Prior to lighting the fire for the new day’s offerings, the Kohain would perform the ritual of lifting up the ashes. This act does not belong to the preparation of the altar for this day’s service, but rather this is the culmination of the previous day’s service and may only be performed by a Kohain dressed in the complete priestly vestments. The ashes are then placed on the east side, next to the altar, to serve as an remembrance of the devotion represented by the sacrifices of the previous day to Hashem. A new idea is learned from this ritual which serves as the introduction to the service of the new day. Today’s service brings no new mission, it has only to carry out and fulfill with renewed vigor that which yesterday’s mission also was to accomplish. The very last Jewish grandchild stands before Hashem with the very same mission in life that his first ancestors bore, and every day adds his contribution to the task given to all the generations of Klal Yisroel . The Jewish “today” must take its mission from the hand of its “yesterday.”
The removal of the ashes out of the camp, from all the remains of the preceding day to prepare the hearth for the service of the new day suggests another idea. If the lifting of the ashes introduces the service of the new day with the remembrance of the previous day, the removal would, on the other hand, express the thought that every new day mandates an attitude of freshness. Each new day calls us to go to our mission with full devotion and vitality, and nothing which has been performed prior to this, should diminish our energy as we begin to perform our duty. As important as is the recognition of “yesterday’s” mission, equally important is the freshness of our attitude in approaching “today’s” mission.
