He shall not exit the Mikdash. (Vayikra 21:12)
Did you know the Kohen Gadol had an apartment inside Beis Hamikdash?
The Rambam writes:
He [the Kohen Gadol] shall have a home ready for him in the Mikdash, and it is called the chamber of the Kohel Gadol. It is his honor and glory that he should dwell in the Mikdash all day, and not leave, other than to his home at night, or for an hour or two during the day. And his home should be in Yerushalayim, and he should not leave that place.
We see that the Kohen Gadol was very restricted in movement. He needs to spend all day in Beis Hamikdash, and may not leave Yerushalayim. Naturally speaking, it is very unpleasant to be so tied down. It’s akin to being imprisoned, which, as we know, is a big punishment. A person doesn’t want to be in jail. Even if the conditions there are good, even if he eats like a king, it’s worth nothing to him. He just wants to get out because he can’t stand the torture of being imprisoned.
A person might happen to stay at home for an extended period and be perfectly happy, but if he is forced to be at home, if he is locked up and not allowed to leave, he can’t stand it. He will do anything to get out.
A Heavenly Prison
We see this from the story of Shlomo and Shimi ben Geira.
Before David HaMelech’s death, he instructed his son Shlomo how to handle Shimi ben Gera, who had cursed and stoned him when he fled from Avshalom’s uprising :
Behold, with you is Shimi ben Gera son of the Benjaminite, from Bachurim. He cursed me with a vehement curse on the day I went to Machanayim. He came down to greet me at the Jordan River, and I swore to him by Hashem [that I will not kill him], saying, “Lest I kill you by the sword.” But now, do not treat him as innocent. For you are a wise man and you know what to do with him. You shall bring his hoary head down to the grave in blood.
How, in fact, did Shlomo handle Shimi ben Geira?
The King [Shlomo] sent and called for Shimi. He said to him, “Build for yourself a house in Jerusalem. Dwell there, and do not go out from there to this place and that. And it will be, on the day you go out and pass the Kidron Stream, that you will surely know that you must die. Your blood will be on your own head.
Three years went by, and Shimi did not leave Yerushalayim. But then two of his slaves ran away, and he went out after them to get them back. This gave Shlomo Hamelech a reason to put Shimi ben Geira to death, and so he did.
Now, why did Shimi feel compelled to go out, at the risk of his life, using his runaway slaves as an excuse? Is there a city more beautiful than Yerushalayim? Is Yerushalayim a prison?
R. Chayim Shmuelevitz explains that a person cannot tolerate being confined to his place, no matter what that place is.
David Hamelech, before his death, commanded his son Shlomo, “Do not treat him as innocent.” Shlomo needs to find a way, a legal justification, by which to put Shimi ben Geira to death.
Shlomo in his wisdom knew that if he forbids Shimi to leave Yerushalayim, sooner or later he will leave. Because that is human nature. People cannot tolerate being limited. If a person has no limitations put on him, he can live happily in Yerushalayim for the rest of his life, and have no reason to leave. But if he is locked up, his nature pushes him to break out. So explains R. Chayim Shmuelevitz.
Why are people this way?
Want to Stretch Out
Chazal say that when Adam Harishon was created, his size was “from one end of the heavens to the other end.” However, they disagree whether Adam reached from one side of the world to the other, i.e., from east to west, or whether he reached from earth to the heavens. The Gemara concludes by stating that they are actually the same measurement. In other words, it is the same essential definition of man’s nature, either way you measure it.
When Adam Harishon sinned, the Gemara says that Hashem “placed His hand upon him,” and diminished his size. Man no longer reached across the world or up to the sky; he was now a mere hundred amos (approx. 150 feet). With every subsequent generation he shrunk more, until he reached the dimensions we are familiar with today.
We may not see ourselves as being tall as the sky or as reaching all the way around the world, but that was Adam’s original form, and this is our essential nature, too. because our true nature remains the same forever. It’s not that Hashem chopped some pieces out of Adam Harishon to get him down to size. Rather, the quality of “from one end of the heavens to the other end” was concentrated and compressed into a smaller physical stature. So as soon as a person gets the chance, he expands and spreads out, because being confined to a small space goes against his nature and causes him a lot of distress.
We see that people really enjoy traveling far distances and seeing new sites around the world. Even little children, who are usually jumpy and restless, can sit quietly in a car for hours on end just looking out the window and seeing new sites. This is because stretching around the world is man’s natural state. Seeing and knowing about things grants a person a certain amount of control over them, so the more a person sees and knows about the world, the more he is returning to his original state of “from one end of the heavens to the other end,” and this gives him immense pleasure.
Stand Up
This brings us to an important caveat. Indeed, Adam Harishon reached from one end of the world to the other, or his height was from earth to heaven, and it is actually the same measurement, as stated in the Gemara we quoted above. And these dimensions are part of human nature, as we explained. But you can’t have it both ways.
We need to choose whether we want to stretch around the world, or up to heaven, because we can’t do both. It’s not possible.
Hashem gives us everything we require. All our needs are naturally provided for, and this includes the need to reach from one end of the world to the other. Our bodies are not that big, or course, but we can do it by the power of thought, which is man’s unique and essential quality.
In our generation, people reach around the world by phone, by plane, by the newspaper. They know what’s happening all over the globe.
Hashem granted this to our generation because reaching around the world is a human need. We can’t live closed up in a cage like an animal.
But what about all the previous generations? How did they live this way?
They didn’t. In past generations, people didn’t stretch around the world; they stretched up to heaven. This was surely true of Jews. A Jew’s head was always in heaven, connected to the Kisei Hakavod. But even non-Jews were deeply involved in the sublime wisdom of the hierarchy of the angels and the constellations of the Zodiac.
Then people changed. Instead of standing on their feet with their heads in heaven, they fell down on the ground, so to speak, and sprawled out from one end of the world to the other.
The Vertical Kohen Gadol
Let’s get back to the Kohen Gadol. He is supposed to stay in Beis Hamikdash all day long, and never leave Yerushalayim.
ומן המקדש לא יצא – “He shall not exit the Mikdash.”
How does this make him feel?
At first glance, we might have pity on the poor Kohen Gadol who is locked up in his Mikdash apartment and can’t travel out of the city. But the Rambam writes that “It is his honor and glory.”
It is human dignity to stand on one’s feet with one’s head above, and not sprawl out with one’s face in the ground like an animal. This is why it is the Kohen Gadol’s honor and glory to remain in the Mikdash and in Yerushalayim.
If a person is tempted to join in the frenzy of modern humanity, to know everything that is happening in the world, he needs to decide which position he prefers. Does he want to lie sprawled out on the ground and look all around the world, and know what is happening in Russia and China and South Africa, and embrace the whole wide world?
Or does he want to stand on his feet with his head in heaven, attached to the Kisei Hakavod, hearing the song of the malachim and learning Torah from Ha she m’s mouth?
Because you can’t do both. It just doesn’t work that way. It is a contradiction in terms.
