English translation — וירא ב

Sicha, page 68

A.

The Rambam wrote at the beginning of chapter 2 of the Laws of the Chosen House: "The place of the altar is precisely fixed,

and one may never move it from its place,

as it is said¹

This is the altar for burnt-offering for Israel,

And in the Temple, Isaac our father was bound, as it is said²

Go for yourself to the land of Moriah, and it is said in Chronicles³

And Solomon began to build the House of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place of David, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite"⁴.

And in the law after this: "And there is a tradition in the hands of all that the place where David and Solomon built the altar on the threshing floor of Ornan is the place where Abraham built the altar and bound Isaac upon it, and it is the place where Noah built, etc."

And the Yaavetz wrote<sup>5</sup>,

that this that in halacha 1 the Rambam states "And in the Temple<sup>6</sup>

the Akeidah etc." and in halacha 2 he writes "that the place in which he built..

the altar..

is the place in which Avraham built the altar etc.",

it is because "first he explained

(the Rambam)

that the verse proves that in the Temple was the Akeidah,

and afterwards he added to explain that this matter is a tradition that in the place of the altar Avraham built an altar and bound etc. however it is a received matter without necessity from the verses"

(for from the verse it is proven only that the Akeidah was in the place of the Temple in general

(on Mount Moriah)).

And according to this,

the source that the Rambam brings for this matter

(that "the altar's place is precisely aligned" being the place of the Akeidah)

is,

from the general to the particular: at first

(in halacha 1)

he brings a proof

(from the verses)

that in the place of the Temple was the Akeidah of Yitzchak,

and afterwards he adds to prove that the place of the altar

(in the Temple itself)

is the place of the Akeidah of Yitzchak

(according to the "tradition in the hand of all").

And one must understand why the Rambam wrote the proof for the second detail

("a tradition in the hand of everyone")

in a separate halacha⁷,

since this is the conclusion and elaboration of the proof

(that is in halacha 1)⁸?

And in addition to this: since the Rambam here comes to teach us only about the precise and exact place of the altar,

as his language at the beginning of the halacha: "The altar's place is most precise and one does not change<pg>69</pg>

him from his place forever",

why did he bring in the general totality of the matter

("And in the Temple, Isaac our father was bound, as it is said..

and it is said etc.'"),

and he did not write

(in brief)

only about the place precisely,

that "there is a tradition in the hands of all that the place where David and Solomon built the altar etc. is the place where Abraham built the altar and bound Isaac upon it".

2.

also one must note several precise points and changes in the words of the Rambam here:

a)

In Halachah Alef he writes "And in the Temple Yitzchak was bound",

And in Halachah Bet he elaborates — "that Avraham built there the altar and bound upon him Yitzchak",

And ostensibly he should have said

(also)

here "it is the place upon which Yitzchak was bound" — and why does he add in Halachah Bet that Avraham built there an altar&lt;sup&gt;9&lt;/sup&gt;?

And especially that the Rambam is not satisfied with the words "that Avraham built there the altar",

but rather adds "and bound upon him Yitzchak"&lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;

(unlike in the continuation of the halachah "and it is the place where Noach built when he left the ark",

and he does not add "and offered upon it a sacrifice")&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;.

b)

In Halachah Alef he writes "in the Temple Yitzchak our father was bound",

And in Halachah Bet he states simply "that Avraham built there..

Yitzchak".

And even regarding Yitzchak one could say there is no need to write always the word "our father",

but it is puzzling why he was brief regarding Avraham.

Also tz"k the intention of the Rambam in his continuation of his words in H"B: "And it is the place where Noach built etc. And it is the altar upon which Kayin and Hevel offered and upon it Adam the first man offered etc." — what exactly does this have to do with the sanctity of the Temple and the altar that is in it&lt;sup&gt;12&lt;/sup&gt;?

The announcement that the place where David and Shlomo built the altar is the place where Avraham built etc. is understood,

because the place where Yitzchak our father was bound is fitting and desirable that the Shechinah rest there and that Bnei Yisrael offer there

(the sons of Yitzchak)

sacrifices

("an altar for a burnt-offering for Yisrael")

— as is explicit in the verse&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;

"And Avraham called the name of that place Hashem Yireh, as it is said today, on the mountain Hashem will be seen",

and according to Targum Onkelos on the verse that Avraham &lt;pg&gt;70&lt;/pg&gt;

They said "Here they will worship for generations",

and Rashi¹⁴

"Hashem will choose..

this place to cause His Shechinah to dwell there and to offer sacrifices here".

But that "it is the place where Noach built etc. and it is the altar upon which Kayin offered etc. and upon it Adam Harishon offered a sacrifice when he was created and from there he was created" — what does this have to do with the matter of "this is the altar for the burnt-offering for Israel"¹⁵?

And if his intention is to emphasize the connection of the place to the altar through the multitude of altars that were built in this place — he should have also brought that Yaakov Avinu built an altar in this place

(on Har Hamoriah),

as our Sages, may their memory be blessed, said¹⁶

"Not like Avraham, of whom it is written 'mountain'..

and not like Yitzchak, of whom it is written 'field'..

but like Yaakov, who called it 'house'"¹⁷,

from which it is proven that also Yaakov built in it¹⁸

an altar¹⁹.

3.

And one can say the explanation in this:

In the lengthy language of the Rambam regarding the place of the altar,

which is the place of the Binding of Isaac etc.

[Even though it is not the way of the Rambam to bring

(in every place)

reasons for the laws,

and all the more so the length regarding the altars that were built in the place of the altar,

which seemingly are nothing but matters of Aggadah],

and the division of the matter into two laws — the intention of the Rambam is to inform us of two definitions that exist in the law of the designated place of the altar:

(a)

that the place of the altar is

(intended in that it is)

on Mount Moriah — that is, not

(only)

because the altar is part of the House

(the Temple)

that it may be built only "in Jerusalem alone and on Mount Moriah"

(as the Rambam wrote above²⁰),

but that this is a special law regarding the altar in itself: its place is specifically on Mount Moriah.

And the connection of the altar to Mount Moriah

(in general)

the Rambam explains and elaborates in Halakhah 1,

from the verses,

that "in the Temple was bound Isaac our father, as it is said, 'Go for yourself to the land of Moriah,' and it is said..

And Solomon began..

on Mount Moriah etc.'" — that is, because on Mount Moriah was the Binding of Isaac,

therefore it is the place of the altar²¹

(and of the "House of G‑d" in general)²².

<pg>71</pg>

And furthermore²³

(b)

That the place of the altar on Mount Moriah itself is "exactly determined and they never change it from its place."

And this matter is an additional law regarding the altar that was not stated regarding the entirety of the Temple,

That we do not find that the Temple must have its place exactly determined on Mount Moriah itself²⁴

[Rather, through this law of the altar,

The place of the entire Temple on Mount Moriah was established incidentally — according to the measure of the dimensions of the Temple in relation to the place of the altar^*24].

And this law is explained by the Rambam in Hilchot [Beit HaBechirah] 2: "And there is a tradition in the hands of all that the place where David and Solomon built the altar etc. is the place where Abraham built the altar etc. and it is the place where Noah built etc.,"

That is, its exact place of the altar on Mount Moriah itself

(As above, section 1).

4.

And even though the two laws

(also the first law — that the place of the altar is on Mount Moriah)

are specific laws regarding the altar,

as above — nevertheless the Rambam writes in the first law "And in the Temple Yitzchak was bound,"

and not "And on Mount Moriah Yitzchak was bound."

And one must explain the reason for the matter,

for this law regarding the altar

(that its place is on Mount Moriah),

is because it is the essence of the Holy Temple²⁵,

and as the Rambam wrote²⁶

that the positive commandment of "And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary"²⁷

is "to make a house for God prepared to offer in it the sacrifices."

And based on this is explained this that the Rambam brought that "in the Temple was bound Yitzchak" in continuation of the law of the place of the altar,

and not earlier²⁰

regarding the law of the place of the Temple,

where it is written there: "There is no house for dwelling for generations except in Jerusalem alone and on Mount Moriah"

[which seemingly would have been fitting there to continue

(in the manner of his language here)

"and in the Temple was bound Yitzchak our father, as it is said 'And go for yourself to the land of Moriah' and it is said in Chronicles 'And Shlomo began to build the House of Hashem in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, which appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place of David etc.'"]

—

Because the fixing of the place of the Temple on Mount Moriah being the place of the binding of Yitzchak,

<pg>72</pg>

pertains

(mainly)

to the law of the place of the altar: because there was the Binding of Isaac there

(which was of the category of a sacrifice),

therefore this place was established for the "House of G‑d," whose concept is "to offer the sacrifices there."

And it follows that this, that the place of the Temple in general is on Mount Moriah,

is because the altar

(the place of the service of the sacrifices, which is the primary concept in the Temple)

its place is on Mount Moriah,

and therefore the Rambam brought it here specifically regarding the altar.

However, in Halachah 2 the Rambam did not write "And in the Temple etc." but rather "the place where he built etc. the altar" — because in this halachah he is dealing with the law of the altar itself

(not as the essence of the Temple).

And it is found that the two halachos regarding the place of the altar

(its place on Mount Moriah,

and its place the "most precise" on Mount Moriah itself,

at the place of the Binding),

are fundamentally divided: a)

its place

(the general)

on Mount Moriah — is because it is the essence of the Temple,

b)

its place the "most precise" on Mount Moriah itself,

is because it is — an altar,

without connection to the entirety of the House.

And this is the reason for the changes and the distinction between the proofs that the Rambam brings in the halachos:

This law, the first, regarding the place of the altar,

which is because it is the essence of the Temple,

its foundation

(only)

is in the act of the Binding,

"In the Temple our father Isaac was bound" — for the concept of the Temple pertains specifically to Israel;

But not so regarding the second law: the Rambam does not doubt that "it is the place where Abraham built the altar, etc." but adds "and it is the place where Noah built, etc. Cain and Abel, etc. Adam the first, etc. when he was created" — for by this he informs us,

that the uniqueness of this place as a place "most precisely designated" for an altar

(in general,

not only as the altar in the Temple),

does not pertain only to Israel,

but rather it was so from time immemorial

(even before the Patriarchs),

that it is a place inherently designated for building an altar.

And not only that, but he continues and explains the excellence of this place — "And from there the world was created, the Sages said, man was created from the place of his atonement" — that this place is "most precisely aligned"

(to the altar)

is not

(only)

a result of the offering of the sacrifices there, of all the above until Adam the first,

but rather it is so from the determination by the Holy One, blessed be He,

that this place was designated for the offering of sacrifices from the beginning of creation.

5.

According to the above, it is precise that in this law the Rambam did not write "Abraham our father..

Isaac our father" — because the place of the altar as a category in itself is not a matter only for Israel, but pertains to all nations.

And based on this, the emphasis of the Rambam at the beginning of this law is understood: "And there is a tradition in the hands of all,"

for in its simple sense, this tradition is not only in the hands of Israel but

("in the hands of all")

also in the hands of the nations — for this definition of the place of the altar also pertains to them.

And it may be said,

that this is the reason that they offer sacrifices of gentiles upon the altar&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;,

that this is not from the aspect of

(the generality)

the Holy Temple

(which pertains only to the Children of Israel&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;),

but from the aspect of

(the place)

the altar by itself,

which pertains also to them,

as above&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;.

&lt;pg&gt;73&lt;/pg&gt;

6.

Based on this, we can further explain a precision and change in the language of the Rambam,

that in chapter alef he writes "And in the Temple, Yitzchak was bound",

which emphasizes the

(a)

passive action

(b)

upon Yitzchak,

whereas in chapter beis he writes "it is the place where Avraham built the altar and bound Yitzchak upon it",

which emphasizes the

(a)

action,

(b)

Avraham³¹

:

That the place of the "Temple" was established in the time of Avraham,

is not only because of Avraham's prayer "And he called etc. 'On the mountain, Hashem will see'",

but also

(and perhaps primarily)

because through the binding of Yitzchak,

who was brought as a sacrifice and sanctified with the sanctity of an olah,

the place of the binding became sanctified

(Mount Moriah)³²

and was thereby made fit to be a "house for Hashem" where "they offer the sacrifices" — and this is what the Rambam said "And in the Temple, Yitzchak was bound".

But not so its most specific place of the altar,

from the side of the altar itself,

is not a result of the act of the Binding,

but rather it is because it is a place fit and established for the offering of sacrifices

(from the beginning of creation),

and the intent of the Rambam in his writing "it is the place where Avraham built the altar and bound Yitzchak upon it" is only to bring proof about the quality of the place.

And therefore he emphasizes the action of Avraham — that this that he built there an altar and bound Yitzchak upon it is proof that this place was prepared

(beforehand)

for an altar and sacrifice³³.

And one may add,

that the bringing of Yitzchak upon "one of the mountains"

(Mount Moriah in general)

was by the command of God

(as the Rambam brought here "as it is said 'And go for yourself to the land of Moriah'"),

but not so its specific place of the Binding the Rambam did not write that it was by command³⁴,

and based on this the above distinction will be sweetened that through the Binding of Yitzchak the entirety of the mountain was sanctified

(to be the place of the Temple and the altar),

but not the most specific place — because only this was by the command of God.

7.

These two matters regarding the place of the altar — the general place of the altar on Mount Moriah and its most precise place,

and their connection to the two matters in the act of the Binding

("In the Temple, Isaac was bound,

"Abraham built the altar there and bound Isaac upon it")

— can be explained in greater depth,

according to what the Rambam wrote in his book Moreh Nevuchim&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;

— that the purpose of the trial of the Binding was to publicize in the world two great matters that are foundations of the Torah:

(a)

"To make known to us the limit of love of G‑d and fear of Him, to what extent it reaches,"

(b)

"To make known to us how the prophets will believe in truth what comes to them from G-d&lt;pg&gt;74&lt;/pg&gt;

In prophecy..

That everything that the prophet sees in the vision of prophecy is truth and established for the prophet, he will not doubt anything from it..

And the proof of this is that Abraham agreed to slaughter his only son whom he loved as he was commanded, even though that commandment was in a dream or a vision..

And he would not find in his soul to do this great act out of doubt etc.'".

And one could say,

that from these two matters that became publicized in the world through the deed of the Binding come the two matters in the Holy Temple

(which was built on the place of the Binding)

:

The matter of love of G-d and fear of Him that was revealed through the Binding,

brought about this,

that the essential matter of the service of G-d

(which is through the act of the sacrifices)

is specifically in this place; and the publication and revelation of the ultimate truth of the vision of G-d that comes in prophecy,

brought about that upon this place it is fitting that it be a place of revelation of the Divine Presence,

"G-d will see..

On the mountain G-d will see" — "On this mountain the Holy One, blessed be He, will see to His people"³⁶.

[And it can be said that they are the two matters that the Rambam wrote at the beginning of Hilchos Beis HaBechirah: "A house for Hashem, prepared to offer the sacrifices in it and to make pilgrimage to it three times a year" — "to offer the sacrifices in it" is the matter of the service; "and to make pilgrimage to it three times a year" is the matter of the appearance,

"Three³⁷

times a year shall all your males appear before the face of the Lord, Hashem"³⁸].

And since the altar is the essence of the Temple

(as above)

— therefore, also in the altar itself there are these two matters:

(a)

Sacrifices are the matter of the service

(as above)

from the aspect of those who bring the sacrifice,

(b)

Through the service of the sacrifices of Aharon and his sons, the indwelling of the Shechinah is brought about in the Beis HaMikdash and in the Holy of Holies³⁹

[As explained elsewhere⁴⁰

in the explanation of the confession of the Sanhedrin⁴¹

"Blessed is He Who chose Aharon and his sons to stand to serve before Hashem in the Holy of Holies",

that this praise is about the virtue in the service of Aharon and his sons,

which brings about the indwelling of the Shechinah in the Holy of Holies].

And one could say,

that this is the difference between the two halachos above regarding the law of the place of the altar: the first halacha concerning the place of the altar on Mount Moriah, it being the main part of the Temple,

belongs to the function of the altar in the Temple as a whole,

namely the indwelling of the Divine Presence in it; whereas the second halacha,

which is a law concerning the place of the altar from the perspective of the altar itself

(as above at length)

— belongs to the content of the concept of the altar in itself,

namely the concept of the service

(the act of the offerings).

8.

And based on this, one may add explanation regarding the two halachos in the Rambam here concerning the place of the altar,

and their connection to Yitzchak and to Avraham:

Two matters mentioned above that were established in the place of the altar through the act of the Akeidah —

(a)

The matter of service,

(b)

The indwelling of the Shechinah — relate,

&lt;pg&gt;75&lt;/pg&gt;

In general,

to the difference

(the essential)

between the portion of Avraham and the portion of Yitzchak in the act of the Akeidah⁴²

:

The act of self-sacrifice of the Akedah relates

(mainly)

to Avraham⁴³,

who had to suppress his mercy over his only son and bring him up as an offering upon the altar,

unlike Yitzchak,

who said⁴⁴

"And where is the lamb for the burnt offering"

[And also according to Rashi⁴⁵

that after Avraham's answer "he understood..

that he was going to be slaughtered

(Nevertheless)

and they went both of them together with a single heart" — nevertheless,

the self-sacrifice of Yitzchak is not comparable to the self-sacrifice of Avraham in the binding of his only son who was born to him in his old age,

and as he elaborated in the Moreh Nevuchim there "not giving money nor giving one's life can be compared to it"⁴⁶]

— and this is the matter of the service in the act of the Akedah;

Whereas Yitzchak's part in the act of the Akedah was mainly in the passive,

that he was sanctified with the sanctity of an offering by being bound upon the altar — and the taking effect of sanctity pertains,

as understood,

to the indwelling of the Shechinah.

And this is that the Rambam is precise and distinguishes in these two halachos:

In the first law,

which is a law about the altar due to its action in the entirety of the Temple — the matter of the indwelling of the Shechinah — the Rambam wrote that this is because "in the Temple Yitzchak was bound";

And in the halacha after this,

the law of its place the "most precise" of the altar,

which is from the side of the boundary of the altar itself,

the matter of the service

(as above)

— in this the Rambam is precise,

that this relates to the deed of Avraham,

that "he built in it the altar and

(he — Avraham)

bound Yitzchak upon it."

(From sichos of Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masei and Shabbos Parshas Re'eh 5740,

Shabbos Parshas Matos-Masei 5743)