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Yerushalayim- The Gateways of Prayer | Rabbi Yossi Goldin
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new venue but nice to see uh all the
familiar faces. Um and although I think
I might have last couple of weeks
forgotten to to do this but of course as
always our learning should especially
now with the renewal of the uh new new
operation chariots of fire if I'm not
mistaken chariots of Gideon. Chariots of
Gideon. Thank you. Chariots of Gideon
the microphone. Um I usually prefer to
stand. No. Can you hold the microphone?
I can hold the microphone if you'd like
me to. Will that be easier? Okay.
Usually I mean my if it's if it'll be
easier for everyone to hear me, I will
do my best. Sure.
Just usually I'm pretty loud but Okay.
Sorry.
Big room. Okay. If this is better then
uh then no problem. Um ah okay. Much
better. Good. We even got a got an
applause. Look at that.
Um so as always that our our learning
should be a a first of all a uh um for
our hostages that should return home
safe soon. It should be a rafu for all
those who have been injured and all
those families who have been impacted
benef or um um during this war and um
and it should be a continued feel that
should give our leaders uh the wisdom to
make the right decisions.
Um so I wanted to
um to take advantage of again the
upcoming um days that we're in now where
the upcoming yom next week is yam is on
Monday and it's before our next class.
So I thought this this uh this week was
an appropriate time to do this when
you're talking our the topic of our shar
is um and if the topic of our is how
could we not talk about what what what
is the connection between file and
well we dive in that we should return to
true but even more fundamentally what is
the relationship between us and
excellent is the focus of everything
that we do if you look we'll begin with
source number one source number one is a
very well-known gimra
um which which discusses the
relationship
between and our source number
one. This is uh a very important
principle that has many ramifications as
well. If someone is standing in it's
outside of
Israel is you should have in mind you
should direct your hearts and your
thoughts to Israel as it says
in they should dive into you through
your land and these that we're now about
to quote in this are actually brought
for you in source in source number two
uh in source number two one of the filot
that mole makes towards uh toward upon
the building of the beta mikdash is that
the beta mikdash should serve as the
center for which am Israel will direct
their and based on the various times and
I underlined them for you in source
number
two your servant will dive in towards
this place if you look at the next p in
source number two the second
underlined they should dive in towards
this place if you look at the next time
the next underline
through the city which you have chosen.
And of course the final underlined in
source number
two, excuse
me, they will dive in to you through
through their land which you have given
to their forefathers, the city which you
have chosen and the home that I have
built for you. So based on these in in
malim the garra establishes that when a
person davins they should always be
directing themselves towards you. Okay.
Continues the in source number source
number one the second line. What if
you're standing in
Israel? You're already you're already
initi which you have chosen. This is
actually something that pe that some
people know but they mistake but they
make a mistake about. If you ask people
in Erit Israel if they're from if
usually if they're from America and you
ask somebody here in where do you face
when you're ding when when you're
dinging they automatically will say face
east and the answer is well in in
America you should always face east but
if you're in Israel or you're somewhere
else where facing east isn't facing
yushahim then you shouldn't face east.
The answer should always be you're
facing yushaim. So where we are right
now again I don't I'm not so good with
the directions. I don't believe we're
facing east. We're definitely facing
that way. That's the direction towards
we're in Jerusalem. That's the that's
the way towards uh towards the old city.
But the answer is is not east where in
America that's just what we what we're
used to. The answer is you're facing
towards
towards he just said if you're facing if
if you're stand what if you're in the
third line source number one you're
standing
in mikdash you should direct your hearts
towards the mikdash as the
says you will dive in towards this
homed what if you're actually standing
in the
mdash what should we
You should direct your heart towards
the
elim. What if you're standing in the or
standing as close as you
can? you should be directing it towards
the the the cover of the Aon which is
where which is where the word of God
would would come down um to into this
world. What if you're standing right
there? If you're on the other side, if
you're on the other side, you should see
yourself as
if okay continues or concludes
the what's the result of all of this of
all of this of
this. If you're standing in the
east, you should face west. Again,
assuming that's the way towards towards
the
mikdash. If you're west, you should face
east. If you're south, you should face
north towards the
towards. If you're north, you should
face
south. What result do we have from the
fact that we're all always going to be
facing towards that Israel are become
one? They are unified in that they're
all facing their hearts towards one
location a in the name of Ravina. my
what's the p that hints to this idea
this is
aimd no sorry excuse me
David like the migdal Davidid the um the
tower of Davidid which is not referring
to what we call migdal Davidid today but
this is referring to the beta mikdash
the mikdal of Davidid your neck is like
your your neck is just like the tower of
Davidid i.e The
mikdasho talp. It is built for towards
talpot. Not talpot here but says what
does talpot here mean? In this
takote ponimbo refers to a mountain that
all the people or all the faces or all
the mouths are turning are turning
towards it. And so with we get from here
is that many of us are familiar with
which is when we davin we we are meant
to face yushim.
is meant to be in our hearts and also
physically to be the directions.
Interestingly enough, if you look at the
garra itself, the garra at seems to be a
little bit inconsistent. At times it
mentions libo to yushim and other times
it
says what's the difference between libo
and
panav means you should internally be
facing your heart direct your heart.
That's what you should be thinking
about. What does panav mean physically?
That's where you should be facing. So
tophos in the source number three.
Source number three, look at tofos.
Tossfos points out that the
garra should be changed. It shouldn't be
libo. It should be pan libo. We should
take out the word
libo because what the what the gumar is
really talking about is where should you
be physically facing. Every time you
dive in, you should be physically facing
towards as it says in the
oz just like the end talks about. So too
says to us what what the really means to
be talking about is where you should
physically be facing. Although obviously
I'm sure we could suggest that maybe the
means to be telling us both. We
shouldn't simply be physically facing
towards Jerusalem. We should also be
directing what else? Our hearts and our
minds towards Jerusalem as well. The
goal here is we could be facing what we
could be facing towards Jewish line if
we're thinking about the New York Mets
or the Mets Yankees game that we just
had a couple of days ago for those who
are who are holding right then then
that's not what we should be thinking
about certainly not during our Dining
okay and so and so we should be
directing ourselves physically and
certainly emotionally and spiritually
thinking about thinking about Yushim and
that is from this we see evidence of
this not just in the Garra we actually
see this in earlier sources in in the
Vim if you look And source number four,
Danielle when Danielle
would the PK tells us that Danielle
would face
towards
Daniel. When Danielle had something he
needed to dive in for, we're not going
to get into the context of what we're
talking about there. There was something
that he realized was happening and he
needed to dive in. He went up into his
home and he would face himself
towards and three times a day he would
get down on his knees. That's what
that's how Danielle would dive in and he
would dive in towards Jerusalem. So we
already see that Danielle was also
facing towards Jerusalem. And we learn
from Danielle the importance of facing
towards towards yushalim. Now this idea
that yushaim is the location through
which we are supposed to direct our is
something that we already see much
earlier in Tanakh as well. If you look
at source number five this is uh the
story of Jacob as Jacob is running away
from his brother As the beginning of
parad vets. As we know the story Yakov
runs away. He gets to a certain place.
Um, he has a dream and in that dream
there's a ladder and appears to him and
then all of a sudden he wakes up and he
says, "Wow, I didn't realize where I
was." Look at source number
five gets up from this dream. This dream
where he saw a ladder of angels and
Hashem talks to
him. Wow, Hashem is here and I didn't
realize this is a holy
place. He gets scared and he
says this place is very is awesome.
Norah means
awesome. This is the location of the
Bloim. This is the place again this
seemingly according to the midrash. This
is the location where is the house of
God is going to be. And how else does he
refer to it as Shah Hashayim? Says
Rashi. What does Shashay mean? What does
it mean? It's the gate of heaven. Look
at Rashi. Source number
six. This is the place through which
allot go up to heaven. The gate means
this is the part that where you unlock
it and everything goes in. What Rashi is
adding for us is a little bit of maybe
this is how we you could have understood
the earlier sources but now he's saying
it explicitly which is when we direct
our purpose isn't just simply to help us
focus and to help us be all united. What
we're trying to do is where is the
location through which our will actually
go up to
heaven. That's the that's the
implication of the concept of being
hashim. When we dive in our tilot in a
spiritual sense, they basically shoot
out up to and they enter the heavens
through the gate that we call zashar
hashim means this is the gate through
which our file enter heavens and and and
rise up to to akadoshu. And so that is
the that is the significance of of
davening um and facing yushim when we
do. Not just simply physically and
spiritually but it's actually
metaphysically the location the d the
direction through which our fo go up to
heaven. Now in order to really really
understand this and to understand how
not I wouldn't say how this works that's
that's a little bit beyond me how it
works but to really understand why or
how yushaim acts as
this connection we have to understand a
little bit more about yushalim. I'd like
to take a little bit of some time just
to understand a little bit more and see
some of the sources about the concept
the nature of Jerusalem and the city of
Jerusalem which hopefully we will be
celebrating uh in a very meaningful way
next week and and it and and the
beginning starts with it actually starts
with the following question. Who can
tell me how many times in the five books
of the Torah does the name appear? Zero.
Very good. I see you guys you guys are
already trained. Right. Right. The
answer is zero. Zero. There is no in
nowhere in the five books of the Torah
is the name does the name Yusaleim
appear. However, there are hints to the
name Yusaleim.
Okay. So look at so look at source
number seven. This is the first place
where the the beginning of Yusaleim
appears. Source number seven is the
story when Avam is he's just come back
to fight and save Lot. And as he's
coming back from that war, the Torah
tells
us the king of
Shalim. He brought him bread and he
brought him wine. And who is? He is the
he is the coen. He is a priest to to
Hashem. According to the medus, this is
a reference to to shame. Okay, but the
point is that we have somebody named
Malitc who comes from a place called
Shalame. And if you look here, I just
brought for you very quickly on the top
of page two. I brought that the medish
the tarum son that says that he was
actually shame the son of Noah who was
how does he describe it mala dealeim. So
this this place that is called now
shaleim is actually seems to be the
historical place called yushalim. But
there is another time another name that
is given to this place and that is in
source number eight. Source number eight
Abraham after Ara after after a after a
taken off of the off of the altar and
has brought the uh and has brought the
the the the ram in init's place. What
name does Ara give to the
place?
Hashem Hashem will
see Hashem. Why? Because on this
mountain, Hashem will appear. Means to
see. Y means to appear. On this
mountain, Hashem will appear. So we have
we have Malit who gave the name of this
place Shalim. And then we have Abraham
who gave the name of the place to be
year or so. So look at a fascinating
really amazing medish med source number
nine. There is one place where we see
the name of Shalim and the name of the
location of the beta mdash is called
Shalimarc
Shale and he is according to the
medish. Okay, then we're going to skip
now a couple of lines. Sorry, just for
for time purposes. Four lines down the
five words in isra the period
there calls it
year who
hashem says the
medishar had a
dilemma shale if I call the place if we
keep the name to be
shame then I'm not going to I'm not I'm
not giving credence to Abra's name
called it
yearto and if I just call it year which
is the name that Abraham
gave then I'm not giving credence to the
name that shame that
gave what did hem
do he combined the two
names and shale became shal if you take
the hey and the olive and the of year is
gamatria 6 and you replace that with av
which is the gamatria 6. It became yusha
lame. Now where did yalam come from?
We're going to get to soon. But the
biblical name in many places is actually
written without the yud and it is
yushim. The proper name where did yushim
or yushim come from? It is a combination
of the name and the name Shal that came
together to be
shimmukah. So what we see here now is
that the name actually
is is a connection between two different
names that were given to Tanak that we
went to this place prior in Tanak. And
as we know in the world of Judaism, the
name of something very much signifies
its essence. Okay? Where that's why
that's why my parents give a name to a
child. There's a lot that they're
thinking about there that they have for
that child. We believe that when you
give a name to something, you are
capturing its essence. If the name Yusha
is really what we would call a of two
different names, perhaps what that hints
to is that Yusha in its essence is a is
a city of connection, is a city of is a
city of connection. That if we pay
attention and we think about what
Jerusalem is, who Jerusalem is,
Jerusalem in many different ways is a
place of connection which is born about
through the development of its name
coming from connecting two different
names that were priestly given. Is there
a question? Oh, sorry. I thought I saw
so therefore and in fact the concept of
Jushim being a city of connection we've
seen many different places look at
source number 11 look at look look at at
at a few this is a few that are that are
relatively
wellknown let's go to the house
of right our our our legs were standing
up towards the gates of yushim
that is
rebuilt. What does it
mean? That it is connection that they
they are connected together. We're going
to see soon exactly what that means. But
what's clearly being highlighted here is
something is being connected through the
city of Jerusalem. So the question I
want to ask is well what what's being
connected. So let's start let's throw it
out there. What have we seen so far?
What does Jerusalem connect? Who slhat
what does Jerusalem connect? Ah so the
first thing we've seen which is exactly
what we've seen we called Shah Hashim.
The simple understanding is what does
connect? Connects heaven and earth. It
connects man to God. It is the place. It
is the actual place of location of
connection. Excuse me. When we talk
about being what it means it means that
is this is the place where we connect to
Hashem where heaven meets earth and
earth meets heaven. as we're going to
see it goes it goes in two in two in two
different directions and in fact look at
source number 12. Source number 12 is a
kimar also a very very important that
highlights this
connection
my means amongst you there is holiness
but I will not come to the city says the
makes no sense that seems to be
counterintuitive if there's holiness you
should come to the
city Because there is holiness amongst
you, you won't come into the city.
That's
counterintuitive. This is what
meante
says, "I will not come to the up in
heaven until I will be found or I will
be able to come to the shel." Meaning
only once the beta mikdash was built and
akareshu had a place in what we would
call him mata. Only then did
akadeshu come to what what he calls the
yushima mala. Ask the
garraimala. Is there actually a
yushimala? Is there something called the
city of up in heaven in says the garra?
Yes.
Yes, there is
because the city that connects things
together. So what are we talking about
here that they that so yushim acts as a
connector between the lala mata and
theim lala yushim signifies in so many
different ways this connection between
heaven and earth between man between man
and and god and in fact I didn't bring I
don't think I brought it here but there
is a um fascinating there is an actual
source I think it's rabuaya forgive me
for not bringing it here he actually
says that's why in many places in tanakh
the name is actually written without a
yud it's yushim which is more consistent
with the actual name that we saw before
year and shalim. However, why in other
places is it called
yushim because there are two
yushims? Because the name yushim yushim
implies pairsim
raglim. Okay yim. So yushim here. Why do
we call it yushim? Because we're
actually referring to both the yushim
shamala and the shamata. They are the
point of connection between the two of
them and they are really one and the
same. The point which mata goes up to is
our hashim and when we refer to we're
actually referring to to both by the way
I heard it twice last. I I I have to
double check. I believe it's but I have
to I have to I have to check. I have the
source um I don't know why I didn't
bring it here. Um but yeah but that I
have I have it somewhere. I'll try to
I'll try to find it.
This understanding of your line can
actually help us understand a very very
interesting rashi in safer. Yes. Sorry.
Isn't it also
the question very ah we'll get to that.
We'll get to that. It's not it's not
it's not mutually exclusive. It does
both. You're 100% right. You're right.
Good. We'll get we we'll discuss it
soon. We'll discuss I don't know exactly
what you're referring but yes I believe
that that's also what does a po is is
the city of connection. It connects it
connects man to God. heaven and earth.
It also connects all of Amish is
together. But we we'll get to that. I'm
a little confused. What is the What is
the shaala? That's a great question. I
can't tell you that I fully understand
that. That's we all have questions.
What's going on? What's going on up in
heaven? But but we the gamarra is
clearly referring to the is clearly
referring to some kind of parallel of of
what what we have in this world up in
Shamim. Now, I don't know what that is.
I can't I I'm not even going to try to
go there. But to me what it signifies is
this concept of connection. The fact
that the Sha Mata has a parallel up up
in Shamala means that this this this is
the point of connection. This is the
point where our file go up. This is a
point where we're able to connect in a
deeper way because there is a parallel
to Shaa mata up up in heavens. What
exactly that looks like? I can't tell
you. Hashem is up there. That's the
whole point. Well, sure. For sure. What
exactly does what what does Shyamala
look like? I I I can't tell you. To me,
it's more symbolically the symbolism of
showing that there is something parallel
to the holy city here or something up
there and and therefore it it highlights
the spiritual nature of your and the
connection between between this world
and and and the heavens. Okay. Yes.
Okay. So look now this can help us
understand another p an interesting pik
which and rashi which the truth was many
of us have read before have probably
seen and may not have fully properly
understood. This is a story in safer
bacius. This is a story when when Yoseph
and Binyammen are finally first reunited
after Yoseph reveals himself to his
brothers and the Torah tells us the
following thing. What happened when
Yseph and Bin Yemen come together? They
cry on each
other. Yoseph cries on the neck of
Binyam and he cries. Sorry. He falls on
his neck and he
cries. Andy cried on on his neck says
Rashi. What does this crying
signify? Why was Yseph crying? Yseph was
crying because of the two B mikdash that
were going to fall out right near
because we know that we know that itself
is not in anyone's but it's it's
physically in the of Yehuda and Binyamin
the beta mikdash is in the of and
therefore Yoseph was crying about the
beta mdash that was going to be
destroyed in the of and why was crying
al- Mishkanilo he was crying about the
Mishkanilohat that was going to be in
the in the in the in
of and it was going to be destroyed. Now
this is very very nice and many of us
may be familiar with this. But the real
question we have to ask ourselves and
this really is something we should do
methodologically whenever we read a
rashi like this. Where did Rashi get
this from? Where did Rashi get that the
concept of them crying on each other's
necks all of a sudden has symbolism to
the beta mikdash and to and to
Mishkanilo? It might be true and if this
is based on the medish where did the
medish get this? There's always a hint
to the medish or to the perish somewhere
in the puk. And where is that hint here?
So look at look at the marshall. Look at
source number 14 that Maharsha in his
commentary on the earlier Gumar makes
the following suggestion. He says the
key the key hint here is the neck. The
fact that they cried on the neck the
neck represents Bamikdash or Shilo. Now
how does the neck represent Betamash or
Shilo? Look at what the Marsha says.
Source number
14david the mikdash is similar to a neck
in what
way because it's at the high point of a
person. So too, the beta mikdash is the
pinnacle of of the Jewish people. And
therefore, the symbolism of the neck,
the neck represents the beta mikdash.
And so, Yoseph falling on Binyammon's
neck must have been crying about the
beta mikdash. And and Bin Yammen falling
on Yoseph's neck must have been crying
about the Mishkan. Beautiful. But I
think there's there's another
interpretation that I heard to the same
idea why the neck is important. A little
bit different from the Marsh. I heard
this from from somebody by the name of
Rabbi Mosh Shapiro. Shapiro was a great
bal and great and
bal here in Jerusalem and he made the
following suggestion. He said the neck
isn't just a high point. What is the
neck on a person's body? It connects
body to the head. Connects the body to
the head. Another way of saying is it
connects our seal. It connects the
spiritual part of who we are with our
physical body. And in that way a neck is
similar to the beta mikdash because as
we as we've been discussing what does
the beta mikdash act as our connection
between this physical world and the
spiritual world and that is what the
beta mikdash represents the beta mikdash
represents the connection between our
physical world this world between heaven
and earth and that's what a neck does on
a person and therefore when yose fell on
binyam's neck he was crying about that
point of connection and it must be he
was crying about the betam Bdash says
Rashi and and Miny must have been crying
about about about the about the Mishkan.
And so that we now understand if we
understand and bet as being this point
of connection, we can now better
understand that Rashi which many of us
are familiar with. But now hopefully we
understand on on a on a deeper level. If
you look at source number 15 or by Arya
Kaplan uh who has a great book, it's a
very small book. It's called Jerusalem
the Eye of the Universe. Much of what
I've gotten from this shure and and more
in general comes from that book. It's
it's a very small book. It's a white
book. If you've never seen it, I
recommend getting it. It's really really
beautiful. All the sources, everything
you need to know about is in this very
small compact book. And he adds on one
other point. He says that this concept
of yushim being shashim goes both ways.
Until now, we've been discussing it as
being the place where our filot go up to
heaven. says Rabbi Kaplan, it's also the
the vehicle through which anything that
God gives us comes down through
Jerusalem. Source number 15, the fact
that Jerusalem is the gate of heaven has
another important implication. Just as
things can go in through a gate, so they
can emerge. Thus, all spiritual
sustenance and blessing come only
through Jerusalem. As it is written, God
will bless you
from Hashem.
Everything God all the braha that we
receive in this world comes
through and in this in this in this in
this point is tion can sometimes refer
to sometimes it refers to all of Israel
here the understanding is it's coming
referring to and all the blessing that
god gives to us on a metaphysical
spiritual level comes down through
yushalim is this gate through which we
connect to heaven and through which
heaven connects to us. Yes. Can you also
say that the two people who named it
also represent that Abraham is the
spiritual what's the association we have
with
them the sessions the physical that the
two each one represent each of them
that's very very it could again if you
understand that that is reference to to
shame then it takes on a little bit of a
different meaning because he's more
spiritual as well but it's a very it's a
very it's very good point yes yes very
good very nice very nice okay so so what
we've seen so far is Jerusalem is a city
of connection. One type of connection
that is created through Jerusalem is
this connection between man and God
between between heaven and earth. And in
fact another way of understanding this
is why we face towards Jerusalem when we
dive in because as we said it is the
vehicle it is the location it is the sh
through which our file go up to heaven
but in another sense Jerusalem was also
the place of the corbanote and as we've
spent m much time talking about the last
few months we've been talking about
failah our fa in many different ways is
meant to is meant to be patterned after
the node and therefore it's totally
natural that we would be turning towards
look at verse number 16 again This is a
source that all of you should be
familiar with from from our many times
going over it.
Rabio Amar Rabios the son of Khan
says he he understands that that theot
were established by
theote that theot correspond to the
sacrifices to the used to be brought in
the bidash and as we've noted it's not
necessarily the answer is that they're
probably patterned after both of them
but much of the many of the regarding
come from come from the come from things
connected to the corba note. So look at
number 17 describes this beautifully in
light of a number of concepts already
discussed is it is easy to understand
the relationship between prayer and
sacrifice. The slaughtering and burning
of the animal sacrifice symbolized the
subjugation and destruction of the
animal in man. Meaning the way he's
understanding is that we are made of two
different two different sides that pull
at us at different points in time. have
the spiritual side of man and then there
is the more anim animalistic more
physical side of man. When we bring a
sacrifice what that represents is we are
trying to subjugate and conquer the
animalistic side within man. When the
animal was burned on the altar it
returned to its elements and descended
on high. When a person brought a
sacrifice he was able to meditate on
this nullifying his animal self and
liberating his spirit so that it could
commune with God. That is what was meant
to be accomplished through the
sacrifice. The soul then returned to its
own element which is the spiritual.
Therefore, the bringing of the sacrifice
was a highly mystical experience. The
Hebrew word for sacrifice corban comes
from the root karov meaning close since
it brought man close to God. The concept
of prayer is very similar to this. When
a person stands before God, he becomes a
total spiritual being totally divorced
from his animal self. The only
difference is that instead of
experiencing this through sacrifice, the
individual does it through prayer. And
so here we see the connection between
and corbanote. And it's totally natural
that when we are davening something and
we are taking advantage of of a way to
come close to Hashem which is meant to
be patterned after corbanote the place
that we would be facing would be yes
it's very interesting this idea of this
connection. We're also made a lovely
which is maybe It involves the people of
Jerusalem that they should all be
connected to. With that, we will now
turn to the next source. The other
source which is what you mentioned as
well is the city of connection. It is
not just the city of connection between
between man and God, between heaven and
earth. It is actually there's no reason
why you would have
no right. Look at source number 18. What
is another meaning for the for
the is the city that combines that
connects to it together says
that what does that
mean? This is the city that unites the
Jewish people. And if you think about
it, it's very logical. It's exactly what
the first source we said was. Why did
the first source the Garra said that
when we when we when we dive into
Hashem, we need to face Yushaim. It
wasn't just as we saw so that our
prayers will go through. What did the
Gamarra conclude? The Gammorra said at
the very
end, all of Israel are now united in
directing their hearts towards one
place. There is a special nature to
Jerusalem in that it is the unifier of
AmIrael. By the way, many many
commentators point out that is why was
not was not in any specific shvit's
portion was not divided amongst any of
this. It happened to fall in the
portions of Yehuda and but officially it
belonged to nobody. Why? Because it
doesn't belong to anyone Jewish belongs
to all of us to all of Israel. And that
is and and and in that way sorry that
makes sense 100%. Exactly. Exactly. So
yushim acts as a place does not just
unify us with hashem it unifies us
unifies us all all together. In fact if
we understand this we could also explain
a fascinating uh maharal. The Maharal in
source number 19 talks about how why it
was that the sin
of baseless hatred was the reason for
the destruction of the second bet. Many
of us are familiar that the first bet
was destroyed because of the three big
sins because of murder, adultery and aod
and the second bet was destroyed because
of says the it had to be that way. Well,
I look at source number 19.
Each of the beta of the mikdash were
destroyed for concepts and reasons that
were connected to
them. It was because of baseless hatred
that was
destroyed. I already discussed this in
detail earlier.
What does and the beta mdash what is one
of its main's functions to unify the
Jewish people through the beta mikdash
and then by extension through we become
one
people because there was one that
everybody had to bring their
on at the time of when there was a mdash
you couldn't each build your own altar
Everyone had to come and bring all of
their
towards
mikdash through the beta mikdash is
became one
nation. Once all of a sudden we had this
this this predominance of where Israel
themselves created division amongst
themselves. There was no longer unity
between the Jewish people by definition
says the Maharal on a spiritual plane.
There could no longer be a beta mikdash
because a beta mikdash is only powerful.
It only exists when we're unified. If we
create that disunityity within ourselves
that
necessitates says the maharal on a
spiritual level the destruction of the
beta
mikdash. That's why he
says once there was division amongst the
Jewish people.
This place was
destroyed because its whole existence
was to unify the
people through the hatred
of that is why the was the cause of the
betam mikdash because the betam mikdash
was there to unify us to create that
unity and when we and when we ruin that
unity we create that division The beta
mdash all of a sudden spiritually is now
able to be destroyed and ultimately
physically able to be able to be
destroyed just because of time I want to
if is it
quick so let's let's wait if that's okay
let me see if we have time at the end if
we have time at the end I'll take a
question okay with that statement so
afterwards if we have time revaria
kadlin in his in his book actually
discusses the role that you played in
connecting am in a very very beautiful
way source number
Among the most dramatic of these
observances were the three annual
pilgrimages right we call aliel there
are three festivals sukkot pesak and
shàuote during which in the days of the
temple the Torah required every Jew who
was able to make a pil pilgrimage to the
place one second I got to turn the page
also chosen by God the Torah thus states
three times a year shall all your males
appear
before the Lord your God in the place
which he shall choose on the feast of
Matsot on the feast of Shàuot and on the
feast of Sukkot. So God commands all of
Amish Israel to come together which
meant that actually not just spiritually
this was a unifier. Physically Jerusalem
was the place of unification of unity.
During these pilgrimages Jews poured
into Jerusalem from all over the world.
They renewed friendships and exchanged
news. As a result, the Jews were united
and molded into a single people. But
most important, all this was done within
a context of holiness and serving God.
The fact that so many people were
gathering in worship would reinforce all
of them religiously and morally. So much
so that in the course of these
pilgrimages, no Jew would be suspected
of harming another in any way. thinking
just if you think think of a modern
version of this if those of you who have
have privilege to gone to the to the to
the gal on and marching with tens of or
thousands and tens of thousands of
people in or being there on
onim that concept of being in Jerusalem
walking around the old city and seeing
thousands or tens of thousands of people
has a spiritual effect on you imagine if
it was now many many more millions of
people were coming to Jerusalem let's
forget about the practical point of of
of of of of how that would happen. Let's
assume it would happen if they made if
they made room for everyone in the beta
mikdash, they could make room for all of
the Jews in within within Jerusalem. And
so we now by all reuniting within your
it would strengthen ourselves
spiritually as
well. Thus united the Jewish people in a
context that directed this unity towards
the unity of God. The unity of ami is
akus was meant to elevate our
relationship with this helps us
understand and this is a this is a key
point why the place chosen by god had to
be a city. What is a city? Besides a
mere concentration of people it is a
place where civilization grows and
develops. The very concentration of
people in a city results in an exchange
and growth of ideas. It is therefore no
coincidence that the growth of
civilization in general has historically
emanated from its cities. While the
farmlands provided food for the body,
the cities provided food for the mind
and soul. As Rahers points out, the
Hebrew word for the city ear comes from
the same base as the word ur to awaken.
It is the city that awakens mankind,
bringing out his best creative
instincts. Indeed, in the Torah, we find
that the building of cities led to many
of the most important developments of
civilization. The focal point of Jewish
civilization was to develop a
relationship with God. And this too
required a city. Jerusalem became the
place where Jews from all over the world
would gather to exchange ideas and
develop a civilization enhancing this
relationship. Vital to this process were
the temple and the many teachers of
Torah who lived in Jerusalem, which will
be discussed later. But in general, it
was Jerusaleim that was the city, the
awakener, arousing and motivating the
Jew towards his mission. It is not very
surprising that our sages teach that
yushaim is the highest realization of
the concept of a city. And so Kaplan is
highlighting in beautiful beautiful
language is how yushaim acted as this
unifier of the people. Number one it was
the place that belongs to all of us. It
is the place that
officially belongs to all Jews. It
doesn't belong to any specific shvet. It
is the place which we in our minds are
all focusing our tilot and our hopes and
our dreams and our and everything that
we're that that we're looking for is all
directed towards Jerusalem. And then as
Kaplan points out physically as well, it
was the place where all the Jews
gathered three times a year, not just to
have a good time with each other, but
all unifying coming together all in the
service of a bar. So that we would each
come and we would be imbued with
spirituality and with a certain level of
excitement to then go back to our homes
and continue hopefully on a great on a
higher level in our in our service of
God. And so
yushim the beauty of yushim is the power
of of connection. And I think this also
highlights and this is the last source
we'll do and then we'll just we'll
summarize what we what we what we've
seen today. This also notes the fact
that by the way when we think about our
felot the fact that felote ju just just
to be careful I don't want you
uh the fact that our felo are not just
dav are not just said for ourselves but
even fo and we dive in we dive in not
just for ourselves we dive in also for
one second here there we go just watch
your
step we dive in also for for all of ami
Israel as we've mentioned the text of
our besides but see we're being
something that we try to do as a
community. The text itself is in the
plural. When we dive in, we don't just
dive in for ourselves. We dive in for
our friends and we dive in for our for
our community and for our nation. So
look at source number 21 as Yehuda Levy
said this is by Saxs as Yehuda said in
the Kosari individual prayer is like
protecting yourself by building a wall
around your house house. Collective
prayer is like joining with others to
maintain the wall around the city. The
wall around the city protects everyone,
not just me. Besides which, when I pray
for myself, I may pray selfishly, asking
for something that may directly benefit
me, but may be harmful to others. If I
sell ice cream, I want the sun to shine.
But if I sell umbrellas, I want the
rain. If I sell umbrellas, I want the
rain to fall. Praying together, we seek
not private good, but the common good.
Communal prayer is not just an
expression of community. It is also a
builder of community. Just like yushaiim
acts as a unifier when properly
understood should act as a unifier
because when we dive in and we dive in
either physically incore in a community
or at least the words we say are
communal we're meant to not just be
thinking about ourselves also important
to think about yourselves but you should
also be thinking about what are the
needs of my neighbor what does the
person next down down down the row from
me look need how can I make his life
better what should I be praying how can
I pray for what does my community want?
What does my nation need? These are the
things we are meant to be thinking about
not just in our but also come about
through through Jerusalem. And so I'll
just to summarize and then I'll take
I'll take a comment. Um today we talked
about um the city of Jerusalem. We noted
that Jerusaleim is the place through
which we are hikally meant to dav. We're
meant to face both physically and
spiritually and mentally when we dive
in. We're supposed to be thinking about
our hearts and our minds should be
directed towards yushim as should our
body. We should be turning our body
towards yushim. Why is that? Because as
we saw from yakov yushim is the hashim.
It is the gate through which all of our
travel. We pointed out that in order to
really understand this we have to
understand a little bit more about
yushim. The name is a connection a
combination of two names that were given
by
different by or
by and shale become yushim. And what we
see from that is that if if the name
came about through a connection through
a combination that means the essence of
its name the essence of yushim is a city
of connection. It is on the one hand a
city of connection between heaven and
earth between man and god. On the other
hand as we noted as well it is also the
connection. It is also the place of
connection between man and
man connects us all either through our
all of us directing our to one direction
or through physically coming together
and and coming together to serve and we
noticed at the very end was that if
that's if meant to be a unifier on many
levels is also meant to be a unifier. It
is not just meant to be a place where we
dive in for just ourselves. It is meant
to be a place where we dive in for all
of our Israel. And so it is very
appropriate that all of our the
connection between our and we're truly
privileged to be standing here just to
think about it for a second standing
here in Hakodesesh place for thousands
of years Jews were domining towards
thinking thinking about and and it is it
is the place through which we direct all
of our hopes and our national hopes and
our personal hopes and our national
aspirations and dreams and uh and
hopefully um we will be able to
appreciate that uh a little bit more of
this. Yomi yes comment say personal
reaction of why I think this idea of
connection with you is so terrific
especially for me because when I started
to make aliyah here you realize I'm
coming everyone's Jewish and they don't
know me and I don't know them so how are
we connected so I said you know what I'm
going to do I'm going to wear a name tag
so half the people who see me think I'm
crazy and now when they think I'm crazy
I'm going to quote Oh, beautiful. You
know, and say that this it's not me.
There's a whole dash on this that that
that that that is meant to be a place of
connection. And therefore, dove wears
his name text that he is able to connect
with everyone around him and they should
connect with me. Beautiful. And they
should connect with you. And I think
what it also means is that even on a
deeper level, even if we don't know
everybody's names, although we should
learn everyone's names, there is an
inherent connection that we all have
which we should be Yes. But it it should
be it should be realized in in in in a
in a greater way. Yes. Thank you. Be
able to integrate
this
client
can to integrate
them. I don't know. I'm just asking you
know because some you follow. No, I'm
not sure I understand the question.
Sorry. He said the
mitzvah Noah. Oh, the b Noah. Correct.
Before before before the Torah was
given. They were given up before the
Torah was given. Correct.
That was
that would but that's more a connection
with all of mankind as opposed to as
opposed to the Jewish people. That's a
totally a bit of a different a different
I'm not sure though. I think that's
meaning the are meant to be for the
Beno. Those are the Beno who are not the
sons of Ara. They should that on that
day go by the religion that they
happen by. Yeah. You don't put we all
put them together. Yeah. I don't think
we put it together. I think that the
world that's that's that's a that's a
totally totally separate issue. Yes. I
just see two two more comments and then
we'll finish. Yes. You said that when
was the first time that you said it
wasn't mentioned in the when was the
first time it's mentioned as
where is the first time it's mentioned
as yushlay proper that's a very good
question I I I I don't know if I had to
guess and how was this physical land
area chosen to be how was it chosen told
that this is the area that he should
purchase so all these buildings are all
these all these buildings
Okay. Yes. L last comment question.
[Music]
In the times of Msiah, is the Shyamala
going to come down? Excellent question.
I don't know what's going to happen in
the times of Msiah. I think there are
sources that talk about there are
sources that talk about the beta mikdash
coming down. Does that is that what the
Sha Mala is? Is that actually how it's
going to work? There are others who
argue that we have to build the beta
midash. this all the sources connected
to the times of Msiah are purposely and
the Raab writes this explicitly vague
because we're not meant to spend too
much time trying to understand them
because we'll never properly understand
them. No one really knows exactly what's
going to happen during the times of
Msiah until they actually happen. And
while it's important for us to be
continuously striving to bring Msiah, we
shouldn't necessar explicitly spend too
much time trying to understand the real
understanding of these gimmaras because
we can misunderstand them. And there's a
big mlo uh amongst the different Jewish
thinkers regarding what exactly is going
to happen. But it's an it's an
excess there will be some kind of
reunification exactly how that's going
to look, what that will look like. Will
that only be spiritual? Will it be
physical? There's a lot of a lot of
different discussions about that. Okay.
Hey, wishing everybody a wonderful week
and of course a happy Omu Shallayian.