Beit Hamikdash - THE ALTER - Mizbeach

The Beit Hamikdash was the center of the universe in all that regards man's service of G-d. Here was the altar on which were brought the daily and seasonal offerings in which every individual was a partner. Here the farmer brought his first fruits that ripened in his orchard, and the shepherd brought the first-born of his flocks.

If a person had a sin to atone for, a personal salvation to be thankful for, a vow to fulfill, or the simple desire to contribute something of his heart and fortune to the Almighty, he came to the Beit Hamikdash.

The Beit Hamikdash was also the center of the universe in all that regards the revelation of G-dliness in our world.
Ten regularly occurring daily miracles attested to its divinity, and three times a year the entire nation made a pilgrimage to Mount Moriah, where the Temple was, to "see and be seen by the face of the L-rd."

The altar was the heart of the Temple's definition as "a house for G-d in which to offer the korbonot, the sacrifices."

It is universally accepted that the place on which King David and Shlomo built the Altar, is the same location where Abraham built the Altar on which he prepared Isaac for sacrifice. And the same place that Noah built an altar when he left the Ark. It was also the place of the Altar on which Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices. Similarly, Adam, the first man, offered a sacrifice there and was created at that very spot.

The Altar was made of small stones, lime, pitch, and glazing. The stones were perfectly smooth, with no nicks or scratches that could be detected with the thumbnail. These stones were never touched by metal, because metal is believed to shorten the life of man, and the Altar represents the lengthening of life.

Today, when prayer has taken the place of the offerings, the Beit Hamikdash remains the "gate of heaven" toward which we thrice daily direct our lips and hearts.

Beit Hamikdash - THE ARON (spaceless space)

At the heart of the Beit Hamikdash was the "Holy of Holies," the chamber that housed the "ark of testament" containing the divine communication to man; a place so suffused with the holiness of G-d that it was "spaceless space" - not physical, not metaphysical, but neither and both in one, reflecting G-d's simultaneous transcendence of, and immanence within, the physical reality.

The Holy of Holies measured twenty cubits (that's approx. 30 feet) by twenty cubits.
In its center stood the ark, also of a specified size, "two cubits and a half should be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height". Nevertheless, the ark did not occupy any of the space of the chamber that housed it, so that the distance from each of the ark's outer walls to the interior walls of the Holy of Holies was ten cubits.
(So it measured 10 cubits from each side of the Ark to the wall of the room, yet it was only 20 cubits from one end of the room to the other!!)
In the words of the Talmud "The area of the Ark was not part of the measurement." This was more than mere transcendence of the physical: the ark did possess physical area, indeed, its spatial dimensions were prescribed by law and integral to its status as a holy object, yet at the same time, it did not occupy any of the area of the Holy of Holies. Thus it demonstrated the truth that G-d simultaneously transcends and pervades the parameters of His creation.

The Beit Hamikdash

The Beit Hamikdash

The study of the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple's structure is of eternal significance. "And you shall make Me a Sanctuary". We are commanded to construct a House for G-d, a Temple, for sacrifices to be offered within. Until Moshiach comes we can only fulfill that directive by studying about it.

The following three elements are essential when building the Temple:
a.The Sanctuary.
b. The Holy of Holies and
c. An Entrance Hall, preceding the Sanctuary.

And the following are the utensils that are required for the Sanctuary:
1. An alter for the sacrifices.
2. A ramp to ascend to the Altar. (No steps were used)
3. A wash basin with a pedestal where the priests would sanctify their hands and feet for the Temple service.
4. The altar for the incense offering.
5. The Menorah, and
6. The Table, for the showbread.

The Alter for the incenses, the Menorah and the Table were placed within the Temple right before the Holy of Holies.

Within the Temple, we must build chambers for the various necessities of the Sanctuary.
When we build the Temple we must use stones. We must not split the stones used for the building on the Temple Mount. Rather, we must split and chisel them outside and afterwards bring them in.

Everyone is obligated to build and to assist both personally and financially, both men and women. Nevertheless, school children are not to be interrupted from their Torah studies.

Mazal Tov!

The relationship forged at Mount Sinai between G-d and the Jewish People has been likened to an engagement. There are two stages to a marriage: Sanctification and consummation. The sanctification occurs under the chupa, when the groom places a ring on his bride's finger. From that time, the bride is sanctified to her husband and is forbidden to any other man.

At Mount Sinai, G-d and the Jewish People entered into a marriage contract that was binding on both sides: G-d obligated Himself not to exchange the Jewish People for any other nation and the Jewish People undertook to follow the Torah and not worship other gods.

Ever since the Holy Temple was destroyed and the Jewish People sent into exile, we have been considered as a bride engaged but separated from her beloved. We have been waiting patiently, longingly, for G-d to take us out of exile and resume his special relationship with us.

The Torah that G-d gave us at Sinai was his wedding gift to us. When Moshiach comes and G-d restores His realtionship with us, He will give us another gift - the Torah of Moshiach, which will expound and clarify the Torah that was given to us at Sinai. The new Torah will enable us to understand and sense G-dliness in a completely new way, and will lead to the consummation of the marriage that we entered into at Sinai.

May we merit that now, amen!

Building the Beit Hamikdash - by learning about it...

One of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah is the commandment to build a Sanctuary and the fulfillment of this commandment is incumbent upon every Jewish man and woman. The desired manner of fulfilling this commandment is to participate in the actual construction of the Beit HaMikdash. Nevertheless, in an era when this is not possible, G‑d has offered us an alternative

G‑d revealed the details of the structure of the Beit HaMikdash of the Era of the Redemp­tion to the prophet Yechezkel, and told him: “Tell the people of Israel of the House (referring to the Beit Hamikdash) and measure the design.”

Our Sages relate that Prophet Yechezkel replied to Him: “Master of the Earth, why are You telling me to go and tell Israel the form of the House? They are now in exile in the land of our ene­mies. Is there anything they can do about it? Let them be until they return from the exile. Then, I will go and inform them.”

G‑d answered: “Should the construction of My House be ignored because My children are in exile?”

G‑d declared: “The study of the Torah’s design of the Beit HaMikdash can be equated to its actual construc­tion. Go, tell them to study the form of the tHaMik­dash. As a reward for their study and their occupation with it, I will consider it as if they actually built the Beit HaMikdash.”

We can infer that through such study, a person fulfills his obligation to build the Beit Hamikdash.

Our study of the laws of the Beit HaMikdash has to be permeated by the awareness that in the very near future, we will actually partici­pate in building the structure about which we are studying.

Moreover, not only is our study of the Beit HaMikdash equivalent to its construction, it serves as a catalyst, hastening the coming of the time when we will fulfill this mitzvah in an actual material way.

May this take place in the immedi­ate future.

PARSHA - Pinchas

בפרשתנו פרשת פנחס אנו קוראים את הסיפור של חלוקת ארץ ישראל, אחרי שבני ישראל כבשו את ארץ כנען התחילו התהליך של חלוקת הארץ.
"על פי הגורל תחלק נחלתו" - אומר הפסוק, החלוקה היתה בדרך הגרלה,
הגמרא לומדת מהמילה על ,פי, הגורל שההגורלה דיברה זאת אומרת שהגורל לא היתה באופן מקרי, ולא באופן שרירותי, אלא על ידי בת קול ועל ודבר ה,.

כמו שיש חלוקת וירושת הארץ הפיזי כך גם יש חלוקת הארץ רוחני שהיא היא התורה והמצוה שהיא ירושה לנו, כמו שכתוב בחומש דברים "תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב" התורה היא ירושה נתונה לכל יהודי "מוטב עציך עד שואב מימיך".
אז מה בדיוק היא חלוקת ירושת התורה? ואיפה אנחנו בסיפור הגדול?

בסיפרי הקבלה והסידות מבוא שהגם כל מצוה שיייכת לכל יהודי בכל מקום וכל זמן מכל מקום לכל נשמה יש לו את החלק שלו, המצוה שלו, ששייכת במיוחד לשורש נשמתו.
כמו שגמרא מספרת על ר' זירא שהיה מהדר באופן בילתי פרופורציוני בהמצוה לשמח חתן וכלה.
ואיך אפשר לדעת מה החלק שלי?
התשובה היא פשוט מה יותר קשה עלי לעשות, היצר הרע יודע מה יותר חשוב עלינו לעשות ועל זה הוא עובד קשה חזק למנוע אותנו מלקיים, הוא יודע מה הכי חשוב בשליחות שלנו להביא את העולם שלימותו.

ועל ידי שנעבוד חזק בחלק הפרטי שלנו הקב"ה יברך אותנו בכל תחומי החיים כמו הלב שנותנת חיות לכל איברי הגוף.
שבת שלום

PARSHA - Pinchas

In the Torah portion of Pinchas, it describes the apportionment of the Land of Israel. The Torah states, "Through the lot shall the land be divided." The Talmud notes that the process by which the lots were drawn was neither arbitrary nor random; the miraculous breastplate of the High Priest, guided the outcome. Rashi explains that the lot itself spoke and announced the result. In other words, the division of the soon-to-be conquered Land of Israel was determined by G-d Himself.

The inheritance of the physical portion of land is symbolic of the spiritual inheritance of every Jew with which he is required to fulfill his individual mission in life. Just as each of the Twelve Tribes was given a specific portion of land to live in and cultivate, every Jew is allotted his own spiritual realm to perfect.

Although a person might think he is free to choose his own spiritual portion, following whichever path in the service of G-d that appeals to his nature, the Torah teaches that this is not a matter of free will or logic, but is ordained by G-d.

A person cannot choose his own spiritual bent; it is an integral part of his individual spiritual makeup. But how does one determine exactly which mitzvot are especially relevant to him? By objectively ascertaining those which he finds the hardest to do!

A person may safely assume that a given direction is his "inheritance" whenever the path seems strewn with obstacles and hindrances. In fact, the more important the mitzva, the harder the Evil Inclination tries to dissuade the person.

A lack of interest in a particular facet of Torah study or indifference to a certain mitzva indicates that it is precisely in these areas that special efforts must be made. In the merit of this effort, G-d grants the individual success in all other areas of his life as well.
Shabbat Shalom!

PARSHA - Pinchas

In the Torah portion of Pinchas, an incident with the five daughters of Tzelafchad is related. Tzelafchad, a Jew who died in the desert, had no sons. Since sons, and not daughters, were entitled to an inheritance, the daughters of Tzelafchad were not permitted a portion in the Holy Land.

The daughters of Tzelafchad, who were all known to be righteous women, objected to the thought that their family would not have a part in the Land of Israel. They went before Moses who presented the case to G-d. G-d said to Moses, "The daughters of Tzelafchad have a just claim. Give them a hereditary portion of land alongside their father's brothers."

We see here the Jewish woman's love for the Holy Land. The task the daughters of Tzelafchad had set for themselves was not easy. They had to approach various judges, each one referring the matter to higher authorities, until it was finally brought to Moses, himself. Tzelafchad's daughters were willing to try to overcome such a seemingly impossible obstacle to receive their portion.

This incident can serve as a lesson to each one of us in our daily lives, too. G-d demands that we conduct our lives according to certain guidelines. Yet at the same time, He created and organized the universe in such a way that it seems to preclude proper fulfillment of our obligation of Torah study and performance of mitzvot.

But, with the right approach, we too, can merit a portion in our rightful inheritance. We must be willing to try to overcome the seemingly "impossible" obstacles, just as Tzelafchad's daughters did. If we undertake it with the same attitude of love as Tzelafchad's daughters, then certainly we will achieve our goal.

Shabbat Shalom!

Erev the THREE WEEKS

The seventeenth day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz is when the ancient city of Jerusalem was assaulted by invading gentiles. Three weeks later on the Ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av), the Holy Temple was set afire and razed. Both the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av are fast days.

This interval on the Jewish calendar is known as the "Three Weeks". The number three alludes to the inner significance and function of the Three Weeks as a period of preparation for the Third Holy Temple.

On a superficial level the Three Weeks are a sad time, a period of mourning for the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of the Jewish people's current exile. But on a deeper level they contain a hidden good.

Everything that happens in the world is directed by G-d. G-d is the essence of good, and everything He does is good, even if it doesn't appear that way at first. Having come directly from G-d, there is no other possibility.

Accordingly, the Three Weeks, although superficially associated with sadness, contain a positive meaning: At the exact moment when the Second Holy Temple was destroyed, the Third and eternal Holy Temple was constructed up in heaven. In this light the entire destruction can be seen as nothing but a preparatory stage in the Redemptive process, a necessary step toward the Final Redemption with Moshiach, at which time the concept of exile will no longer exist.

At present, the good contained within the Three Weeks remains hidden. But reflecting upon its true, inner meaning hastens the day when its inner goodness will be revealed, when the Temple will be reestablished.

Let us therefore accustom ourselves to seeing the hidden good that exists in all things, thereby meriting the ultimate revelation of inner goodness with the arrival of our Righteous Moshiach.

Chinuch - Education (#2)

The Rebbe said: "A child's character education should take priority over his academic education. All educational efforts are basically meaningless unless built on the solid foundation of good character".

A couple once visited a rabbi to seek advice about how to educate their twelve-year-old son. The rabbi answered them: "You have come to me twelve years too late. A human being is like a tree. If you make a scratch on the branch of a full-grown tree, you affect only that branch. But if you make even a minuscule scratch on a seed, the tree will never grow straight, if it grows at all."

If there is one single factor within our control that can directly determine who we are as people, it is education. There is only one way to produce healthy and wholesome adults, people who will lead selfless and meaningful lives, and that is to educate our children.

Education is not just learning the skills to make a living; it is learning to understand life itself. Life is the recognition of G-d and the mission that He has charged us with -- refining ourselves and sanctifying our world.

Imparting information is but a small and rather simple component of education. A true education -- an education for life -- consists of teaching children that they have an uncompromising responsibility to G-d to live morally and ethically, which will sustain them individually and create a better world for their children and for generations to come.

Chinuch - Education (#1)

In Deuteronomy 6:6, known as the Shema -- which we recite every morning and evening, it is written as follows:

"And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart; you shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when sitting in your home and walking on the road, when you lie down and when you rise."

Our Sages tell us that when G-d came to give the Torah to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, He demanded a guarantee that that they will not forsake it.

Said the people of Israel: "The heaven and the earth shall be our guarantors."

Said G-d: "They won't last forever."

Said they: "Our fathers will guarantee it."

Said G-d: "They are busy."

Said they: "Our children will guarantee it."

Said G-d: "These are excellent guarantors."

This is the key to the eternity of a people, the guarantee that man's work as "a partner with G-d in creation" continues. That each generation transmit to the next all that they have learned. Education is the training of children and youngsters. It is the child who needs to be taught -- to be imparted knowledge, to be aided in the honing of faculties and skills, to be guided in the development of a moral self that distinguishes between right and wrong and never loses sight of its responsibilities towards G-d

Education, however, is a life-long endeavor. Within our own selves, too, is a perpetual need to learn, develop and grow, to cultivate the seeds and saplings of our present potential into the trees and fruits of future achievement.