the morning and in the evening.
Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, 12 Tamuz, 1984