English translation — תרומה א

Talk 1<pg>123</pg>

A.

We learned in Sifri<sup>1</sup>

"In every place<sup>2</sup>

that it is said 'to Me' it stands forever and for eternities of eternities..

In the Sanctuary it says<sup>3</sup>

And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary".

And likewise it is in the Midrash<sup>4</sup>

"In every place that it is said 'to Me' it does not move forever, not in this world nor in the World to Come<sup>5</sup>..

In the Sanctuary: 'And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary'"<sup>6</sup>.

And it is explained by his holy honor, the Admor HaTzemach Tzedek⁷,

that the matter of "does not move in this world" in the commandment "And they shall make Me a sanctuary" is "because it is written⁸

And I was to them a minor sanctuary..

And our sages, of blessed memory, said⁹..

These are synagogues¹⁰

Thus, behold, it does not move even in this world."

And behold, in the explanation of the aforementioned words of our sages, of blessed memory, several interpretations were stated,

And among them: a)

"In the Sanctuary¹¹

and the altar, it will be seen that although in the building of Solomon they were removed, nevertheless they exist forever in the place where they were hidden¹²

and there will be no loss in them."

b)

Although¹³

the Sanctuary was destroyed,

the holiness of the place was not nullified,

and as the Rambam wrote¹⁴

that "the first sanctity with which Solomon sanctified, that he sanctified the Temple courtyard and Jerusalem for their time and sanctified them for the future to come..

that the sanctity of the Sanctuary and Jerusalem is because of the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence is not nullified, and behold, it says¹⁵

And I will desolate your sanctuaries, and the sages said¹⁶

Even though they are desolate^*16

they stand in their sanctity."

And see further,

Why did it not please the Tzemach Tzedek the aforementioned interpretations,

which seemingly are superior,

since according to them it refers to the Sanctuary itself,

whereas according to the Tzemach Tzedek's interpretation the matter of "does not move" is according to<pg>124</pg>

that in this time there are synagogues that are a "miniature Sanctuary",

in the manner and likeness of the Sanctuary,

and not the actual Sanctuary.

Regarding the explanation of the aforementioned alef, it can be said,

that it is a sufficient explanation in the language of the Sifri "endures forever and for all eternities",

but it does not settle the language of the Midrash "it does not move forever, not in this world nor in the World to Come",

for the Sanctuary moved from its place and was hidden.

But why is the explanation not satisfactory to him that it is from the aspect of the holiness of the Shechinah and "the Shechinah is not nullified",

which is a matter that pertains to the place of the Sanctuary itself,

in this world,

as the Rambam wrote<sup>17</sup>

"Therefore, all the sacrifices are offered even though there is no built House, and they eat most holy sacrifices throughout the azarah even though it is desolate and not surrounded by a partition",

behold it is found that the holiness of the Sanctuary,

"And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary",

does not move

(also)

in this world<sup>18</sup>.

2.

And it can be said based on what the Rambam wrote in Sefer HaMitzvot<sup>19</sup>

(in explanation of the words of the aforementioned Sifri)

"And they said, every place that it says 'to Me', behold it endures forever<sup>20</sup>,

meaning that it is a continuous thing and not a temporary commandment, but it is fitting and obligatory for generations of generations."

And that is,

that the explanation of "endures forever" is not

(only)

that the object endures forever,

but rather that the obligation of the person endures forever,

for every place that it says 'to Me', this is a perpetual commandment for generations.

And so in our matter regarding the command of "And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary,"

since it is said "for Me," this is a commandment for generations.

And thus it is explained in the Rambam at the beginning of the Laws of the Chosen House,

that he learns the commandment "to build the Holy Temple" from this verse,

even though it was said regarding the Tabernacle in the wilderness

(but since it says in it "for Me," it necessarily follows that it refers not only to the Tabernacle in the wilderness but to all the Temples<sup>21</sup>),

and as it is written in the Kesef Mishneh<sup>22</sup>

that according to the Rambam "this verse is a general principle for every place, whether for the Tabernacle in the wilderness, whether for Shiloh and Nov and Givon, whether for the Eternal House,"

and it is found that it is a perpetual commandment in every place and at every time

(and it is not among the commandments dependent on the Land<sup>23</sup>,

for it is included in this single commandment also the Tabernacle in the wilderness).

And in this is also precise the language of the Sifri and the aforementioned Midrash that the end of the verse "and <pg>125</pg>

"I placed within them" but only the beginning of the verse "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary",

because the main emphasis here is on the action of man,

"And they shall make Me a Sanctuary".

And it can be said that for this reason it was not satisfactory to the Tzemach Tzedek to explain that "it never moves" means because of the indwelling of the Shechinah in the place of the Sanctuary — because this indicates only the eternal existence of the object of the Sanctuary

(the indwelling of the Shechinah within it),

and not the eternal existence of the obligation of the person regarding "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary".

3.

And behold, in another place²⁴

it is explained,

that since according to the opinion of the Rambam "And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary" is a perpetual commandment in every place and at every time,

it necessarily follows that also in this time there is an obligation to engage in the building of the Temple,

and it is explained that one must say that this is the foundation of the obligation to study the laws of the House and the form of the House etc.,

that since it is impossible to build the House in actual practice,

there remains at least this part of the engagement in the building of the House,

the study of the form of the House.

And this is the intention of the Midrash²⁵

that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Ezekiel "Say to them

(to Israel)

and they shall occupy themselves with reading the form of the House in the Torah, and for the reward of its reading..

I consider it for them as if they are engaged in the building of the House",

and moreover,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, said "And because My children are in exile, shall the building of My House be nullified

(with a question mark)

He said to him etc."²⁵,

namely that through the engagement in the form of the House, "the building of My House" is not "nullified" — and this is because the study of the laws and the form of the House is of the category of the commandment of building the Holy Temple,

which is a perpetual commandment,

and in this time when it is impossible to build the House in its simple sense,

the fulfillment of this commandment is through the study of the form of the House²⁶.

And based on this, the statement of the Sifri that the commandment "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary" "endures forever and for all eternities" comes simply,

because even in this time there is a fulfillment of this commandment through engaging in the laws and the form of the Temple.

And that the Tzemach Tzedek did not bring this matter,

it can be said,

because it refers

(as above)

to the words of the Midrash,

where the wording is "does not move forever, not in this world etc.",

from which wording it is understood that no change and "movement" occurred in the manner of fulfillment of the commandment,

and also "in this world",

whereas according to the above explanation,

behold, a change and "movement" occurred in the manner of fulfillment of the commandment "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary",

that it is not fulfilled physically

(in a physical building)

but only in a matter of study,

a spiritual matter.

And therefore the Tzemach Tzedek explains that the matter of "He does not move ever, not in this world" is from the aspect of the matter of "a minor Sanctuary..

these are the synagogues",

according to which there is a fulfillment of "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary" in its simple sense, in physicality<sup>27</sup>.

And it requires explanation,

how can it be said that through the matter of synagogues, which are only "a minor Sanctuary",

there is no "movement" and change in the manner of fulfillment of the commandment "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary"?

4.

And this is to be explained based on the words of the Zohar²⁸

"And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst,

And they shall make Me<pg>126</pg>

a sanctuary simply, for every synagogue in the world is called a sanctuary",

And in the Ra'aya Mehemna²⁹

counts this in the count of the commandments: "The commandment

(19)

to build a sanctuary

("a synagogue")

below corresponding to the Temple above, as it is said³⁰

A place for Your dwelling You have made, O Lord, that it is necessary to build a sanctuary below and to pray in it prayer every day to serve before the Holy One, blessed be He, for prayer is called service".

And in the later authorities&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

they elaborated to bring proof from the words of the Zohar there that the positive commandment of "And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary" includes also the commandment of building a synagogue,

and so it appears from the words of the Maharik&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;,

and this is his language:

"It is fitting to compare the donation of a synagogue to the donation of the work of the Mishkan, for in every place our Rabbis, of blessed memory, compared the synagogue to the Holy Temple, as we say in the last chapter of Megillah: 'And I was for them a minor Sanctuary..

these are the synagogues and study halls..

And from this, the Mordekhai wrote there that it is forbidden to demolish anything from a synagogue, just as it is taught in the Sifri&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

From where [do we derive] that one who removes a stone from the Sanctuary etc. that it is a negative commandment etc. And you learn from it that we derive the synagogue from the Sanctuary, and it is taught in the Sifri&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

'My Sanctuary, your Sanctuaries' to include synagogues, and we also say in the first chapter of Shabbat&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;

Any city whose roofs are higher than the synagogue will ultimately be destroyed, as it is written&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;

'to raise high the House of our God and to repair its ruins' — and although that verse 'to raise high the House of our God' is written in Ezra regarding the building of the Holy Temple, nevertheless, you learn from it that one is to compare one to the other..

And so also wrote our teacher Meir, and the Mordekhai brings him&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;..

And perhaps it is comparable to the upper chambers of the Sanctuary that were sanctified..

our minor Sanctuary, one should conduct oneself in it with some sanctity and a semblance of the sanctity of the Sanctuary — behold, he intends to say that even according to the one who says that the upper chambers of the Temple courtyard were not sanctified, nevertheless our synagogue is more stringent, for it is comparable to the upper chambers of the Sanctuary that were sanctified."

[And it can be said that this is the halacha in the Rambam,

that in addition to this he ruled&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;

"Synagogues and study halls that were destroyed stand in their sanctity, as it is said, 'And I will desolate your sanctuaries' — even though they are desolate, they stand in their sanctity"

(and as it is written regarding the sanctity of the Temple&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;),

behold, in the enumeration of the commandments at the beginning of the book of Yad, in the negative commandment&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;

it is explained "not to destroy the Holy Temple or synagogues or study halls etc., as it is said&lt;sup&gt;41&lt;/sup&gt;

you shall surely destroy — you shall not do so to the Lord your God",

behold he counted it as a negative commandment

(and in his enumeration of the commandments),

not to destroy synagogues and study halls in one category and from the same verse from which we learn regarding the Holy Temple&lt;sup&gt;42&lt;/sup&gt;].

&lt;pg&gt;127&lt;/pg&gt;

5.

But it seems to me,

that even though both are present in a synagogue as in the Holy Temple,

both the fulfillment of the commandment "And they shall make for Me a sanctuary" and the prohibition not to demolish and not to destroy,

they are two categories:

The prohibition to destroy synagogues etc. is from the aspect of the law of holiness that is in them,

as the precise language "and I will desolate your sanctuaries etc. they stand in their holiness",

behold that this is from the aspect of the law of holiness that is in synagogues and study halls akin to the holiness of the Holy Temple; but the commandment of "and they shall make for Me a Sanctuary" is a commandment and law of establishing a place,

as the language of the Rambam in defining this commandment⁴³

— "a positive commandment to make a house for G-d prepared to offer in it the sacrifices etc.",

and this is that the definition of the positive commandment is not to sanctify the place and the like,

but to establish a place for the sake of serving G-d in it^*43,

and as the language of the Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvot⁴⁴

"He commanded us to build the Chosen House for service",

or "to build

(to make)

a house of service"⁴⁵.

And it can be said

(according to the Zohar),

that this matter is a law in its own right that exists in synagogues and study halls in every place⁴⁶,

that they are established places "for service"

(service of G-d).

6.

And it can be said,

that this is the intention of the Tzemach Tzedek in what he wrote that the matter of "and they shall make for Me a Sanctuary" is a commandment that "does not move forever not in this world" is from the aspect of the matter of synagogues that are a "minor sanctuary" — that this is not

(only)

from the aspect of the holiness or the indwelling of the Divine Presence that is in them

[for firstly)

it is impossible to compare the holiness of a synagogue to the holiness of the Temple,

and if so it is not applicable to say about this "does not move forever not in this world etc.".

b)

On the other hand: the definition of holiness and the indwelling of the Divine Presence exist also now,

and with greater strength and intensity,

in the place of the Temple itself in Jerusalem

(as above),

and for this there is no need for synagogues],

but from the aspect of the action of man in this,

that the obligation of "and they shall make for Me a Sanctuary" exists forever,

for always there is an obligation to make and establish a place for G-d⁴⁷,

even when there is no Holy Temple<pg>128</pg>

exists,

and in every place where Bnei Yisrael are found

(also in the diaspora etc.)⁴⁸

they are synagogues⁴⁹.

[And from this it is understood,

that although in the Zohar only synagogues are mentioned as a place of prayer,

nevertheless since it is from the aspect of the matter of establishing a place of a house for G‑d,

it is simple that it is also in the study hall,

and as it is explicit in the Gemara that "a minor Sanctuary..

these are synagogues and study halls",

that also study halls are included in a place for service⁵⁰,

and especially according to the words of our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed⁵¹

from the day the Holy Temple was destroyed, the Holy One, blessed be He, has nothing in His world except the four cubits of halachah alone].

And this is the reason for the precision of the Midrash "it does not move ever, not in this world etc." — because the definition of the indwelling of the Shechinah and the matter of holiness that is not nullified is not a thing within the category of this world literally,

for it is a spiritual matter and above the category of place,

and only from the side of the commandment and the action of man of "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary" which is a commandment and a perpetual obligation in every time and in every place can it be said that "it does not move..

in this world".

7.

And behold, another explanation can be said in this, that "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary" endures forever,

according to what our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said&lt;sup&gt;52&lt;/sup&gt;

on the verse "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst" — "in it" is not said, but rather "in their midst" — within each and every one&lt;sup&gt;53&lt;/sup&gt;

of Israel",

that each and every one of Israel becomes a Sanctuary and Tabernacle for Him, blessed be He.

And one could say that this matter has a foundation also in halacha,

for the obligation of "And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary" which is "eternal for all eternity" its fulfillment is possible through every Jew⁵⁴

of Israel,

in every place and at every time,

by establishing in his private home a place for Torah and prayer etc.

And even regarding the synagogue the Rambam wrote⁵⁵

"Every place where there are ten of Israel, they must prepare a house for them to enter for prayer at every time of prayer",

behold this is not an obligation in its own right but specifically in a place where there is<pg>129</pg>

Ten from Israel — behold this is only regarding the obligation,

that the obligation upon the community to build a synagogue is only when there are ten from Israel there,

and this obligation has in it a law of coercion,

as the continuation of the words of the Rambam "they coerce the people of the city one another to build for themselves a synagogue"⁵⁶

— but each and every one who designates a room or a special place in his house for the service of G-d,

behold there is in this a "fulfillment" of the matter of "and they shall make for Me a Sanctuary"⁵⁷.

And it is understood,

that just as it is in the synagogue,

that the manner of its establishment is through an act of building

[and there are several laws in its building,

"When building⁵⁸

a synagogue, one builds it only in the height of the city, as it is said⁵⁹

at the head of the streets she calls out,

and they raise it until it is higher than all the courtyards of the city, as it is said^*59

and to exalt the house of our G-d,

and they do not open the doors of the synagogue except to the east, as it is said⁶⁰

and those who encamp before the Tabernacle eastward"],

and in the building itself there are several details

["And they build⁶¹

in it a sanctuary in which they place a Torah scroll..

and they place a bimah in the middle of the house etc.'"]

— so it is in the private house of each and every one of Israel,

that the preparation and establishment of a place for service is not only the decision to establish a place where one prays⁶²

(matters of blessings and prayer that he does for himself which is not a public prayer)

and studies Torah and the like,

but primarily through an act of building and the like,

such as through building and making a bookcase for the Torah,

and a table on which one studies and prays,

and the like.

8.

And further one can say regarding this: We find in the Mishkan and the Temple that they contained all three pillars upon which the world stands,

Torah, service, and acts of kindness⁶³

:

Torah — in addition to the Ark and the Tablets that were in the Mishkan and the Temple,

"And they shall make an ark... and you shall place into the ark the testimony..."⁶⁴,

the Torah⁶⁵,

indeed the name "Mount Moriah" is because "from it came forth teaching (hora'ah) to Israel"⁶⁶

— the Sanhedrin who sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone⁶⁷

; and likewise the matter of the service,

for in addition to the main point which refers to the service of the offerings that were in the Temple,

this is also "My house shall be called a house of prayer..."⁶⁸,

and "this is the gate of heaven"⁶⁹

; and likewise the matter of charity, for in addition to the outpouring of kindness to all of Israel

(and to the entire world)

through the Table that was in the Temple

(and as hinted in the Gemara⁷⁰

"Whoever wishes...

to become rich should face north, and your sign is the Table in the north"),

indeed there was in the Temple the matter of charity and acts of kindness in their simple sense,

the Chamber of<pg>130</pg>

secretly,

in which⁷¹

were "those who fear sin would give into it secretly and poor people of good families would be supported from it secretly".

And similarly it should be said in the "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary" that is in a private home in every place,

that it should be said in all the three lines mentioned above,

establishment of a place

(and an ark)

for Torah and prayer,

and also for gemach through a charity box

(for institutions of Torah, synagogues for prayer, and institutions of charity and kindness),

and through hospitality in its simple sense.

9.

And one should add,

that just as in the building of the Holy Temple in its simple sense,

even though it is from the commandments that are incumbent upon the community,

behold the Rambam wrote⁷²

that "all are obligated to build and to assist with themselves and with their money,

men and women like the Tabernacle of the wilderness",

and in Avot d'Rabbi Natan⁷³

it is stated that also the infants brought to the donation of the Mishkan —

so too is it regarding "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary" in the house of each one,

which is a matter that pertains to men, women⁷⁴

and children,

and as explained at length in this regard elsewhere⁷⁵.

And through our deeds and our service in the time of the exile,

in the fulfillment of the practical [commandments] of the small sanctuary in general, in synagogues and study halls,

including also that each one fulfills this in his private home,

this brings and hastens the building of the third Holy Temple,

which "built and perfected, it will be revealed and come from heaven"⁷⁶,

that then there will be in open revelation the ultimate perfection of the fulfillment of "And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary",

for it will be an eternal building that never moves,

"Sanctuary⁷⁷

the L-rd, Your hands established; the L-rd will reign forever and ever",

that never moves etc. and not in the World to Come,

in the third Temple,

immediately and truly at once.

(From the talk of Shabbat Parshat Terumah 5747)