Reflections On the Bais Hamikdosh

Akiva Lane

 

·        I had some thoughts on Tisha B’Av that were in the back of my mind, that I’m only getting around to expressing now.

·        On Tisha B’av we mourn the tragic and tremendous loss of the destructions of both the first Bais Hamikdosh at the hands of the Babylonians and the second Bais Hamikdosh by the Romans.

·        I heard an idea expressed several times that I want to comment on.

·        The idea is, “If only we had the great Bais Hamikdosh again – with Hashem’s Shechena and the Korbonos giving us a way to get Keparah for our Averas, a great majority of our problems would be solved.  Then the redemptive power of the Bais Hamikdosh will be so strong as to overcome and cleanse away our problems.”

·        Let’s go through our history to examine this premise.

 

·        The First Bais Hamikdosh was built by Shlomo Hamelech. It was truly a magnificent building, and Hashem’s Shechena was there in its full glory.

·        Moed Katan 9a describes that during the building’s dedication Shlomo Hamelech declared that the simcha was so great that they didn’t have to fast that Yom Kippur, and a Bas Kol came down said that Shlomo was correct in doing this.

·        However only 36 years later Yeravem Ben Nevat took the 10 Northern Tribes, and broke away, and for rest of the time that the First Bais Hamikdosh stood, less than 20% of the Jewish people went to the Bais Hamikdosh.

 

·        It seems incredible that the vast majority of the Jews acquiesced so easily to Yerovim’s command not go on the Sholosh Regalim to the glorious new Bais Hamikdosh that housed Hashem’s Shechena.

·        But what is more amazing is that when the guards were taken down and people were free to go to the Bais Hamikdosh, they chose to stay away anyway.

·        Gitten 88b says: “Yerovem Ben Nevat had stationed guards on the roads to prevent the Israelites from going up to Yerushalayim for the festivals, and King Hoshea disbanded those guards, and the Israelites still didn’t go up to the festivals. As a result Hashem decreed that for those years during which the Israelites had not gone up to the festivals they should be sent into captivity”, referring to the exile of the 10 tribes.

 

·        What was the effect of the Bais Hamikdosh on the Jews who did go on the Sholosh Regalim? 

·        One of the longest reigning kings of the Kingdom of Yehuda was Menashe who ruled for 45 years.  He brought Avodah Zara into every nook and cranny of the kingdom.  He erased the Torah so completely that his grandson Yoshiyahu was surprised when he found a sefer Torah scroll hidden in a wall of the Temple.

 

·        The Gemorah in Sanhendrin 102b says that Menashe came to Rav Ashi in a dream, and explained a halacha about where to slice the bread for Hamotzi.

·        Rav Ashi then asked Menasheh in the dream, "If you are so wise, then why did you worship Avodah Zarah?" Menasheh replied that the Yetzer ha'Ra was so great at that time that even you would have lifted up your coattails and run to worship Avodah Zarah."

·        In other words, the entire Northern Kingdom, with the great majority of the Jews stayed away from the Bais Hamikdosh.  And for those Jews in the southern Kingdom of Yehuda, it didn’t seem to have the redemptive power to solve their problems with the Yetzer Hara.

 

·        Look at how Yirmiyahu describes his fellow Jews in the Haftorah that we read on Tisha B’Av morning.

·        “If only someone would make for me in the desert an inn.., then I would forsake my people and leave them; for they are all adulterers, a band of traitors.  They bend their tongue with falsehood like a bow,…they progress from evil to evil. … Every kinsman acts perversely.”

·        And Messechet Yuma 9b informs us that the first Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because the Jews were guilty of Avodah Zara, murder, and Gilui Arayos.

 

·        After 70 years in Golus Bavel, Ezra and Nechemia led the Jews back to the holy land to rebuild the Bais Hamikdosh.

·        Here is an Artscroll note to Yuma 9b: “Even though 42,360 Jews did return at that time (Ezra 2:64), the vast majority of Jews, perhaps millions, remained in exile, especially in Babylonia”.

·        Yuma 9b says: “Reish Lakish, who lived in Eretz Yisroel, was once swimming in the Jordan River.  Rabbah bar bar Chanah, who was from Babylonia, came by and noticed Reish Laksih starting to leave the water.  Thereupon he gave Reish Laksih his hand to assist him.  Reish Lakish then said to Rabbah bar bar Chanah, ‘Hashem hates you Babylonians Jews who did not ascend to Eretz Yisrael in the days of Ezra, and thus prevented the Divine Presence from returning and resting in the Second Temple.”

·        The Artscroll comments on this, “Clearly the Second Temple was host to some manifestation of the Shechinah.  … (But) the failure of the main body of the Jewish people to immigrate to Eretz Yisrael at that time determined that the Presence revealed in the Second Temple would not approach what it could have been.”

 

·        In the Second Bais Hamikdosh the Kedosh Kedoshim, the inner Sanctum that had housed the Aron Kodesh with the Kruvim, was empty, having been hidden away before the first Churban.

·        The building of the Second Bais Hamikdosh itself was much smaller than the First Bais Hamikdosh, because it had to be built with paltry funds from a handful of Jews who came with Ezra and Nechemia.

 

·        We know the story of Chanukah, when the Chashonayim kicked out the Syrian Greeks and re-purified the Bais Hamikdosh.  After that there was a civil war between two of the Chashmonayim brothers. 

·        Baba Kama 82b describes how one brother layed siege to the Bais Hamikdosh.  When the army inside tried to lift an animal for the daily Korban, the other army lifted up a pig instead, and when the pig touched the wall of the Bais Hamikdosh, there was an earthquake felt throughout Eretz Yisroel.

·        The civil war resulted in the total annihilation of the Chashmonayim family

 

·        The second Bais Hamikdosh was restored to its former physical glory around the year 10BCE.  By whom?  Herod, who according to most opinions was not Jewish, because his grandparents were slaves who had been forced to convert to Judaism.

·        Herod killed all the Chachamim. In an attempt to do Tshuva, he had 10,000 workers work for 10 years to build the Temple plaza that we see today, and he rebuilt the 2nd Bais Hamikdosh.  It stood for about 80 years before it was destroyed by the Romans.

 

·        I also mourn on Tisha B’Av over the destruction of the first and second Bais Hamikdosh.  I also yearn for and look forward to the building of the 3rd Bais Hamikdosh.

·        I just want to point out that history shows that the Bais Hamikdosh – even with Hashem’s Glorious Shechina – and the Kapora that comes with the Korbanos – is not a slam dunk solution to all our problems.

·        The only way to solve our problems is to do Teshuva and Metaken ourselves.

·        The Bais Hamikdosh is not a cure-all.

·        In fact, when we Metaken ourselves and raise our level of Tshuva to what it should be, then THAT will lead to the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdosh and Moshiach that we so fervently look forward to.