When thinking of Tanakh, we immediately think of the spectacular events: Giving of the Torah, Ten Plagues, Splitting of the Sea, prophecies and other miracles, but much of the Tanakh offers insight into every day, routine life.
The Korban Tamid is offered twice daily and it is described as the one that was given “at Mount Sinai” (Numbers 28, 5), reminding us that regular routine is meant to continue the experience from the exhilarating moment of the revelation at Mount Sinai.
The Menora is kept burning from evening to morning every day. The 12 “showbread” loaves that are eaten by the Kohanim on a weekly basis are described as “Holy of Holies.” Thus “Holy of Holies” is part of routine life and not relegated to Yom Kippur (Leviticus 24, 1-9). Service of God is meant to be continuous and regular and not limited to intense, climactic bursts.
Biblical Personalities, too, demonstrate heroism in their routine activities.
Yehoshua is described as being a loyal attendant to Moshe who never left his side, never straying from the tent (Exodus 33, 11).
The Book of Daniel describes the challenges and miracles that Daniel experiences as a Jewish exile in the Babylonian and Persian courts after the Destruction of the First Mikdash. Despite the death penalty decreed upon anyone who prays, Daniel insists on partaking in his daily prayers to God. He is thrown into a lion’s pit, but miraculously, he survives (Daniel 6).
Ruth refused to leave Naomi. She came as a stranger to a foreign land, and declared her loyalty to Naomi and her people (Ruth 1, 16-22). She went to gather sheaves in the field, day in and day out throughout the gathering seasons to ensure a livelihood for herself and for her mother-in-law (Ruth 2, 23). There are no overt miracles in the Book of Ruth, and there are no dramatic wars or mass deliverance. It is a story of kindness, loyalty, and faith, subtly raising a humdrum routine into an exalted one.
This broad message can be viewed in the prism of God’s message to Eliyahu in the cave at Mount Sinai. After his triumphant and bombastic showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Eliyahu is forced to run away. There he is told that God does not reveal Himself (just) in the powerful forces of nature – wind, earthquake and fire – but (also) in a “small, still voice” (I Kings 19, 1-12).
Exciting moments can boost our enthusiasm and fervor, but when the noise dies down and the lights dim, it is the “small, still voice” that we are really looking for. Religious experience can and must permeate every day, routine existence.