The yearning for the building of the Beis HaMikdash is something that R’ Chaim Richman feels not only in the Tammuz-Av months but all year around. * An interesting conversation with someone who works in the international section of the Machon HaMikdash about the enormous void we feel without a Mikdash.
R’ Chaim Richman sounded surprised that I was calling him during the Nine Days to hear about his work in conveying the importance of the Beis HaMikdash.
Then it was my turn to be surprised. “There is no better time to discuss this!”
He said, “The month of Adar is also a great time to talk about the Beis HaMikdash,” he replied. “And Shevat too, and Elul…”
“Okay, you’re right,” I had to say, having learned a lesson at the very beginning of our talk about the importance of “living” with the Beis HaMikdash and the Geula. R’ Richman added, “It’s not only in Av that we pray, ‘and to Yerushalayim Your city return with mercy.’”
I was silent.
THE BEIS HAMIKDASH IS THE MAGNET OF THE WORLD
R’ Chaim Richman is an interesting person. He speaks fluent Hebrew albeit with an American accent. He runs the international department of the Machon HaMikdash in Yerushalayim and has some other jobs, as I will tell you soon.
I don’t think I need to introduce the Machon HaMikdash to the readers of Beis Moshiach who have become acquainted with the Machon and those who run it in previous articles. This time, we spoke with R’ Richman, a descendant of the tzaddik, R’ Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev. He doesn’t need questions from an interviewer to get the reader excited to anticipate, really anticipate, the building of the Beis HaMikdash and to do everything so that it happens as soon as possible.
What is the international department of Machon HaMikdash?
The purpose of the department is to bring the message of the Mikdash to the whole world, to those who don’t speak Hebrew. Since I am an American, I was given the job. It’s a fact that the Beis HaMikdash has a strong international appeal because it truly is the place that “will be called a house of prayer to all the nations.” It is not just the headquarters for the Jewish people, but for all of humanity.
Let’s talk about the Jews in the Diaspora.
Unfortunately, there are many Jews in galus who are disconnected from the topic of the Mikdash and that includes religious Jews. Over the years, the myth developed that the Beis HaMikdash is something that will only be relevant in the distant future and is not something current and pertinent. We want to do everything possible, according to halacha, to prepare the Mikdash and the vessels.
My job at Machon HaMikdash is to inspire them to think differently, so they understand that there are 203 mitzvos of the Torah that have to do with the Mikdash. Until we have the Beis HaMikdash, a third of the mitzvos we were given by Hashem cannot be done. This shows that we are missing something essential in our Jewish lives. As far as I know, we never received a “cancellation notice” for any of the mitzvos. If Hashem commanded it, we need to do it. The fact that we can’t fulfill a third of the mitzvos is a sign of galus.
DO YOU WANT A BIGGER PAYCHECK?
R’ Richman has been working at Machon HaMikdash for nearly thirty years. During his time there, he has written and translated many books on the topic of the Mikdash. He is a sought-after speaker around the world among Jews and non-Jews on topics related to Jewish identity and the Mikdash. He also started the international department of Machon HaMikdash and has run it since its inception. He operates a popular internet site with a lot of material on the Mikdash. He is also involved in fundraising for Nezer Ha’kodesh, which is a school for Kohanim. R’ Richman also produces a weekly radio program. Tens of thousands of people from around the world watch and track what is going on at Machon HaMikdash and the steps being made for the third Beis HaMikdash. R’ Richman is busy year-round and especially this time of the year. And as I pointed out earlier, this bothers him.
“What is our attitude toward the Beis HaMikdash?” R’ Richman asks rhetorically. “This is an important question and one that needs to be addressed all year round. The Beis HaMikdash does not belong just to Tammuz and Av; it pertains to every day of the year. For some reason it has become popular to talk about the Beis HaMikdash during the Three Weeks while the rest of the year people are busy with other things.”
R’ Richman’s sincerity comes across. “At this time of the year, everyone wants to show that they are great mourners. We don’t listen to music or have weddings or swim. It’s as though they look at the clock or calendar and say, ‘Oh, it’s time to mourn.’
“In my lectures and classes I ask people if they like cake, chocolate cake, for example. They all usually say they do. Chocolate is very tasty and it’s enjoyable to eat, just don’t remind me about my diet. Right after eating the cake, we say the bracha acharona, ‘Have mercy on us Hashem, our G-d … on Tziyon the dwelling of Your glory and on Your altar and Your temple.’ Now explain to me, R’ Menachem, what connection is there between the chocolate cake that I ate and the altar in the Mikdash?”
The truth is I felt challenged. The question caught me off guard and it probably surprised you, the reader, as well. I realized I had better keep quiet and wait for R’ Richman’s answer. I enjoyed listening to how he presented his thoughts.
“It turns out, everything is connected with the Mikdash, everything! Even the cake I eat is connected with the Beis HaMikdash. Our entire lives, even our material lives, are connected with the Beis HaMikdash.
“The Mishna in tractate Sota notes something whose significance is not always noticed. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua, who was a Levite who served in the Beis HaMikdash and went through the churban, ‘From the day the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, there is no day without a curse, and the dew does not fall for a blessing, and the flavor of fruits has been removed.’ Rabbi Yossi says ‘also the fattiness of the fruits has been removed.’ In other words, even our physical pleasure of fruits is diminished. What connection is there between the Beis HaMikdash and the flavor of fruits? Apparently, because of the churban, the entire world deteriorated and does not have the power it once had. If we don’t have a Beis HaMikdash, not only don’t we have korbanos and Kohanim doing the priestly service, but our entire quality of life has gone down, not to mention all the rest of the important values in a Jew’s life.”
People are dealing with day to day life. Why is the Beis HaMikdash that necessary for us?
This outlook reminds me of the topic that angered Moshe Rabbeinu, when those tribes asked to remain on the other side of the Jordan where it was more comfortable for them. Their possessions were more important to them than even their children.
Your question is somewhat ironic and I hear it even from strictly religious Jews. Back in the time of Chagai the prophet, the Jewish people said it wasn’t the right time to build the Beis HaMikdash. At that point in exile they merely sought to survive and didn’t want to deal with building the Mikdash. The prophet responds, “Is it time for you to sit in your paneled homes while this house is in ruins?” How can you be content at home while Hashem’s house is destroyed?
Hashem continues and tells the prophet to convey a message to the Jewish people, “Consider your ways. You have sown much and you bring in little. You eat without being satiated. You drink without getting your fill. You dress, and it has no warmth. And he who profits, profits into a bundle with holes.” The Midrash Tanchuma says on this, “You have sown much and you bring in little – that happened because the lechem ha’panim ceased. You eat without being satiated – that happened because the nisuch ha’mayim ceased. You drink without getting your fill – because the nisuch ha’yayin ceased. You dress and it has no warmth – because the priestly garments ceased. He who profits, profits into a bundle with holes – because the temidin shel tzibbur ceased.” The Midrash concludes, “Why did all this occur? Because the korbanos ceased.”
If you think you will be busy with your material concerns, with parnasa and daily life, and you can set aside the Beis HaMikdash, Hashem is telling you that nobody will have material perfection as long as His house is in ruins!
Furthermore, it says in the Midrash Tanchuma that all the material bounty in the world comes in the merit of the avoda in the Mikdash. As long as we do not have the Beis HaMikdash, the material abundance in the world will be lacking. This is not an additional punishment; it is a direct consequence of the churban. The Beis HaMikdash brought material (and of course, spiritual) abundance into the world and if there is no Beis HaMikdash, then there is no abundance.
R’ Richman opens the Midrash (Tanchuma Tetzaveh, parsha 13) and reads:
“‘Said Rav Huna bar Abba: when the korbanos were brought, a se’ah measure of [low grade wheat from] Archilles produced a se’ah of fine flour, a se’ah of flour, a se’ah of coarse flour, a se’ah of bran, a se’ah of ground husks, but now [when there are no korbanos] a person brings a se’ah of wheat to be ground and he only takes home what he brought and a bit more. What is the reason for the absence of blessing in the wheat grinding? Because the lechem ha’panim ceased.’
“The Midrash goes on to say that when the korbanos were offered on the altar, whatever was offered from that species, blessed the species. When they brought the lechem matzos and the lechem ha’panim, the bread was blessed. When they brought the bikkurim (first fruits), the fruits of the land were blessed.
“The Midrash then gives real life examples. There was a story with Rabbi Yonasan ben Elozor who would sit under a fig tree in the summer and the tree was full of nice figs. When the dew fell, the figs would drip honey and the wind would knead it with dust and a goat would come along and would drip milk [from its udders] into the honey and the milk and honey would mix … Rabbi Yonasan called his students and said, ‘Come and see a sampling of the World to Come. And why is this so? Because then there were korbanos.’”
R’ Richman closed the Midrash, though not before showing me other stories which demonstrate what material abundance there was in the world in the time of the Beis HaMikdash, and this was because of the lechem ha’panim and the nisuch ha’yayin. He gave me a long, thoughtful look. There was a silent pause, a time to contemplate and digest what was said.
“I speak to Jews who do so many mitzvos,” said R’ Richman, suddenly breaking the silence. “They say that the topic of the Beis HaMikdash ‘is merely one of hashkafa,’ ‘not all groups hold of it,’ and in general ‘we have developed over the generations,’ etc. I ask them a simple question. In the Torah there are two commandments which have the word, ‘v’asu’ in it, one is tzitzis and one is the Mikdash. How come people are particular about tzitzis while the Beis HaMikdash has become ‘merely a hashkafa,’ as it were? What is the difference between them? When I ask this question, they come up with all sorts of contrived answers.”
DRAWING THE PLANS
FOR THE MIKDASH
1948 years have passed since the destruction of the second Beis HaMikdash. In nearly 2000 years, the Jewish people have asked to return to their land and have davened three times a day for the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash.
During the Three Weeks, the people at Machon HaMikdash, directed by R’ Yisroel Ariel, who was one of those who liberated the Old City, promote the topic of the Beis HaMikdash heavily.
In the past, they held an exhibit with many models of the vessels of the Mikdash, and now, when many vessels are ready, they are shifting gears to the next stage – a fundraising campaign to draw up plans for the construction of the Beis HaMikdash.
“Every building project of this enormous size that needs to get building permits requires a lot of advance preparation,” says R’ Chaim Richman who is responsible for this. “After careful research, we moved on to practical architectural plans. We started a few years ago with a limited plan of the Lishkas HaGazis where the Sanhedrin sat, and now we are ready to move on to the general plan.”
Sketches? What is your goal?
“The purpose of the program in particular, and all the work of Machon HaMikdash in general, is to fulfill the mitzva of ‘and make for Me a sanctuary.’ Chazal differentiated between the mourning for a loved one, which serves the purpose of making the adjustment to the new reality and ‘it is a commandment upon the deceased to be forgotten from the heart,’ and mourning for the Mikdash. When mourning for the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash the point is to live with the Mikdash and work to rebuild it.”
R’ Richman says that the cost of the project is estimated at a quarter of a million dollars, “typical for a building of this size.” He says the goal is not only to raise enough money but to enable people to be partners. “People are always wishing not to have to fast on Tisha B’Av (because it will no longer be a fast day). The question is, what are they doing about it?”
Obviously, the actual construction will be done by Moshiach, as the Rambam paskens, that one of the ways to identify Moshiach is “he builds the Mikdash in its place.” But being involved in all aspects of it inspires us to think about the Mikdash as something real, and it expands our longing for its rebuilding by Moshiach.
It is this perspective that has led the directors of Machon HaMikdash to start preparing vessels for the Beis HaMikdash. They do this by first extensively researching the details of the keilim. Tens of thousands of people visit the Machon HaMikdash over the course of a year. Machon HaMikdash is located in the Old City of Yerushalayim and you can say that people really feel the closeness of the Geula as a tangible reality when they see the vessels of the Mikdash before their eyes, the priestly garments and other items associated with the Mikdash.
Aside from raising awareness, is there any other purpose to making these vessels?
“As you noted, it’s a matter of chinuch. Unfortunately, many people think that the Mikdash is not relevant. We are trying to get the message across that the Beis HaMikdash is Beis Chayeinu (the home of our lives) and our lives depend on its construction.”
Although we are talking about the most important, historic building in Judaism, R’ Richman says that in the third Mikdash it is very possible that modern means will be used to enhance mitzva observance. “A heating system can be attached to the kiyor which has to hold enough water for every Kohen who is involved with the korban tamid, and maybe there will be an air-conditioning system for the Mikdash too.
“In the scriptural sources, the plans for the construction of the Beis HaMikdash are written down, which include things like dimensions and of course, the contents. The rest of it can be changed and adjusted as necessary. There is no question that technology plays an important role in avodas Hashem.”
I commented, “Maybe there will be apps for the third Beis HaMikdash,” and R’ Richman smiled.
WORLD PEACE
In your role as director of the international department, I assume that you see how the Beis HaMikdash is of interest to non-Jews too. What can you tell us about that?
“There is definitely an enormous interest on the part of gentiles.”
Why does it interest them?
“Chazal say that Adam was created out of dust taken from the area of the altar, and the rectification of humanity depends on the service of the Kohanim in the Mikdash. So why is it surprising that people feel a connection to the Beis HaMikdash?
“All the prophets, without exception, speak about a vision of the future Mikdash. If you look at the prophecy of Yeshaya, you will see that it says in the future all men will go to bow in the Mikdash and that will take place every month and every Shabbos. This is not something that occurred in the first or second Beis HaMikdash. Indeed, according to the prophecy, even non-Jews will go to the Beis HaMikdash every Shabbos and every month to bow to Hashem. Look at chapter 2 of Yeshaya where it says all the nations will flock toward the house of Hashem.
“Those who are constantly talking about world peace need to know that it is the Beis HaMikdash which will provide peace for all nations. Hashem Himself promises that this is the place for peace.”
NEXT YEAR IN YERUSHALAYIM
“Hashem gave me a very precious gift in that He directed me toward this Beis HaMikdash project. I think that the topic of the Mikdash is the heart of the entire Torah. A Jew who lives without any longing for the Mikdash is lacking in all meaning of what it means to be a Jew. If you understand and relate to the deep significance of the Beis HaMikdash in the daily life of a Jew, you don’t need to set your clock in order to get up to recite Tikkun Chatzos, because you just can’t sleep. All of life which looks normative to us is corrupted. As I said before, the entire world, even the material aspects of it, are ruined and lacking without the Mikdash. What does man seek, after all? To lead a normal life.
“I have been interviewed on the subject of the Mikdash numerous times and typically, the press tries to denigrate the whole subject. I tell them, nearly every Jew has a seder, at the end of which he says, ‘Next Year in Yerushalayim.’ He is not referring to the Malcha mall or the neighborhood of Ramot. He means this, the Beis HaMikdash. Just this week we produced a new, two-and-a-half-minute clip in which I explain why we break a glass under the chuppa. Even irreligious Jews do this.
“The Beis HaMikdash is the key to our Jewish identity. It is the key to k’vod Shamayim, to world peace, and is the anchor for global stability.”