Since we have seen in several places that a tzaddik is equated with the Beis HaMikdash, understanding the spiritual purpose and role of the Beis HaMikdash will be helpful in understanding the corresponding attributes in a tzaddik.
The concept of the Beis HaMikdash is one of the 613 commandments of the Torah, derived from the verse, “Make Me a sanctuary and I shall dwell in it.”
The Torah states clearly that the purpose of the Beis HaMikdash is to provide a dwelling place for G-d. But what does it mean that G-d dwells in the Beis HaMikdash? Isn’t G-d everywhere? How can He be in one specific place?
The answer is that even though there is no place in the universe that is devoid of G-d’s presence, His presence can either be concealed or revealed. When we say that the Beis HaMikdash is the place where G-d dwells, it means that His Shechinah is revealed there. Yes, G-d is everywhere, but He is not revealed everywhere.
Not only is G-d’s presence revealed in the Beis HaMikdash, it is actually the place from which this revelation spreads throughout the entire universe. When the Beis HaMikdash was standing, an individual anywhere in the world possessed of an awareness and consciousness of G-d, a love for G-d, or any kind of sensitivity towards G-dliness and spirituality, was only capable of these feelings as a result of G-d’s presence emanating from the Beis HaMikdash.
An analogy to G-d’s relationship with the world is the interaction between the soul and the body. The universe is like a huge body which receives its life, its “soul,” from G-d’s presence. Even though one might ask where the life-force (the soul) is found in the body — and the answer of course is everywhere — the soul is most revealed in the brain. The brain, in fact, is the specific point of contact between the soul and the body, and from there it extends to the rest of the body.
For example, there might be electrical power on all 40 floors and all 1,200 electrical outlets in a building, but they all draw their electrical power from the main power source in the basement. The same is true in the human body. The soul fills the entire body (evidenced by the fact that every limb and organ of the body is alive) but all the different parts of the body draw their energy from the aspect of the soul that is primarily revealed in the brain.
If the main power source in the basement would be completely destroyed, the entire building would lose its power. Similarly, if the brain would be completely destroyed, G-d forbid, no part of the body would continue to live.
The same applied in the times of the Beis HaMikdash. Even though G-d’s presence was consciously felt throughout the entire world, its point of contact with the universe was in the Beis HaMikdash. If G-d’s presence was revealed in the Beis HaMikdash, it could be revealed and felt in varying degrees in the rest of the world. But if the Beis HaMikdash was completely destroyed — like the brain that was destroyed — then not only would the Beis HaMikdash lack G-d’s presence, the entire universe would not be able to experience G-d’s presence in a revealed way.
Visiting the Beis HaMikdash Three Times a Year
This explains the biblical obligation to visit the Beis HaMikdash on the three holidays of Pesach, Shavuos and Sukkos. On the surface this is a very difficult concept to understand. These yearly journeys required a tremendous loss of time from one’s duties and responsibilities. The Talmud relates that from certain places in Israel it took two weeks to travel to Jerusalem and, of course, two weeks to return home. With one week in Jerusalem for the holiday itself, five weeks would be needed altogether just to spend one holiday at the Beis HaMikdash. Along with the other two holidays, about fifteen weeks a year would be spent away from home. In addition, as with any journey, preparatory time would also be invested before and after the trip.
How could the Torah command someone to spend so much time away from his duties and responsibilities at home with these visits to the Beis HaMikdash? In addition, many of these people were Rabbis and Torah scholars who would lose valuable time from their study of Torah. Obviously, something essential was gained by going to the Beis HaMikdash that justified this outlay of time and energy.
Since the Beis HaMikdash was the generator, the powerhouse, that facilitated the awareness and consciousness of G-d throughout the entire universe, one’s thrice-yearly visit would reinforce and increase his awareness and consciousness of G-d as well. These pilgrimages to the Beis HaMikdash infused the way one lived throughout the rest of the year with a greater awareness, love and belief in G-d.
Indeed, all of one’s activities throughout the entire year — in Torah study, observance of mitzvos, and basic conduct — grew continually in holiness and strength by going to the Beis HaMikdash. Were a person not to go, he would not only miss out on the experience of being there, he would miss a main ingredient in his Jewish way of life — the awareness of G-d. Without that, his Jewish practice would be like a body without a soul.
In sum, not only did going to the Beis HaMikdash not detract from one’s growth and daily life, it actually heightened one’s awareness of G-d, thereby contributing the essential ingredients of love, awe, and faith in G-d to his Torah study, observance of mitzvos, and prayer.
Mourning for the Temple
This is the reason why mourning the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash holds such a primary place in Jewish life. Many people ask why we make such a fuss about the destruction of the Temple. Shouldn’t our primary focus be on mourning for the hundreds of thousands of people who were killed during this time and all the horrific suffering endured by the survivors? Indeed, we do have great reverence for these tragedies, but our primary focus is the destruction of the Temple, and our primary hope for the future is that it should be rebuilt.
Why is there so much talk about the Temple? Because the Beis HaMikdash is what allowed G-dliness to be revealed throughout the world. The greater the revelation of G-dliness in the world, the more positive the events that occur there. Conversely, the concealment of G-dliness causes negativity and evil to prevail.
Therefore, the source of all the tragedies that have occurred in our world for the past two thousand years can be attributed to one factor alone: the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. Surely we grieve for every calamity that has occurred in the world, but mourning for the Temple takes on a greater significance when we know that its destruction is the root cause of each one of them. This is also why the central focus of our prayers is that the Beis HaMikdash be rebuilt.
