The Blogs: Should we really be praying for another Temple in Jerusalem? (Parshat Re’eh)

כִּ֠י אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ מִכּל־שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔ם לָשׂ֥וּם אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ שָׁ֑ם לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹ תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ וּבָ֥אתָ שָּֽׁמָּה׃

but look only to the site that your God יהוה will choose amidst all your tribes as God’s habitation, to establish the divine name there. There you are to go,

Devarim/Deuteronomy 12:5

וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם לִפְנֵי֮ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ אַתֶּ֗ם וּבְנֵיכֶם֙ וּבְנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְעַבְדֵיכֶ֖ם וְאַמְהֹתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהַלֵּוִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּשַֽׁעֲרֵיכֶ֔ם כִּ֣י אֵ֥ין ל֛וֹ חֵ֥לֶק וְנַחֲלָ֖ה אִתְּכֶֽם׃

And you shall rejoice before your God יהוה with your sons and daughters and with your male and female slaves, along with the [family of the] Levite in your settlements, for he has no territorial allotment among you.

Devarim 12:12

כִּ֣י אִם־בַּמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁבָטֶ֔יךָ שָׁ֖ם תַּעֲלֶ֣ה עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁ֣ם תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י מְצַוֶּֽךָּ׃

but only in the place that יהוה will choose in one of your tribal territories. There you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and there you shall observe all that I enjoin upon you.

Devarim 12:14

We dedicate endless prayers and aspirations for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. And yet, one ought to wonder why. Nowhere in the Torah is there any indication that the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, was slated for replacement by a grand edifice. And nowhere is there even any hint that Jerusalem was its intended address.

The closest we get to any hint that a single locus was intended is verse 12:14

כִּ֣י אִם־בַּמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁבָטֶ֔יךָ שָׁ֖ם תַּעֲלֶ֣ה עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁ֣ם תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י מְצַוֶּֽךָּ׃

But only in the place that יהוה will choose in one of your tribal territories. There you shall sacrifice your burnt offerings and there you shall observe all that I enjoin upon you.

And yet, when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the Mishkan continued to serve as the Sanctuary for over two centuries. And although during this time the Mishkan was not itinerant, neither was it pitched in Jerusalem.

Instead, it languished in Shiloh until Shlomo, King Solomon, decided to erect a grand edifice adjacent to his no less grand palace and stables. Perhaps he felt it was inappropriate for God to dwell in a tent while the anointed monarch was ensconced in tons of gold, surrounded by a thousand wives and as many steeds – all very contrary to the Torah’s explicit instructions:

רַק לֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ סוּסִים וְלֹא יָשִׁיב אֶת הָעָם מִצְרַיְמָה לְמַעַן הַרְבּוֹת סוּס וַיהוָה אָמַר לָכֶם לֹא תֹסִפוּן לָשׁוּב בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה עוֹד. (יז) וְלֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ נָשִׁים וְלֹא יָסוּר לְבָבוֹ וְכֶסֶף וְזָהָב לֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ מְאֹד

Only he shall not multiply horses to himself… Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

Devarim/Deuteronomy 17:16-17

Clearly Shlomo’s egregious lifestyle flouted the Torah’s laws and, by extension, his Temple could be viewed as an abomination as well; a monument to his own ego rather than a suitable dwelling for God.

The building of the Temples – both first and second – hardly augured any blessings for the House of Israel. The history of priestly and royal corruption (eventually both combined under the Hashmonaim) is well documented. Indeed, it was the very fact of Shlomo’s Temple that resulted in the loss of ten out of twelve tribes, forever.

Even if the Temple had been self-financing and no onerous taxes heaped on the Tribes, the very fact of its being a fixed-base operation was sufficient to alienate a majority of the Israelites.

For those living at a distance, the Temple was effectively inaccessible and therefore irrelevant. By contrast, those living in its immediate vicinity became jaded, taking it for granted the way the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty elicit a yawn from those who live in Paris and New York.

What’s more, this familiarity would assuredly breed contempt, as the Temple’s neighbors would inevitably notice every ritual flaw and priestly misstep. At the same time, they would seek to finagle ways to fatten their own wallets off the Temple “industry.”

Surely no one can argue that Herod’s magnificent Temple was nothing but a colossal monument to his own ego, and that what transpired within its walls was a spiritual disgrace.

So, is this what we should really aspire to? One need only look at the Western Wall. The Kotel.

My first visit to the Kotel was several days after the Six-Day War when it was still a piece of lamentable scar tissue that reminded one of glories past. Since then, however, it has been turned into “Judaism’s holiest site,” a splendid outdoor temple in its own right, controlled by questionable political interests, and rife with tension and discord.

One can only imagine what would happen if, by extension, we had an actual Temple erected on this spot.

I would argue that the Torah never intended for the Mishkan to be mothballed. And, further, that it was never meant to be in a single location.

The “one location” referred to in the Torah likely referred to a single site in each tribal province. Here the Mishkan would make regular visits and serve the local population, a population that would eagerly anticipate its arrival, and where God’s presence would never sojourn long enough for the people to become jaded.

And you shall rejoice before your God יהוה with your sons and daughters and with your male and female servants, along with the [family of the] Levite in your settlements, for he has no territorial allotment among you.

Devarim 12:12

Clearly, the Levite had no territorial allotment because his life was meant to be itinerant – pitching, packing, maintaining and repairing the Mishkan as it made its circuit from tribe to tribe. He was only “in your settlement” during his regular visits with the Mishkan.

The Mishkan itself was both grand and humble. It was made of the finest woods and materials, and yet modest in dimension and easily portable so that:

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכםֿ
And they shall make me a Sanctuary and I will dwell among them

Shemot/Exodus 25:8

“Dwell among them,” literally

One can only imagine what our history would be like had the Mishkan remained the traveling center of Jewish worship and ritual. No tribe would have felt itself singled out for glory, no tribe would have felt itself neglected and disenfranchised.

Kohanim and Leviim would have remained faithful to their hereditary callings. We likely would never have lost those ten tribes, and we would have remained strong enough to thwart the first exile … and the second.

Above all, the Mishkan would have set the tone for our own aspirations. Quality yes. But moderation as well. Good taste is Godly. Excess is definitely not.

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For my past column on this Parsha “The Real Essence of Shmittah”, please click here:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/parshat-reeh-the-real-essence-of-shmittah/