The Torah portion of Devarim is always read on the Shabbat before the Fast of Tisha Be’Av which is known as Shabbat Chazon. According to the Chassidic masters every Jew is shown a vision of the future Beit HaMikdash on this Shabbat which engenders a yearning within us to have it (re)built.
As such, it is an appropriate time to study about the Beit HaMikdash. In addition, the Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that one should learn about the building of the Beit HaMikdash during this time in order to hasten its rebuilding, may this take place speedily in our days.
This article is mostly based on the commentary of the Tosfot Yom Tov on the beginning of Tractate Middot which discusses the structure of the Second Beit HaMikdash.
Learning Middot Will Help us Build the Third Beit Hamikdash
The Tosfot Yom Tov writes that learning Tractate Middot will assist us in knowing how to build the Third Beit HaMikdash since Middot describes the measurements of the Second Temple which in some aspects resembles the Third. As the Rambam writes, “The people in the time of Ezra (who came back from the Babylonian exile) built the Second Temple according to the structure of Solomon, including certain aspects which are explicitly stated in Ezekiel (which is a description of the Third Beit HaMikdash).”
Why did they incorporate aspects of the Third Beit HaMikdash into the building of the Second Beit HaMikdash instead of merely building a replica of the First Temple? Rashi explains that the Jewish people who returned from Babylonia were supposed to conquer the Land of Israel and rebuild the eternal Beit HaMikdash with Moshiach. As the verse says, “Until Your people cross over, G-d, until Your people whom You acquired, cross over.” (I.e., the second crossing over the Jordan river – in the days of Ezra – was supposed to be as miraculous as the first in the days of Joshua.) As a result of their sins, however, the Jewish people returned to the land under Persian rule and built a Beit HaMikdash which was destined to be destroyed. Since, originally this Beit HaMikdash was supposed to be the eternal Beit HaMikdash, it was made to resemble it in certain ways. On the other hand, since we did not merit to have the eternal Beit HaMikdash, it could not resemble the future Temple precisely as that design is reserved for the Messianic Era.
