CCAR RESPONSA
New American Reform Responsa
47. Eternal Light in an Outdoor Synagogue
QUESTION: During the summer months our synagogue utilizes a camp at which services are held each day in an amphitheater also used for other purposes. Should the eternal light be kept burning even when the ark and other synagogue appurtenances have been removed? (Tod Nathan, Los Angeles CA)ANSWER: The eternal light is reminiscent of the fire which burned on the altar in the Tent of Meeting and the later Temple and the candelabrum eternally lit there (Lev 6.5; Hag 26b). The lamps of the candelabrum were carefully cleaned each day, but the western most light was always kept burning and from it the others were lit after they had been cleaned (Tamid 30b). Our synagogue eternal light may have been derived from this source, however, there is no reference to it until the seventeenth century writer Isaac Lamperonti (Pahad Yitzhaq; I. Elbogen Gottesdienst p 476). Undoubtedly various lights were kept burning in the synagogues through the ages, but they like the other lights in the Temple were lit each day (Midrash Rabbah 4.20; Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2.5; Tosefta Meg 3.3; Arakhin 6b). None of these citations or discussion of the synagogue mention the ner tamid as a light which was perpetually burning. We may conclude from Isaac Lamperonti that this light was lit only during hours of worship. Although it has become our custom to have a light perpetually burning in the synagogue, it is not necessary as long as the light burns during the time of services. In the setting which you have described the eternal light should be removed with the ark and the other synagogue appurtenances.July 1988
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.