When Yosef meets Binyamin he falls on his neck and cries (Bereishis 45,14). He saw with ruach hakodesh that the two Mikdashos which will be built in the territory of Binyamin will become destroyed. The Beis Hamikdash is compared to a neck as it says in Shir Hashirim 7,5 צוארך כמגדל השן and that is why Yosef particularly wept on his neck. Why now in particular was Yosef aroused to focus on the Beis Hamikdash and cry for its destruction? Secondly, what was the reason why Binyamin merited that the Beis Hamikdash would be built in the location that he inherited?
The Shemen Rosh answers with Chazal (Shabbos 55b) that only four humans never committed an aveirah and they died only because of the Chait of Adam Harishon in Gan Eden. One of the four was Binyamin Hatzadik. When Hashem wanted to rest his Shechinah on earth the only place that would be suitable for this would be such an area where the inheritor of that land was totally pure from any sin. The only one of the brothers that fit that criteria was Binyamin.
However, Binyamin wasn't the sole inheriter of the entire plot of land upon which the Beis Hamikdash was built and the Shechina dwelled. For Yehudah also inherited a small strip of land that stretched into Binyamin's territory upon which the mizbaiach was situated. How can that be if Yehudah is not one of the four who were completely free from chait? The answer is that the "mizbaiach part" of the Mikdash was there to bring atonement to all the sinners. It was not appropriate for Binyamin to possess that portion of the Mikdash but rather Yehudah. It was Yehudah who sinned and admitted his guilt publicly and did teshuvah. Because of his admission Hashem placed His name in Yehuda's. It is from Yehudah that a sinner has the strength to bring a Korban and to relate to the Kohen the sin he transgressed and this animal is for his atonement. Therefore the mizbaich was fixed in Yehudah's strip of land that penetrated the portion of Binyamin.
The Medrash brings a second reason why Binyamin inherited the future place of the Beis Hamikdash. In the episode where Yaakov and his family encounter Aisav, they all bowed down to Aisav. This act made them unqualified to have the Beis Hamikdash by them. The only son who did not bow down was Binyamin because he was not born yet and that is why he merited the Shechinah to be present by him. We can now understand why at that episode of Yaakov's family bowing down, Aisev falls on Yaakov's neck and kisses him. On the word וישקהו he kissed him there are six dots corresponding to the six letters. They represent teeth symbolizing the Beis Hamikdash צאורך כמגדל ה as we mentioned aboveשן . Aisav was willing to kiss Yaakov now since he was appeased in that Yaakov had already lost the merit to build a sanctuary for Hashem because all his children bowed down to Aisav. As far as Aisav was concerned his mission was accomplished to uproot from the world a place for Hashem to dwell in. However, in reality Aisav was mistaken because Binyamin was yet to be born as the th Shevet who will merit to have the Beis Hamikdash built in his plot of inheritance.
According to this Medrash we now explain why Yehudah inherited a strip of land extending to the mizbaich when he too bowed to Aisav? The answer is that Yehudah rectified his bowing down by killing Aisav and severing his head. Tosfos in Gitten 55b brings a Yerushalmi that it was Yehudah who killed Aisav as it is alluded to in Yaakov's beracha to him ידך בעורף אויבך your hand will be at the neck of your enemy Breishis 49,8. In this manner Yehudah to an extent corrected his conduct of bowing to Aisav and therefore he merited over all the other brothers to have a strip of and upon which the mizbaich was situated.
Now one can understand why Yaakov was so afraid to let Binyamin go down to Mitzrayim for fear he might be forced to bow down to the one in charge of supplying them with food, because of which the Beis Hamikdash might never be built. Says the Chasam Sofer that this is the reason why when the brothers returned to Yaakov with the good news of discovering that Yosef is alive they purposely immediately added that he is the ruler in charge in Mitzrayim. This was in order to relieve Yaakov of his previous fears of sending Binyamin to Mitzrayim. Even if he bowed down it was not to a goy but rather to his brother Yosef.
Now we can interpret a new reason why Yosef fell upon Binyamin's neck to cry on the Beis Hamikdash when he revealed himself to his brothers. The crying was not one of sorrow but to the contrary they were tears of joy. When he saw his brother alive he saw the building of the Beis Hamikdash in his portion of land, and he was full of elation crying on his symbolic neck seeing him as being the sole Shevet who could merit to Hashem's dwelling place.
Chazal say that Avraham Avinu called the Beis Hamikdash הר, Yitzchak called it a שדה and Yaakov called in בית. We have a new insight why Yaakov called it Bayis because the letter בית means two. There were two of his sons that made the Beis Hamikdash a possible reality and they were Binyamin who never bowed to Aisav and Yehudah who corrected his bowing to Aisav somewhat by killing him. The gematriah of בנימן יהודה add up to יעקב. Yaakov is indebted to these two sons for helping to make a dwelling place for Am Yisrael to contact the Shechinah.
Another explanation to why Binyamin merited to have the Beis Hamikdash built on his inherited land is given in the Yalkut Zos Haberacha because he was the only Shevet that was not involved with the selling of Yosef. Hashem said I want to have a Beis Mikdash to dwell in so that you should daven before me and I will have rachmanis on you. I will not dwell my Shechinah amongst those who did not demonstrate rachmanus on their brother. We find in Shabbos 151b Rabban Gamliel says ונתן לך whoever has כל המרחם על הבריות מרחמים עליו מן השמים )Devarim 13,18( רחמים ורחמך compassion on others Hashem will have compassion on him. Even though the brothers sold Yosef with a Beis Din, nevertheless they themselves admitted their guilt that they lacked rachmanus when he cried to them to have compassion on him אנחנו אשמים בהתחננו עלינו ולא שמענו. Therefore Binyamin was the only candidate left to receive Hashem's Shechinah.
What can we say now to answer why Yehuda received a strip of land with Binyamin if he also did not listen to Yosef's pleas at all? The answer can be that Yehudah at least showed some rachmanus towards Yosef by suggesting to the brothers that they should not let him die in the pit of snakes but rather sell him to Mitzrayim. Yehuda also demonstrated compassion when he undertook the responsibility to descend to Mitzrayim and bring back food for the family. He took upon himself to be excommunicated from Olam Haba if he failed to bring back Binyamin because of his trip to Mitzrayim which was from rachamanus on the dire state of Yaakov's hungry family. This mesiras nefesh for compassion earned him a strip that enveloped the mizbaich which symbolizes sacrifices which Yehudah personified in the middah of rachmanus.
A fourth answer to why Binyamin acquired the territory where the Mikdash was built on was because of his silence when the brothers accused him of stealing the goblet of the Viceroy. The Medrash Tanchuma Mikeitz writes that upon discovering the goblet in his belongings his brothers began beating him with sticks on his shoulders and shamed him by saying you are the son of your mother who also stole from her father. Chazal say Chullin 89 the world only exists for an individual who remains silent during a feud and refrains from answering back. Binyamin was such an individual during this degrading even who merited because of this to control his anger and proclaim his righteousness. By doing so the world is in existence for his behalf, So too the the territory from where the earth was formed the makom of the Mikdash was merited to him.
In Moshe Rabbeinu's beracha to Binyamin (Devarim 33,12 he says ובין כתפיו שכן that the Beis Hamikdash will be built in your territory between the shoulders, meaning at a high point of his land. The fact that Moshe used the term "between his shoulders" was an allsion to the episode when the brothers beat Binyamin on his shoulders and he remained silent even though he was innocent of the crime he was suspected for. Due to his silence at such a trying time he merited to have Hashem's Shechinah by him.
To explain Yehudah's possession of part of that land when he also partook to hitting Binyamin, we can say that he pleaded for Binyamin to be freed from becoming a slave to Yosef. Rather he should be returned to his father which somewhat corrected his negative response and action to Binyamin.
We see from all of the above how one's actions can have ripple effects through generations. The one episode of bowing to Aisav made every Shevet ineligible to have the Shechinah fixed in their territory. Today we pray to Hashem constantly for the Third Beis Hamikdash. It has been almost 2000 years since it has been destroyed. Could it be that we ourselves are still bowing down to Aisav and Edom, its culture, technology, and lifestyle. Could it be that we don't have enough compassion for our brethren who are undergoing unimaginable suffering. Yes, there was instituted the reciting of two perakim Tehillim after davening but nature takes its course and over time the same Tehillim become challenging and rote to the point, that people leave in the middle or it becomes even annoying to some chas veshalom. On the outside it seems that we don't have compassion even though inwardly we do. Maybe we have to innovate another way to daven for the unfortunate so we can generate real feelings for them that are genuine rather than robotically. If we want Hashem's compassion for geulah we have to really have compassion on others ואהבת לרעך כמוך.
Could it also be that we are not honest and don't admit our wrong doings and faults to others and then small frictions and infractions become big arguments that lead to greater distancing. This is all in contrast to Yehudah who admited his wrong doings because of which he merited to have a part of the Beis Hamikdash actualzied by him. We all have an obligation to make ourselves a sanctuary for Hashem to dwell in. For that to happen we must dwell on the ideas that made Binyamin and Yehudah merit to have that come true for themselves.
Rav Brazil Gut Shabbos
