The Verse:
“When you build a new house, you shall make a guard rail for your roof, so that you shall not cause blood [to be spilled] in your house, that the one who falls should fall from it [the roof ]” (Devarim 22:8).
The Midrash expands the meaning of “house” to refer also to the sanctuary of the Beis Hamikdash. Its roof, too, requires a fence.
The Question:
Synagogues are not obligated to have a fence built on the roof (see Chullin 136a), why is the Beis Hamikdash any different?
The Explanation:
Rashi explains that synagogues are exempt because “no one person has any possession of it, for people from every city can use it. Additionally, it is not a dwelling place.” A synagogue is public property, theoretically belonging to every Jewish person. If someone were to come from another city and wish to use the synagogue, he would be able to. Thus, there is no single person or entity who can be classified as an owner responsible for building a fence.
The Beis Hamikdash, however, was built and maintained with contributions from the entire Jewish nation. Thus, each Jew has literal ownership of the Beis Hamikdash, and they are thereby collectively obligated to finance the construction of the fence. As for the issue that no one uses the Beis Hamikdash as a dwelling—it is designated as a place to eat certain sacrificial offerings, and eating in a place establishes it as a dwelling.
The Deeper Dimension:
In spiritual terms, a “fence” is the quality of humility that protects against someone falling from a “roof,” an elevated sense of self and ego. There is a risk of others falling from one’s own roof. Meaning, when a person wants to influence and teach others, it is possible for their own ego to get in the way. Their sense of pride they have in their knowledge and refinement dulls the effect of their words, and the other “falls” and is unaffected, because of the teacher’s “roof.”
[This fear should not deter a person from wanting to teach and inspire others. As the verse begins, “When you build a new house.” It is imperative to build places of instruction and inspiration for others, even with the inherent risk of self-aggrandizement.]
This is why a synagogue is exempt from a fence, while the Beis Hamikdash is obligated in one. A synagogue is where a person engages in their own regimen of study and prayer. When a person is inwardly involved with their own Divine service, they are less likely to exercise their ego. The Beis Hamikdash, however, with its sacrifices, represents engagement with the world and the desire to elevate the material reality. When our spiritual service becomes outward facing, then we are prone to the temptations of the ego and must “fence” it in.
Likkutei Sichos Vol.24, p. 137ff.
By: ProjectLikkuteiSichos.org
Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
