Bein HaMetzarim: The Inner Beis HaMikdash, Hester HaShechinah, and Mourning as Rebuilding

Transcript

In preparation for the three weeks, hachanah. I think it's interesting to point out that every chag that we have, which is supposed to teach us something, every chag is supposed to have its effect on us, is actually not as long as the time that's designated for aveilus of Churban Habayis. Sukkos, Pesach, a week, Chanukah, eight days. Here it's a period in a person's life, three weeks worth. It's almost an entire month devoted, dedicated to aveilus on the Churban Habayis. I'd like to understand. I'd like to learn with you. I'd like to give you an understanding of what is the aveilus, what's required of us. Right? Three weeks of a person's life, you're doing something. I think we should know what we're doing. So if you ask somebody, what is three weeks, ma zeh shlosha shavuos? and the answer is, l'hisabel al churban habayis. That's what you would say. If you look at the Eicha, and I told this to you in past years as well, the Eicha talks very little about the Beis Hamikdash. Eicha yoshva vadad ha'ir, rabati am. It's about the city, Yerushalayim. Most of the pesukim refer to the churban, the desecration of Yerushalayim, the galut of Yerushalayim. And even if now and then the pasuk brings in, Yadei paras tzar al machamadeha, but that's only in reference to Yerushalayim, the machmadim of Yerushalayim. The Beis HaMikdash is brought in sometimes, not often, but a little bit, as what Yerushalayim lost. The eicha should have been the churban habayis. We should have cried about the Beis HaMikdash. Why is it that we cry and bemoan Yerushalayim maybe more so than we bemoan churban habayis? I would expect that, especially, when was Yerushalayim captured? Yerushalayim was captured three weeks before. It was starting the siege, Shivah Asar b'Tammuz. So how about Tisha B'Av itself? Tisha B'Av itself is definitely the Beis HaMikdash, right? Tisha B'Av, vadai, the Beis HaMikdash. So how come on Tisha B'Av, Eicha is all about Yerushalayim? It should have been about the churban. Elitzion ve'areha, kemo ishah v'sireha. ... You say Elitzion, they have it? You don't have this piyut? Okay, this is the theme of the kinot. Elitzion veAreha. Whoa, cry, Tzion and its surrounding cities. Elitzion veAreha. What about the Beis Hamikdash? Again, it seems like the crying on Tisha B'Av is about Tzion. It's about Yerushalayim. How come it's not about the Beis Hamikdash, and the focus is on Yerushalayim? Shelama od, od, nechutza, right? Shouldn't the focus—at least, you're right, Shivasah b'Tammuz, they surrounded Yerushalayim. Good. But Tisha B'Av for sure was Beis Hamikdash, right? And even on Tisha B'Av, the kinot and the eicha is bemoaning what? Yerushalayim. Let me ask you another question. Kol hamisabel al Yerushalayim... Remember the end of the Gemara? Zocheh v'ro'eh b'nechamatah. Tell me, is zocheh v'ro'eh present or future? What does the word zocheh—zocheh means? I'm not so sure. Truthfully, it could...

Mean present and future. There's two ways how to read the word zocheh v'ro'eh: be'ro'eh in the future. But if you really wanted to stress future, you could have said yizkeh v'yir'eh. What is the lashon of zocheh v'ro'eh b'nechamatah, kol hamitabel al Yerushalayim zocheh v'ro'eh? If I ask you, say clearly, yizkeh, v'nizkeh v'nir'eh tovah v'rachah l'shnei yemot haMashiach ul'chayei olam haba. Don't say v'zocheh v'ro'eh; it says v'nizkeh v'nir'eh, in the future. So why over here does it say zocheh, as if it means now? And the mefarshim say, some mefarshim learn it means now. Yeah, but how do you have the nechamah of Tzion now? It's still destroyed. Second question: why does it say, kol hamitabel al... Why does it use a lashon of, again, aveilut of Yerushalayim? This again proves my point. For some reason, the focus of the aveilut is on Yerushalayim and not the Beis HaMikdash. And what does it mean, zocheh, now? Maybe you could say zocheh means in the future, but if you learn zocheh means now, how does it mean? What's the understanding of now? How can it be zocheh v'ro'eh now? To answer these questions, we have to fully and properly understand what is the aveilut. What is it? Let me tell you what is the Beis HaMikdash. And if we understand maybe what the Beis HaMikdash is, then we'll understand what we are being metabel, and maybe why we're not metabel so much on the Beis HaMikdash. If you'd like, I gave you the sheets. They're there. You could take out the Nefesh HaChaim. Yeah. Okay. It says in Nefesh HaChaim, the following: לכן האדם מעם הקדוש. Every person from am hakodesh, שכלול גם כן כל סדרי בראשית וסדרי המקדש. Every Jew has in himself all the briah. We spoke this. A person is called an olam katan, a small world. כלל הבריאה כולה. הוא גם כן דוגמת ותבנית המקדש והמשכן. So therefore he too is in the structure of the Mishkan and the Mikdash. מכוון, יש כנגד פרקי איבריו וגידיו, וכל כוחותיו, and each part of his body has a parallel in the Mikdash, the Beis HaMikdash. The arms, the legs, the heart. Of course the heart would be the Kodesh HaKodashim, the heart, right? לזאת, says Reb Chaim Volozhin, therefore, הרי כיוון דעיקר ענין הקדוש והמקדש, השראת שכינתו יתברך, הוא האדם. The main thing is the person. You want to know what the Beis Hamikdash? It's not the Beis Hamikdash, it's the person. She'im yiskadesh atzmo k'ra'ui, because if a person sanctifies himself properly, b'kiyum hamitzvos, sheheim תלויים גם כן בשרשם בפרקי איברי השיר. V'zeh she'amru—oh, I'm sorry. Then he brings the Gemara: V'shachanti b'socham, b'socho lo ne'emar, ela b'socho. Hashem doesn't dwell in the Mikdash, but He dwells b'socham, among Klal Yisrael. בקיצור, ויש לומר... Now, the last—I don't know if he did the second side. He did the second side? U'ledarkeinu, he did the second side, okay. U'ledarkeinu, according to this sefer Chaim Volozhin, יש לומר, גם כן שרוצה לומר, אל תחשבו שתכלית כוונתו היא עשיית המקדש החיצוני. Those are famous words of the Rav Chaim Volozhin. My intent was not the Mikdash chitzoni, the Mikdash, the physical, the outer one, but rather the Mikdash pnimi. Now you're going to find this language in all the literature about Tishah B'Av: Mikdash chitzoni, Mikdash pnimi. Mikdash pnimi is the person.

herself. She's inside. She's nefesh, she's neshama. And therefore, v'asu li mikdash is going actually more on the inner mikdash, v'shachanti b'socham, in the inner mikdash, than the Beis HaMikdash. I told you over many times, Chareidim, beautiful poetry. He wrote beautiful poetry. So one of his poetic poems, Bilvavi mishkan evneh, in my heart I shall build a mishkan. L'hadar kevodo, for Hashem's beauty. Ul'mizbeach asim, to this mishkan I shall put a mizbeach. L'karnei hodo, and as a korban I will sacrifice myself. The mikdash pnimi. This is the literature that the Rishonim, Acharonim speak about, the inner mikdash as opposed to the outer mikdash. Okay. So the inner mikdash is more important. That's the tachlit more than the outer one. So maybe, maybe Klal Yisrael could survive technically without the outer mikdash. Who says they even need the outer mikdash? Rav Moshe Feinstein, zichrono tzaddik livracha, writes this clearly. If you take it, the Darash Moshe, he explains, the pasuk always ties together the Shabbos and the building of the Mikdash and fearing the Mikdash. Es Shabsosai tishmoru, that the Mikdashi tira'u. Right, the Torah puts together the Mikdash and the Shabbos. What's the connection? Says R' Moshe, gevaldige vort: V'nirah, shehu inyan acher, shelo yilmad mi'rovei hanochrim la'avod es Hashem yisbarach. You know, the goyim also have religion, but their religion is a lot different than ours. Shehein kol avodosam u'menosam hu b'batei tiflah shelahem. It's not too much more than church, right? It's not a code of life. It's not the way they live in the home or in the street. They come Sunday to worship in the church, right? U'vabayis, and in their home, says R' Moshe, osim kol hato'evos. They could do all the worst behaviors of the world. U'ba'im mizeh l'klal yirah me'etzem habayis. So what makes them religious? When they come the once a week to the church, that's then they become religious. That's what makes them religious, you hear? V'hatmunah shelahem, and the pictures, right? They come and they see Jesus, Mary, they cover their head. Whatever they do, I'm sorry, I know you know so much about it. Whatever it is, the point being, the point being, that when they come to church, all of a sudden they become, you know, God-fearing. The minute they leave the church, you know, it's from week to week, mishavua l'shavua, right? Like miYom Kippur zeh ad Yom Kippur haba, right? Shehein kol... So what happens? U'ba'im mizeh l'klal yirah, v'atzleinu, but by us, af shetzarich l'yirah min haMikdash. It's true, we have to fear the Beis HaMikdash. But remember the Shabbos. Peirush, the Gemara explains, Loy min haMikdash atah yarei. Don't be afraid of the Mikdash, but be afraid of the One who told you to make the Mikdash, which is Hashem. So therefore, our avodah is not only the Mikdash. Our avodah is always, it's Hashem; it has nothing to do with the Mikdash. So, ikar avodaseinu hu babayis uvashuk. It's in the house and it's in the street, bochleinu when we eat, uvchalasiyus darkeinu, uvmischareinu when we do work, v'avodaseinu, business and work. V'loy nistavinu klal labnot batei knesses uvbatei midrashos, says Rav Moshe. Notice, it's interesting, the Torah never told us to make a beis knesses. How come there's no tzivui to make a shul? It doesn't say anywhere in the Torah. Obviously, make this go in the Beis HaMikdash. How come it doesn't say that we should make batei knessios and batei midrashos? It should say it, should make it. But it doesn't say clear tzivui. V'loy nistavinu klal al batei knesses b'tzivui mamash, v'af al Beis HaMikdash, in k'stavinu hu rak achar kol davar. And even the Beis HaMikdash, when did we have it? After we finished mishpatim and Yisro.

At the end, Hashem says, Okay, let's go make a Beis HaMikdash. The Shabbos is more important than Beis HaMikdash. Niflah. Shabsoi sai tishmoru. Shabbos, more important. U'v'loi Beis HaMikdash anu chayim zeh karov l'teisha esrei meah shanah. For 900 years, we're already living without a Beis HaMikdash. V'nechshavim Yehudim k'sheirim, and we're very good kosher Jews. Something wrong with the Yidden? Beautiful, right? Rak shechaser lanu ma'alas Beis HaMikdash. The only thing is, we don't have a Beis HaMikdash, which is this attribute, this maalah. Hashra'as haShechinah shanu mista'arem al zeh me'od. We feel very bad, true, but we can live without a Beis HaMikdash. Klal Yisrael has done it for 900 years—19, excuse me, 1900 years. We're doing it, it's all fine. Aval Beis HaMikdash b'loi Torah, u'batei knessios b'loi Torah, einoi klum. That's nothing. Vakra meganeh zeh b'omar, Vayiven heichalos. That's why the pasuk says, Ah, they built big shuls, but they don't go in to learn. The pasuk in Hoshea. U'v'avoneiseinu harabim nechshalim. In our unfortunate situation, nechshalim, we transgress. V'nosnim bayin yofa, al binyanim yoser me'al limud. We pay more attention to the nice building—you know, a shul that's matzliach, it's a shul that has a nice exterior. V'hu limud shelamdu mehagoyim, and this unfortunately comes from where? It comes from the goyim. Adonim shelanu, because we're captive in their land. You know what a shul is? Four walls and a chair and a בארון קודש. Not to have a fancy shul. It doesn't say the shul has to be beautiful. The shul has to be beautiful internally, not externally, okay? The Beis HaMikdash, פנימי, not the Beis HaMikdash חיצוני. And therefore, what happens? In case we don't have a Beis HaMikdash, so be it. Not the end of the world. I know Rav Pam used to say over the same yesod, based on the ... It's okay, we could survive without a Beis HaMikdash. We could survive. So now I understand a little bit better why we don't make such a big aveilut over the etzem Beis HaMikdash. Very interesting, no? No? It's unbelievable. So then what is the aveilut? Yerushalayim, okay. Why Yerushalayim? What is the aveilut of Yerushalayim? If it's not the Beis HaMikdash, it's Yerushalayim, so it's the people. That might be interesting because it's history. You know, Jews lost many, many people throughout the wars. You think the fact that Yerushalayim, many people were killed, that's what? Not so pashut. I'll explain to you how I know that. Eichah yashva vadad ha'ir rabati am. People, many people, right? Yashva vadad, it sits alone. What is the word rabati am? Like it sounds like what you're saying, that what? That it has many, many people, and now it's alone. The Gemara is doresh a little different. The Gemara darshens: Ha'ir rabasi am, rabas hadeios. Bring it in, maybe it doesn't even bring it in. Darshu Chazal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Doesn't bring it. Okay, rabasi am, rabas hadeios. No, it doesn't bring it. It's a medrash. The medrash says, rabasi am. What is rabasi am? Rabasi am is rabas hadeios. What does that mean? Has many, many, many minds. Rabas hadeios. What is that? That's what? Brilliant minds. A lot of chachma maybe. Let's discuss Yerushalayim in the sense of chachma. It's an interesting Gemara in Hadran: Kol mi sheyesh lo daas, ilu...

Livnei Beis HaMikdash... Sounds interesting? It's a Gemara in Sanhedrin, daf samech beis. Go ahead. We have to look up the Gemara, and don't close it after you finish. Daf samech beis. Samech beis. I don't remember. Aleph beis. Look it up. I think it's aleph. Kol mi. You understand what we're asking? What's so special about Yerushalayim? Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim. What's so good about it? Something was from... Oh, very טוב. You can come and say Yerushalayim. You know what's good about Yerushalayim? What's good about Yerushalayim is that it has a very nice song: Yerushalayim shel zahav. Is that what's so good about it? Or is Yerushalayim so good because the Gemara brings down that they used to make Yerushalayim shel... Huh? They used to make a necklace, a ketubah. The Gemara brings it down, if you're allowed to go out with Yerushalayim, the women are allowed to go out with it. I think it was some land that was very, very important for Hashem. Makes a lot of sense what you're saying. Makes a lot of sense. I'm going to teach you now a different point of what's so special about Yerushalayim. Ha'ir rabati am. What is rabati am? Rabat de'ot. Knowledge. Rabat de'ot. Mind, intellect, chochmah, opinion. Makom hachochmah. Yeah, makom hachochmah. Do you know that the Gemara speaks many times, Midrashim speak a lot... Of chochmas Yaldei Yerushalayim. A brilliant day. You chachamim, pikchim, geniuses, geniuses, geniuses. You found the Gemara? Read it. Very nice. If you're a smart guy, it's ki'ilu the Beis HaMikdash was created in your time. I ask you, what is the Gemara talking about? Oh, now I start to see a connection, huh? A person looks at Yerushalayim and he sees that what's so special about Yerushalayim? It has daas. Rabbas hadea, this wisdom in Yerushalayim. Oh, so whoever has— so whoever has daas, whoever has brain, so ki'ilu beis hamikdash, ki'ilu nivneh, as if it was created and reconstruction in his time. What does that mean? What's the inyan of daas? How is the chisaron of Yerushalayim meaning a chisaron of daas? And whoever does have daas, that's the tikkun, the fixing, ki'ilu nivneh b'yamecha. You like it, right? It's interesting, huh? Interesting, interesting Gemara. What is daas? If you have daas, it's ki'ilu the Beis HaMikdash was nivneh b'yamecha. Let me tell you what I think the pshat is, rabosai. There's an interesting pasuk in Eicha: Bamchashakim hoshivani Hashem k'meisei olam. Hashem, You put me in darkness, choshech, k'meisei olam, like the dead people of the world. This is perek gimmel, pasuk vav. Now let me ask you a question. You know meisim from a different world? I just want to know, maybe there's such a thing as a planet. Maybe it has to do with the Mars, the meisim of Zigor. What's it called? What's the planets over there? Venus? Venus, not Venus. Pluto? No, I'm saying from the comics over here. Venus... okay. All right, planet of the apes. It's meisim of the planet of the apes, is that what you're referring to? What does it mean, meisei olam? What, where? Where do you want meisim from? Meisim from a different world? What world do you want it from? I was thinking, I was thinking, I found from Lekach Tov. There's a medrash called Lekach Tov. It says there's two types of meisim. There's a meis that's not here, and there's a meis that is here. He's part of the world still. Suma, when someone is blind, he's called a meis. He's meisei olam, meis of the world.

Ani yechashhev k'meis, right? A suma is also chashuv k'meis. Therefore, meisei olam, the dead of this world, not the dead of... So that means dark, from chshachim v'oshivan. So you know what I thought to myself? It's a metaphor for something very deep. What is galus? What is galus? And the answer is, galus is dark. What is dark? Is it dark in the sense that it's scary? Is it dark in the sense that it's depressing? Or is it dark in the sense, sheyefshar lirot, you can't see. No way. Blinding. You know, night has many, many things that it brings aveilus. One thing it could bring is that it's depressing. One thing is that it's scary, frightening. Also, you can't see. Night is dark. You can't see. Bamachshakim hoshivani Hashem. You put me in darkness, choshech. That darkness is bilbul, confusion. I don't see. You don't see what's right in front of you. A person sees like there's cataracts. Doesn't see. You can't see. That's meisei olam, the blindness of the world. It doesn't have to be literally blind. It doesn't even have to mean meisei olam that he's a suma. It's a metaphor for suma, blind. The whole world is blind. Ki ivrim haholchim bachoshech. An expression, like an iver ha-holech ba-choshech, ha-memashmesh, that he's looking around in the dark. The whole world is that. Even those that see are like that. The Ribono Shel Olam, after the galut, after the churban, this is what we had: Bamchashakim hoshivani Hashem. Bochoi sivkeh ba-layla. Bochoi sivkeh ba-layla. Cry, you should cry at night. Why at night? What's wrong if you cry by day? Why does it have to be bochoi sivkeh ba-layla? Well, Tisha B'Av is only at night. Tisha B'Av is by day too. And the answer, many mefarshim, different things, but the way we're learning is very clear. It's about layla. Choshech. Layla is what galut is all about. Darkness. Let me read you over a Rambam. The Rambam, I printed it out for you so you can take it. The Rambam, his sefer, Toires HaOlam, brings a story about Plato. You ever hear of Plato? Not the stuff that the kids play with. The chacham, the genius, the professor, Plato. Professor Plato. Shapaltin ha-philosoph ha-gadol ba-lirushalayim. Plato came to Jerusalem im Nevuchadnetzar. Plato was a big professor, big philosopher. So ba lirushalayim. Plato came to Yerushalayim with the Vuchanetza. And after the churban, he went to the Har Habayis. Listen, they wanted to marvel over their conquest. V'ra'ah Yirmiyah Navi, meirim koel, hi v'kinah lachurban. And they found Yirmiyah standing by the Beis Hamikdash, crying bitterly, bitterly, bitterly. Vayishaleihu, afaltei shtei she'eilos. Afaltein asks him two questions. Plato asks two questions. Atah, you Yirmiyah hachacham b'Yisrael, you're the wisest among Klal Yisrael. Madua atah bocheh al eitzim va'avanim? How could you cry over stones, a building? It's a building. At the end of the day, it's a building. How could you cry over a building? Beis, harei habayis kvar necherav. It already was destroyed. V'ein ra'ui l'chacham livkos al av. You can't cry about spilled milk. I once went to a doctor, ear, nose, and throat. Matter of fact, I sent some of you guys there, Dr. Shohet. Shohet, okay? So Dr. Shohet likes to give speeches. That's what he likes to do. He doesn't let you talk; you have to listen. That's our doctor. Kitzur, all his speeches revolve around...

Behavior modification. Right? Behavior modification. So what is shtikel Torah? Shtikel Torah is that a person should never feel bad about anything. That's his Torah. What is it? What's his Torah? Nothing. He says he has a shita; it makes sense, because that's how he is. Nothing. Nothing in the world should ever concern you. Why? Because the moment that the situation is over, so any emotion that you have about that situation is a wasted emotion. And therefore, if you could do something positive in the future, then you should think about it instead of feel about it. And if you just feeling bad about something in the past because there's nothing to think about, because it's only feeling now, there's nothing you can do about it, then it's a feeling, so it's a wasted emotion. Its purpose—I remember we explained it—its purpose has passed. All right, to make a long story short, this is what Plato—but this is what Plato was teaching him. Harei habaiis panecha, v'ein roi l'chacham livkos al ha'avar. All right. Heishivo Yirmiyah. So Yirmiyah answered him, You're a tremendous philosopher. You know what? I'm sure you have many questions on philosophy that you don't know answers for. Plato says, For sure, for sure, of course I have questions. I have unbelievable questions. I have questions nobody in the world can answer me. Yirmiyah says, You know something? Give me a few of your good ones. Take your best shot at me. Go ahead, let me hear what you have. Give me a few good sfeikos, a few good—what do they call that?—dichotomies, not dichotomy, what do they call it? When it's a stira minei ubei, what do they call it? Huh? Paradoxes. Give me some of your paradoxes, okay, and I'll answer them. So Plato tells him a few of his—by the way, it's not a storybook, it's Rambam. Let me tell you, the Rambam was a posek in Shulchan Aruch. So if he told you the story, you know it's halacha. It's not some hocking a chaynik, you know. It's not Excuse the Expression, not art scroll books. It's a real story. It's a maaseh. And Yirmiyah poshet lo es kulam k'lachar yad. And Yirmiyah answered each one, Man, this is your question? Gave him the answer right away. Plato was nidham me'od v'tamah. He couldn't believe it. He was shocked. Wow, this is stuff I thought about for years. I didn't have an answer. How could it be a yelud ishah, that a person who is born to a mother, a human being, should have such wisdom? Yirmiyah says, Ah, now you understand. All my wisdom comes from these stones. All my wisdom comes from these stones. Interesting that that's what's so special about the Beis Hamikdash? Sounds familiar, no? The wisdom, the wisdom that came from the Beis Hamikdash is what Yirmiyah's bimah. Huh? What? I'm going to explain. It's got to give me a few minutes still. But I'm showing you a tremendous yesod, that there was something about daas and chochmah that Yirmiyah felt he lost with the churban habayis and ha'ir rabati am, rabas ha-de'ot. It was the city of knowledge, and this is what we're missing. And therefore, kol mi sheyesh lo daas, k'ilu nivneh Beis Hamikdash b'yamav. What about your second question, that how could you cry for the past? Who cries over spilled milk, as they say in English? Heich na'aleh chacham livkos al avar lo yuchal hashivcha. That I can't answer you, ki eincha mesugal l'havin zeh. Because this you are not capable of understanding. He's telling the genius, the biggest genius in the world, he said, This I can't. This is not for you to understand. So Simchas Yisroel from Kelm explains — Reb Eliyahu Lopian brings it down, famous, famous vort — what was the answer? And the answer was that we're not crying on the avar. We're crying on the asid.

Crying that the Beis Hamikdash should be rebuilt. Ella she'ezos ein goy yachol l'masugel l'havin. Yeah? You listening? The answer to the second question was, we're not crying on the avar; we're crying for the asid. We're crying for the future. I don't understand that. You see, I have a very hard time understanding what the goy doesn't understand. What, prayer? If it's such an important thing, this home, this Beis Hamikdash, and you understood how important, that's why you came to destroy it. So you can't understand why we're sitting and crying and begging Hashem that it should be rebuilt. What does Rav Simcha Zissel say? What is he saying? I don't understand the answer. He's saying that you can't understand. Doktor Simcha Zissel from Kelm, you know what that means? Because he's not crying for the past; he's crying for the future. Why can't you understand? What's so hard to understand that? So hard to understand. I'm going to explain this. I'm going to explain this. The difference between Eretz Yisrael and Bavel. Bavel, galus. What's the difference? You have the paper that I gave you. Where's the paper one? You took it away from me? Yeah, this one? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah, this is what I was looking for. Okay. The Gemara tells us in Bava Basra, daf kuf nun ches amud beis. We have to take out the Gemara. Avira d'Eretz Yisrael machkim. Avira d'Eretz Yisrael machkim. The air of Israel makes smart. You know, it's interesting. They bottle air from Israel. They put it in a can and they sell it to you. Daf kuf nun ches amud beis. You ever saw it? Air from Israel. You never saw it? You saw it. You ever saw it? How can no one here ever saw it? It's a shtick that they play with the tourists, right? That you could take the air of Eretz Yisrael and bring it to America. Now, do you think that that avira d'Eretz Yisrael will be machkim? Let's say a guy has that air and he takes it in. Will that be machkim? Will that make him smart? Do we mean avir, avir literally, the avir? And would it work in a different country? Avira d'Eretz Yisrael machkim. You have the Gemara, Avira d'Eretz Yisrael machkim? Read it. The Gemara, he brings quotes somebody, no? No, it doesn't. Okay. Atkidei kach, there's a Gemara in Beitzah, daf daled amud aleph, that we pasken like Reb Yochanan. You know why we always pasken like Reb Yochanan is? Since Reb Yochanan came from Eretz Yisrael, Reb Yochanan was very, very smart. ... The Gemara in Beitzah, daf daled. Raffi, you want to read that Gemara? Huh? No, I don't. Okay. So, ... we pasken like him. Well, you have to learn also, but that's the starting issue. So what are we doing here? That's a good question. We're doing ... amud aleph, halacha to Reb Yochanan, because he came from Eretz Yisrael and ... Go ahead, read. Nu? Okay, while he looks in the Gemara, let me tell you over the Gemara. It's another Gemara. The Gemara in Bava Basra, daf chaf hei.

Rabbi Eliezer. Don't lose these. Halacha k'Reb Yochanan. Oh, halacha k'Reb Yochanan. Lo kashya ... the machar l'Yom ... It doesn't say why. Halacha k'Reb Yochanan or Rashi says? Yeah. I don't see. No Rashi. No, it says clearly, halacha k'Reb Yochanan. ... Didn't get to the bottom. ... Rav, Reb Yochanan, halacha k'Reb Yochanan. Rav, Reb Yochanan, halacha k'Reb Yochanan. Here it is. ... Rav v'Reb Yochanan, halacha k'Reb Yochanan. Ah yes, the kasha ... Reb Yochanan. The Gemara says it clearly, the halacha is k'Reb Yochanan. Because he came from Eretz Yisrael. Okay, I have to look it up again. I remember clearly, either the Rashi or the Gemara said clearly, halacha k'Reb Yochanan, because he was in Eretz Yisrael. Okay, I don't remember, but I thought it was here. Okay. Amalecha... Oh, I don't remember. Okay, I have to look it up again. I'm almost positive it's a klara Rishon... Rishonim say klara. Okay, so anyways, the Gemara Bava Basra says that where did they put up the melamdei tinokos? Where did they put up the chadarim? No, where did they put it up? They put it up next to the Beis HaMikdash, diksiv, 'Ki miTzion teitzei Torah, u'dvar Hashem miYerushalayim.' The Tosafos says, on the beis, on the beis, 'shemoshivin melamdei tinokos.' Says Tosafos, what's the reason? The reason is because that yiras Shamayim, yeah? No. The Tosafos, the Tosafos al yiras Shamayim. No. Teitzei, teitzei, teitzei Torah... Here it is. Nim taima. Borski. Tadira. I spoke it out yesterday. Oh, bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo bo. ... Ki miTzion teitzei Torah, u'dvar Hashem miYerushalayim. Here it is, Chof-Alef. It says like this: Hiskinu sheyihyu ... shekiskinu sheyihyu yoshvim b'Lamdi Tinokos b'Yerushalayim. They set up yeshivas in Yerushalayim. Mai druish? MiTzion teitzei Torah. MiTzion comes Torah. Therefore, Torah, best thing, Yerushalayim. Avirah d'Eretz Yisrael.

What about Bavel? How about Bavel? Is avirah d'Bavel. What happens to avirah d'Bavel? You have Sanhedrin kuf tes amud aleph. Says the Gemara, Sanhedrin, migdal, migdal, mashkach, a person. Go ahead, do you have it? Kuf tes amud aleph. Migdal, migdal. Then the Gemara says, Bavel, Bursif. Here. Amar Rav, avir migdal mishkach. You have it. It's right before the two dots. Amar Rav, read, Rafi. Amar Rav, let the person next to you read. Amar Rav. It's right before the two dots. ... Amar Rav, avir migdal. Avir, yeah, avir migdal. The air of the migdal, of the... you know what the migdal? Bavel, the Tower of Babylon. Avir migdal mishakech, makes you forget. Of course, means forget your learning. Amar Rabbi Yosef, says Rabbi Yosef, Bavel, Bavel u'Bursif siman l'Torah. Mai? Bursif is where they make the tannery, okay? So this is siman ra. Bavel and Bursif. Change something in Torah. Change something in Torah. Bursif, strike it out. ... Mishkach adam ka mashalom. Bavel u'Bursif, maybe that's the name of a place. Okay, Bursif. סימן רל טהרה, ... Mishkach adam ka mashalom. Okay, after something else. ... Okay. So let me ask you, what's the reason for this? Why is Bavel, Migdal, why does it make a person forget his Torah? So there's a very interesting Rashi. Why? Why does it make you forget? Why is this mishkach? No? ... Migdal. Yeah, what happened? No? Mi she'omeir, Bavel u'Migdal, ... shekein nigzal oso makom, sheyishkach, ... shochaches leshonam. That there was a gezeirah. There was a gezeirah for shikchah, a special place of shikchah, says Rashi. Interesting. The Aruch says a different reason. The Aruch says the reason why mishkach makes you forget the Migdal, because since they were morid against Hashem, since they went and they, they, they, they mored against Hashem, therefore the place makes you forget Torah. And the Maharsha brings it down. The Maharsha brings it down. The Maharsha says that it comes out a big chiddush. If, let's say, you're not mamish in the migdal, you're just in the tail of the migdal, maybe you should make a nafka mina. The surrounding areas of the migdal. How about Bavel? It doesn't say how much of Bavel. You know, Bavel was a very big place. So if you look at the Be'er Sheva, the Be'er Sheva wants to say also, in Bavel it's the places around the migdal. The places in Bavel which surround the migdal will have this halacha. It's an interesting topic, no? Tell me, wasn't the Ben Ish Chai from Baghdad? Isn't Baghdad Bavel? You're laughing. Do you know that there's many mefarshim want to say that in Bavel they were hitzta'ein in pirpul and not in bekius, because of this reason. What? ... So what do we do? What do we do? ... Big problem. Big problem. The Gemara. What's tut men?

I flew a fella. Tell me, which yeshiva does the Maggid shiur know this to talk about it? This is stuff you're not going to give me. I know, because it's years of things flying through my mind. Years of staying up, learning. It comes back to me once again. It comes back to me. Okay. Why is it that Bavel, no good, Eretz Yisroel, yeah good? And you would come and say, because that soil is good, and Bavel is no good. Reb Tzadok HaKohen says a whole different pshat. Reb Tzadok HaKohen says, well, you know why? Because shemen zayis is only in Eretz Yisroel. Shemen zayis is good for memory, while in Bavel they didn't have zayis. They didn't have—what are you laughing at? Kein kasuv, HaGaon meireinu HaKohen miLublin, Reb Tzadok, otzar melech. U'vzeh amarnu taam yashar l'mah sheneidim d'Rabbeinu HaKadosh b'kayin kohanim sheb'Eretz Yisroel hayu beki'im b'yoser b'chol haShas. Says Reb Tzadok, Eretz Yisroel were bigger beki'im in Shas here, aval lo kol kach mefulpalim, but they weren't so big in pilpul. V'hipuchan, bnei Bavel hayu charifim mefulpalim, v'lo kol kach beki'im. You like? It's interesting. How come you're not looking inside? I made you a copy of it. Which one is better, though? Stop with that, please. Please don't bother me. V'yira ila l'zu. The reason for this. You want to hear the reason? So you would say, better or worse, I have a reason, says Reb Tzadok. The Gemara in ... says, A ragel b'shemen zayis, meishiv limudo shelo layin shanah. And the Gemara in Menachos says, Eretz Yisrael ... b'shemen zayis, chachmah metzuyah בהם. And the Gemara in Shabbos ... says, Linyan hadlakas neiros, d'lav davka b'shemen zayis, mishum d'mashyasru bnei Bavel. What is the bnei Bavel? They don't have shemen zayis. Uv'Pesachim ... אמר: ... tam sheruglu לבבל כדי שיאכלו תמרים ויתעסקו בתורה. They had a lot of dates. Lefi she'Bavel yesh bah tamarim. Im kein, eifah lo al chinam ... בבל, פלפל, ובישראל זכרן. Now we understand why in Eretz Yisrael they have bekius, and why in Bavel they have pilpul. Ki b'Yisrael yesh shemen zayis, therefore ... memory. Uv'Bavel tamarim mesukim ... לחכמה. Sweet, you know, carbs. Carbs is very good for memory, good for pilpul. When you want to say a good lomdish thing, you need a good piece of cake, a good carb. Like a tired, but that's whatever, and you don't remember. You should know it's 100% true, by the way. The science of this ... is 100% true. What do you remember? The sweet, what makes it is it makes your mind, it gives you a boost, but then you don't remember so much what you learned. 100%. No, I can tell you this as a metzius. No, no, you don't remember. It's a quick jolt, but it doesn't last long. It doesn't work that way. I'm telling you, it doesn't. Shemen zayis does something to the brain, I don't know. You want to know more science behind it, I'll tell you what the more science behind it is, but I know b'di'abrura what the science behind it is, but then again, it might change. Carbs make cholesterol. Shemen zayis is the ultimate to bring down cholesterol, shemen zayis. Shemen zayis has trans— not the other fat, the, um, monosaturated fat. It has the healthy fat. No. Polyunsaturated fat. Polyunsaturated fat, okay? You want to bring down your cholesterol. You want to bring down your cholesterol, yeah? Eat shemen zayis. You want to bring up your cholesterol, eat sweet, eat sugar, eat carbs. It's, it's, it's 100%. And how do I know this? Because you study the Atkins diet, which works, 100% works. Meaning that the science behind the Atkins diet works, because I know I did my blood test. Every time I did this, my cholesterol went down 100 points, 80 points. You can drink oil, you can drink oil, you can drink whatever you want. Just don't stay away from carbs. And the minute you eat a little bit carbs, potatoes bring up the carb, it brings up the cholesterol, and they're not normal. Fruits bring up the carbs. It brings up the cholesterol, brings up cholesterol. The pelvic thing, you cut your carbs, you breathe up, because you're cutting the carbs. The minute you cut the carbs, now memory, memory has cholesterol. And you know what the problem is? They know that the—

Time is now. They're working with that now. But the mind, the memory has a lot to do with the clogging of the arteries. It's upholding the way the science is so real. Kitzur says, Bavel, they ate a lot of carbs. In Eretz Yisrael, they did Atkins. Therefore, they remembered a lot in Eretz Yisrael, and they remembered very little in Bavel. Okay, now. ... Very interesting stuff. Okay, now. Okay, let's go weiter. Now, this, rabosai, is very, very interesting. Okay, this is very interesting. I would say a little bit different. I would say a little different, okay? I would say a little, little different. Why is Havira d'Eretz Yisrael machkim, while Havira d'Bavel mishkach? And I want to be mechadesh that it's not only Bavel around the Mikdash, that the second man d'amar is Bavel anywhere in Bavel. And the Ra'ya is because Reb Tzadok says it that way. I don't believe they wrote the Shas only around the Mikdash, in Bavel. I don't believe that Pumpedisa was next to the Mikdash, all right? So what's the pshat? Pshat is like this. Pshat is like this. Gemara in Kesubos, daf kuf yud aleph says... Kol mi shedar b'Eretz Yisrael k'mi sheyesh lo Eloka. It's as if he has a God. Kol mi shelo dar b'Eretz Yisrael, b'chutz la'aretz, k'mi she'ein lo Eloka. It's as if he has no God. Kuf yud alef in two books. Okay. Listen carefully. Listen carefully. Listen carefully. What are we missing today? What does the churban mean to us? Guess what? Like Rav Moshe writes, we're doing pretty good. We have yeshivos. We have learning, and we have, hey, up in the mountains, the whole Katzk is one big matzav of learning and yeshivas and camps, and it's all set up with the hatzalah, and what happened? What happened? What's so bad? Ma ra? Can you imagine galus? This is galus? What's the galus about? What is the galus? And the answer, Rav Nassan, ... used to say over all the time. You want to know what galus is? Hayah ragil omer, Chazal madhirim lanu es kol hachurban b'shishah milim. Rav Nassan used to say that the Chazal taught us what the galus is in six words. The Gemara in Brachos says that when the time that we say Amen yehei shmei rabba, what does HaKadosh Baruch Hu say? Oy loi lebanim, oy lebanim shegalu. על שולחן אביו, על שולחן אביו. אומר המשגיח, אדם יכול להיות יהודי טוב. This could be a good Jew. אף על פי יהודי יפה מאוד, שומר תורה ומצוות, זה לא מספיק. Obviously it's not enough, because you see that we're missing something. Something's wrong. We're in galus. צריך לדעת שיש אוויר שבשמיים, צריך שיהיה חיות לו. The ovir shebaShamayim is the shulchan aviv, to connect with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, to be mekushar, mekushar with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. וזה לא שייך בלי כוח החיות. רק עם כוח החיות מרגישים שאנו לפני מלך מלכי המלכים. Later on he also brings that someone who was close to the mashgiach said over that on Tisha B'Av, after the kinos, Rav Nosson used to go back and forth and scream out, Oy loi lebanim shegalu me'al shulchan avihem. Oy loi lebanim. That's what he would say over, this Chazal, many, many times. We don't realize that we're living in choshech, certain darkness. There's certain darkness. What do I mean by darkness? I don't mean pain necessarily.

I don't mean pain. I mean something else. I mean blind. Ki iver mimashmesh, mimashmesh. Could you imagine, imagine that someone has a house, and the father prepares food, shulchan ha'av, yeah? And yet the child doesn't see that the food is there, and he calls up people, relatives, you know, I'm starving, please get me food. Please get me food. He puts all his mamatzim to get, to be masig, and the truth is there's something called av and shulchan ha'av. I'm going to explain to you what I mean, you ready? I'm going to explain to you what I mean. Galta Yehuda me'oni ume'rov avodah. What does that mean? You know what that means? Galta Yehuda, we say in Eicha, Galta Yehuda me'oni ume'rov avodah. What is me'oni ume'rov avodah? Poor and too much work, overworked. So we went into galus. Is it better over here? It's not better over here. What does it say? Galta Yehuda me'oni ume'rov avodah, lo matza manoach. What's the next words? Uvagoyim... not uvagoyim. Galta Yehuda me'oni ume'rov avodah, lo matza manoach. What's the next words? Who has the Eicha? Here. Galta Yehuda me'oni, hi yashva bagoyim. Hi yashva bagoyim. Loi matzav manoiach, yeah? It's not better. How many people live in Eretz Yisrael, they're poor, they're overworked, come to America, you're still poor, you're still overworked. It doesn't change. Matter of fact, it might even be poorer and even more overworked. This is the type of galus we live in, that we lack the Shulchan HaA, we lack the guidance. It's all the ur pal, choshech darka. This is mamchshakim hoshivani Hashem, bilbul, bilbul. A person doesn't know, and I'm going to show you in what this comes to a, what, how should I say it, how does it be koach el hapoel. Rabbeinu in his sefer says something very interesting. Rabbeinu kaf. Rabbeinu in his sefer says like this: You know what churban is? Yisrachkut מצד הבורא והסתרת פני. Hashem goes away from us, and He's mastir es panim. Gam l'tovaseinu l'fi hamatzav, it might be for our good, but Hashem has gone away from us, that He's mastir es panim. Mikra Purish b'kra, rega echad, eeleh, b'kirbecha v'kilisicha, ki. Okay, sorry, that's not the one I want. Oh. והנה המשכן והמקדש באו לסכן השראת השכינה בישראל. You know what Mikdash is there for? To bring hashra'as haShechinah. V'hoyu בהם השראה גדולה וקדושה נוראה, ואפשרות להתעלות. The Beis HaMikdash brought great opportunities for kedushah, growth. U'kemo shehoysah nevuah b'Yisrael u'rvutim. You notice that we don't have anything that guides us today. We don't have a navi. We don't have the Urim v'Tumim, yeah. U'kishloi amdu madreigah la'asos la'kedushah, efshar nigram hachurban. Says the Gemara in Sanhedrin that they told Nevuchadnetzar, You think you destroyed the Beis HaMikdash? You didn't destroy the Beis HaMikdash. Kimcha tachina tachinit. You ground up already ground, because the Klal Yisrael destroyed the Beis HaMikdash. Hainu shenistraikah hakedushah. I says Reb Aharon, a gemara kashya. I we pasken, kedushas haMikdash kidshah l'shaatah v'lavah, that the kedushas haMikdash is forever, v'hanichnas l'sham b'tumah chayav kares gam b'zman hazeh. Aval hahashra'ah b'gilui. The open hashra'as haShechinah. Hainu hate'eles v'his'orerus shemekablim mizeh.

We could grow from that. We could have from it, luzeh la'inu ruyim v'nesal kashrozeh. The Shechinah's there, but we don't see it. Gilui haShechinah's not there. There's a hester of the Shechinah, you hear? Zehu b'etzem hachurban b'pnimiyus. Sounds familiar? That's the churban b'pnimiyus. We don't feel Hashem. We don't see it. V'chol hanasa b'galus ad kufeiseinu, harei hakol ki toitzaah mehachurban. Everything that happened... another paper, no? There's supposed to be a fourth page in my papers, no? Did you put it? No, my own papers, my own. Okay, yeah. V'chol hanasa b'galus ad kufeiseinu, harei hakol ki toitzaah mehachurban. V'nimtza, he says a tremendous chiddush now, comes out, shelo rak b'cheteinu nigram churban HaMikdash. It's not that with our sins the Mikdash was destroyed, k''onish al hachet, as if a punishment for the sin. Ach etzem hachet hi gufa churban. The churban is the chet itself. Not that we do aveiros and this causes the churban HaMikdash. The churban is the chet. The churban is the richuk from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. ... Nevuchadnetzar hichriv etzel havanim. What, Nevuchadnetzar destroyed a building. האבל עצם החורבן הוא החטא. החטא, כאמור בספרי, לסוף כי להשם, שלא יגמר העבודה. זה דומה, by sinning, you know what you're doing? לנוטל אבן מן המזבח, says if you're breaking a stone from the mizbeach, ולמעיך את השם. והרי מפורש בגמרא, עשיה הוא דעבד, הגרמא שרי. Ah, you'll ask that there's only על ידי גרמא; I'm not—I'm not breaking the Beis HaMikdash. אך באמת זו אינה. It's not true. That's called breaking the Beis HaMikdash. It's not a גרמא. Love this. It's not a גרמא that I'm destroying the אבני בית המקדש, but rather what? By doing חטא, what happens? That's how you destroy the Beis HaMikdash. ריחוק. He says, he brings the pasuk, לא תספו... He brings the Sifri. He brings the Sifri, Rabbosai. It's beautiful, beautiful piece, no? It's gevaldik. Beautiful. Now I understand very nice. Now I understand, now I understand. כל מי שיש לו דעת—that's called binah. The ריחוק, the ריחוק, the fact that I'm far, the fact that I'm—how do I say it?—patum, I'm blinded, that itself is... that's galus. כן? כל מי שיש לו דעת, כאילו נבנה. The Yama. I'll tell you further. Kol ha-misabel, whoever's being misabel, meaning he knows that it's missing, the meila ki royev v'nechmasa now. It's now. It's not about the bricks. It's not about the building. Building might be later. The building might be later. I was thinking of an interesting thing. You know, there's a machlokes: is the Mikdash shlishi will come down straight from heaven, or we'll have to build it? Some say it'll come straight down. What? We learned it in the Shem Mishmuel. In the Shem Mishmuel, we learned. It's machlokes, right? Rashi, sukkah. Ah, what do you do if you hold it there's a mitzvah to build the Mishkan based on Mikdash? Why would it be that it came down by itself? You have to build. There's a chiyuv. There's a mitzvah to build. That's how you build it. That's how you build it. Zoiche v'royeh v'nechmasa. It's now. You're building it now.

Now, the bricks. Breaking it is the chet. Building it is the Torah and the avodah, longing for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. That's how you build. What? That's from the first two words. Could be, could be. Here, here. First two, the pshat was that there was a chisaron to be me'orer the pnimi. Throughout the galus now, it's time for us to build the first through the pnimi, through the galus. Ribono Shel Olam wants us to build the pnimi. This, I think, is the pshat in galus. Evel is not on the binyan. Now I want to go back to the Ramban. Why am I crying? And the answer is the dust. Crying on the avar? No, I'm crying on the asid. Well, he doesn't understand that person could cry on the asid. This is the point. The point is not crying to Hashem on the asid. He may need to say, I'm davening, I'm davening and praying to Hashem on the asid. Kol hamisabel Yerushalayim is now, ... building the Beis HaMikdash now. That's what he meant on the avar. Of course he's not crying about the avar. He's fixing the Beis HaMikdash for the asid. He's fixing the Beis HaMikdash. That he can't understand. That he can't understand. You want a guy to sit and understand that a person with his kirvas HaKadosh Baruch Hu is building a physical with bricks? Nice to hear. What? You know, not that. That's the zoiche v'ro'eh b'nechamasa now, that through the person's being misabel, the menchalein is building, עצמו building the Beis HaMikdash. This the Ramah said that Plato, the goy, couldn't understand. That means what? Darkness never covered his eyes? No, it's not pshat he's being davening to the Ribono Shel Olam on the aveid. So what does the Alter Rebbe say? Couldn't understand that? Already he's rebuilding it. That he's building it through the... How is he able to build it? He has the hakarah. He was never blind. The hakarah, the zoiche, to being misabel al Yerushalayim belongs for the Beis HaMikdash. That's how leining is the building. Zoiche v'ro'eh b'nechamasa now. He's building it right now, he's building. Mimeila, this is the goy, he couldn't understand, zugt Yirmiyah, the Ramaz's words. Mimeila, that's the pshat. Be'emes, what are we being misabel? Eichah yashvah badad ha'ir, rabasi am, ... chachmasa, Torah that's lacking, mashakim, ... Hashem kemeis olam, the choshech that came from the Beis HaMikdash, the churban that came. Mimeila, this is the Ramah. Oh, so this is the avodah. What's the avodah? The avodah is to understand that the reason why we're blind, and the reason why ki ein Elokai bkirbi, ... all the bad things that happen, because Hashem is not with me. And the moment a person lives, Hashem is with me. I'm a ben al shulchan Aviv. That itself is the beginning of the yeshuah. That's the geulah. So what? Yeah, because I'm saying, it's not the... It's not the walls of these other beis hamikdash. That's not the Eitan HaBani. It was a massive light in Yerushalayim. It was this kimitzion teitzei Torah, at least Tzion, Tzion, kimitzion teitzei Torah, at least Tzion v'Yerushalayim. It's about—not Yerushalayim, at least Tzion. Kimitzion teitzei Torah, the chochmas haTorah, the gadlus haTorah. I gradually saw that someone to say that Eretz Yisrael machkim is more in Yerushalayim than anywhere else. Maybe it's more in Yerushalayim than anywhere else. Why not Beis Hamikdash? Why not Beis Hamikdash? It's a building. It's only coming to be a—. The siman that Yerushalayim should have hashra'as haShechinah. That's all. If you're able to have a kara without that, then why, when Mashiach comes, we need a Beis Hamikdash then? If the akara is there, why do we need it? Okay, we all need it. We'll have it. Why? We'll have it. It's a siman that we're having. But you don't need the actual building there.

Justice, that means that you have to buy a car, sign. Can leave all the tomorrow, so leave everything.