Page 4 - HaMizrachi # 21 Tisha B'Av 2020 USA
P. 4
TORAT MIZRACHI
Rabbi Binyamin Blau
THE NEED FOR A Mikdash
hy does the Churban Torah study. Which one is correct our Creator and as such, its loss was
HaBayit play such a and how can the latter offense be devastating. That is why the people
Wcentral role in Judaism? the cause of the Mikdash being reacted with a profound sense
If one examines the words of the destroyed? of despondency; they accurately
Rambam when he explains the recognized that this bond was
underlying reason for engaging in The Rambam, in his commentary not easily duplicated and that
fasts, one is immediately struck on the Mishna (on Masechet Rosh their connection to G-d had been
by how critical the loss of the Beit Hashanah), makes a bold statement severed.
HaMikdash is to all our ta’aniot. regarding the observance of Tisha
While Yom Kippur and Ta’anit B’Av during the time of the second When the second Beit HaMikdash
Esther are obviously in their own Beit HaMikdash. He asserts that was built, there was some
categories, all the other fasts even though they were performing consolation but the gaps in the
are linked to this event. Clearly the avodah in the Mikdash, the relationship remained. There was
the destruction of G-d’s home is people still fasted on the ninth of no Aron or Urim VeTumim (to name
calamitous, but considering our Av. This is puzzling. If the fast is just two discrepancies) and so the
history is replete with many other due to the Churban HaBayit, how people still observed Tisha B’Av for
tragedies, why does it play such an can it be observed while the second that which had been lost and not
outsized role? Beit HaMikdash is functioning? been restored. They still had ample
reason to mourn.
Before answering this question, let Finally, we may pose one last
us raise a few interesting queries fundamental question and ask – Finally, we may now explain the
and see if indeed one principle why is there a need for a Mikdash enigmatic passage in Nedarim that
can address all our concerns. at all? Does G-d really need a home, attributes the churban to the failure
The Gemara in Bava Batra (60b) does not the Mishna in Pirkei to say Birkat HaTorah. They had
describes the Jewish people’s Avot (3:2) state that the Shechina become complacent. They took
response after the churban and is present when two people study the relationship they had with
it is powerfully evocative of the Torah together? HaKadosh Baruch Hu for granted
sentiments expressed by some and therefore did not heed the
survivors after the Holocaust. They Perhaps the solution to all our admonitions of the great prophets.
did not wish to eat or drink, and problems is as follows: there is Eventually, they behaved badly,
there was an incredible sense of a vast difference in letting G-d but their initial downfall was a
despondency at what had been lost. into our lives and our entering lack of appreciation for the direct
Once again, a deeper explanation into His Home. It is true we have connection they enjoyed.
is required; why did the loss of the the capacity to bring the Divine
Mikdash elicit such a poignant presence into our midst even by We live in an era in which we are
reaction? learning Torah with a chavruta, privileged to reside in our homeland
but the fullness of that relationship once again – in Medinat Yisrael.
When the Talmud Bavli examines can only be expressed when G-d is We are fortunate that Yerushalayim
the sins that led to the destruction totally revealed, and that occurred is ours and that the Kotel is in our
of the Bayit Rishon, two very when we had the privilege of the hands. However, it is only when the
different rationales are offered. In Mikdash. Third Beit HaMikdash is built that
Yoma (9b), the Gemara describes our relationship with G-d will truly
how Am Yisrael engaged in the During the period of the first be complete.
most heinous of sins (such as Beit HaMikdash, one could offer
murder) while in Nedarim (81a) we a korban and receive a direct
are told the churban was brought response. Miracles could be Rabbi Binyamin Blau is on the Jewish
about by the nation’s failure to say witnessed daily. This enabled an National Rabbinic Advisory Board of
Birkat HaTorah before engaging in incredibly unique relationship with Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi
4 |
