The command in this week’s sedra (Terumah 25:8): “And you shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them” does not apply to the building merely of the Mishkan, but it also applies to constructing of the first and second Batei Mikdash, and – relevant to our times – also the building of the third Beis HaMikdash which will be built speedily in our days.
The third Beis Hamikdash will be the Sanctuary of Hashem, established by Your hands, and will be an eternal structure (unlike the first and second Batei Mikdash), it will express the most complete unity between the physical and the spiritual.
In our generation this is particularly relevant: Throughout the ages, the Jews have craved, yearned and longed for the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash. This yearning and longing has been especially expressed in the study of “Toras Kohanim” (the laws concerning the Kohanim, the offerings and the service in the Beis HaMikdash), so that when the Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt, we will know, be ready and prepared with the necessary laws to properly do the services.
It is especially appropriate in our time to make efforts of this sort, as “all the appointed times for the coming of Moshiach have already passed,” and by all the signs given by our Sages in gemara and midrash, we are in the era of “ikvesa d’ikvesa d’Meshiacha” (immediately prior to Moshiach’s coming). It is certain that today’s generation is the last generation of golus and the first generation of the Redemption.
In particular, at present, when the weekly Torah readings discuss the building of the Sanctuary, it is appropriate to arouse the desire for the true and complete Geulah and the building of the third Bais HaMikdash. In addition to one’s efforts to transform his own home into a miniature sanctuary.
This should also be expressed in actual deeds which hasten the coming of the Geula.
Which includes study of the laws of the construction of the Beis Hamikdash and the services carried out therein; also, activities which make the world into a dwelling place for Hashem, by establishing a connection between Hashem and the physical world through the fulfillment of mitzvos. This prepares the world for the era when it will become transformed into a dwelling for Hashem with the coming of Moshiach and the revelation of the third Beis Hamikdash.
(Shabbos Parshas Terumah, 6 Adar 5750)
