There is a peculiar statement in the Jerusalem Talmud, in the first chapter of Tractate Yoma. There our Sages taught:
“Kol shelo nivneh beit hamikdash beyamav, ke’ilu nechrav beyamav...”
“All who do not rebuild the Temple in their days; it is as if the Temple was destroyed in their days....’
How are we to interpret this statement? Are we expected to rebuild the Temple in our generation, and if we do not succeed, is this considered a failure? Are our ancestors somehow collectively being held accountable for the many generations who did not merit to see the Temple rebuilt?
In the Shabbat table song, sung on Friday night, Kol Mekadesh Shevii- we see a reference to the Temple’s future re-construction... The stanza reads:
“Samcheim bevinyan shalem”
Rejoice in the complete building.
What exactly is the connection between Shabbat, and the building of the Beit Hamikdash? Might this be a hint to explain to us the Jerusalem Talmud’s perplexing statement – “All who do not rebuild the Temple in their days, it is as if the Temple was destroyed in their days?”
The opening verses of Parshat Vayakhel (Shemot Chapter 35:1-3) find Moses once again instructing the Jewish people regarding the Sabbath day. Most specifically, in Verse 3 we read the instruction:
‘Lo tivaaru eish bechol moshvoteichem b’yom
hashabbat...’
‘You shall kindle no flame in any of your dwelling
places on the Sabbath day...’
This verse is commonly interpreted to connote the obvious legal ruling - the prohibition against kindling flames of any sort on Shabbat. However, there is a beautiful, and perhaps more significant teaching regarding this verse from the Torah commentary the Shnei Luchot HaBrit (Two tablets of the Law) written by the 16th Century Kabbalist, Rabbi Yeshayahu Horowitz, of Prague. He writes:
“Lo tivaaru eish bechol moshvoteichem b’yom hashabbat, al tivaaru eish shel machloket bayom hashabbat! Zeh hayom shenityached yisrael zeh lazeh...”
“You shall kindle no flame in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day - do not fuel the flame of conflict or disagreement on the Sabbath day! Shabbat is the day that brings each Jewish person closer to each other...”
This teaching is so powerful. The biblical prohibition to not spark a match, (or for that matter any of the various Shabbat regulations), is but one aspect of the essence of Shabbat. Perhaps in refraining from even these seemingly mundane acts, we are somehow meant to take stock, acknowledge and even reach out to our fellow Jew; to find a common bond, to set aside our differences, and reflect and build on the bonds that join us, rather the fractured divisiveness that causes so much confusion and disagreement.
This says the Darchei Noam, the Rebbe of Slonim, is the meaning of the stanza in the Sabbath hymn, Samcheim B’vinyan Shaleim.
Each Shabbat we rejoice in the knowledge that the very essence of Shabbat is building, not in physically laying the footstones of the Temple, but in spiritually building the bridges between each member of the Jewish people, building that unified sense of purpose, that shared awareness, not only of where we come from, but where we are in the here and now. Only then, when we once again achieve that understanding and genuine love and respect for one another, can we also, together, begin to truly build for the future.
There is a profound poem written by the late Israeli poet, Yehuda Amichai, which echoes this teaching from the Darchei Noam. The poem, titled, Tourists, Part Two, reads as follows:
Once I was sitting on the steps near the gate at
David's Citadel
and I put down my two heavy baskets beside me.
A group of tourists stood there around their guide, and I became their point of reference.
"You see the man over there with the baskets?
A little to the right of his head there's an arch from the Roman period. A little to the right of his head."
"But he's moving, he’s moving!"
I said to myself: Redemption will come only when they are told,
"Do you see that arch over there from the Roman period? It doesn't matter, but near it, a little to the left and then down a bit,
there's a man who has just bought fruit and vegetables for his family."
When one walks the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, particularly during this time of year when we mourn the many tragic events in Jerusalem’s incredible history, and the loss we continue to feel in the Temple’s absence; it becomes easy to get lost in the maze of historical and archaeological evidence of our glorious history. However, as Amichai paints so vividly in verse, and as the Slonimer Rebbe teaches so sweetly, it’s not enough to mourn for the Temple of antiquity; rather our task is to build the Temple of the future.
“Kol shelo nivneh beit hamikdash beyamav, ke’ilu nechrav beyamav...”
“All who do not rebuild the Temple in their days; it is as if the Temple was destroyed in their days...’
Building the Temple begins with healing the wounds that divide us as Jews; building the Temple of the future begins with building the bridges of today. The Slonimer Rebbe teaches us that this is the essence of each and every Shabbat, that each week we have our opportunity to do our small part in building the Beit Hamikdash.
May the loss and longing we experience this Tisha B’Av inspire us to rejoice in the building of the Temple, commencing this coming Shabbat; and may we soon see that great day when there is peace among all Jews, peace among all nations, and we can walk the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, reflecting on its history, and simultaneously rejoicing in the Temple’s renewed presence...
With blessings for comfort and consolation...Rabbi Sam Shor