Page 17 - HaMizrachi # 21 Tisha B'Av 2020 USA
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GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Rabbi Hershel Schachter
The Beit HaMikdash as the
Center of Limmud HaTorah
any have the impression in the passuk, ם ֶ ד ֶ ק י ֵ קלֹ ֱ א הָנֹע ְ מ – Sanhedrin was seated in the lishkat
that the Beit HaMikdash’s “The abode of G-d immemorial” haGazit in the Beit HaMikdash. In
Mmain function is to enable (Devarim 33:27), should be spelled other words, the Beit HaMikdash
the offering of korbanot. However, הָנֹע ְ מ or ןֹוע ָ מ. The Tannaim resolved in its complete form is supposed
the Beit HaMikdash is also the cen- the question by checking the three to house the Chief Rabbinate. This
tral location of Torah study. The Sifrei Torah in the azarah of the is because, as the Rambam (Hilchot
Gemara (Yoma 52b) tells us that Beit HaMikdash. They determined Mamrim 1:1) explains, the primary
towards the end of the First Temple the correct mesorah of the passuk function of the Beit Din HaGadol
period, Yoshiyahu HaMelech hid based on the majority, as two of the is to serve as the “international
the luchot in a special vault beneath three Sifrei Torah spelled the word kollel” of Klal Yisrael, to preserve
the Temple Mount, constructed for הָנֹע ְ מ. Why was the decision deter- the mesorah of the Torah SheBe’al
this purpose by Shlomo HaMel- mined by these Sifrei Torah, and Peh and transmit it to the next
ech. The Gemara (53b-54a) brings not by the majority of all the Sifrei generation.
a dispute among the Tannaim as to Torah in the world?
whether the luchot remained in this We can now understand the intent
of the ןֹוצ ָ ר י ִ הְי we recite after Shem-
they were removed and taken to “” Why was the decision oneh Esrei, which includes a request
location during the period of the
Second Beit HaMikdash or whether
for two seemingly unrelated things:
determined by these
Bavel. The Rambam (Hilchot Beit Sifrei Torah, and not ּונ ֵ ק ְ ל ֶ ח ן ֵ ת ְ ו ,ּוני ֵ מָי ְ ב ה ָ ר ֵ ה ְ מ ִּ ב ׁש ּ ָ ד ְ ק ִ מ ַ ה תי ֵּ ב הֶנ ָּ בִי ׁ ֶ ש
ָ
HaBechira 4:1) cites the first opin- by the majority of ך ֶ ת ָ רֹות ְּ ב – “that the Holy Temple be
ion as to the current location of the rebuilt, speedily in our days, and
luchot. all the Sifrei Torah grant us our share in Your Torah.”
Since the Beit HaMikdash is the pri-
in the world?
Rav Soloveitchik noted that the mary makom Torah, we ask for our
very fact the Rambam rendered portion in Torah together with a
a ruling regarding this machloket Apparently, the Sifrei Torah in plea to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash.
indicates that he viewed it not the azarah have special halachic
merely as a historical issue, but status. Only the Sifrei Torah of the While it is true that we have not
as one with halachic significance. Beit HaMikdash serve the role of been able to begin the building
The machloket revolves around maintaining the mesorah of the of the Beit HaMikdash, we
the question of whether it is text of Torah SheBichtav. Similarly, recognize that preparations for its
possible to have a Beit HaMikdash Midrash Rabbah (Devarim, parasha construction are underway. There
are certain specific mitzvot that will
without the luchot. The accepted 9) teaches that Moshe Rabbeinu,
opinion maintains that for the who was very concerned about hasten the coming of Mashiach, one
of the most effective of which is
Beit HaMikdash to be invested misrepresentation of the Torah,
with kedusha, it must function as wrote 13 Sifrei Torah on the day Talmud Torah. The many yeshivot
in the Old City, and the fact there is
a Mishkan HaEdut, housing the he was to die, one for each of the
luchot haEdut. As such, the Second 12 tribes and one to be placed in so much more Torah being learned
Beit HaMikdash, by definition, the Aron. This Sefer Torah in the than ever before – especially in the
must have housed the luchot, Beit HaMikdash would be used to Old City – serve as preparation for
albeit in an underground vault. protect the authentic Torah text, the building of the Beit HaMikdash.
Thus, the essence of kedushat to disprove anyone who sought to Adapted from Rav Schachter on the
haMikdash rested on the fact that falsify it. Moadim.
the Torah, in the form of the luchot,
always remained within the Beit The Beit HaMikdash was also the
HaMikdash. central location of Torah SheBe’al Rabbi Hershel Schachter is Rosh
Peh because it was the official Yeshiva and Rosh Kollel at Rabbi Isaac
The Sifrei discusses a situation meeting place of the Beit Din Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva
regarding whether the first word HaGadol (Supreme Court). The University
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