Tzav Revised

Parshat Tzav contains the laws of trumat hadeshen, that the ashes of the previous day were cleared away from the altar every morning. Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch says that this teaches us that our holy service of today is what counts. We start fresh every morning. In modern parlance we'd say the lesson is to take our holy lives "one day at a time." Focus on the spirituality, the humanity, the opportunity of today. How much chesed can I do today? How much Torah can I learn/teach/live? How can I best pray to and connect to G-d? Hillel, famously asked, "If not now, when?" What he might really have meant is that there is no life other than now and therefore if we are not living this moment, but are instead caught up in the future or the past, then when do we live life? The lesson of the clearing off the ashes of yesterday's service of G-d is that in our Avodat Hashem every day is a separate and unique opportunity.  May we be blessed to harvest the holiness as we live each day.