We will begin to shed some light on the subject by referring to a passuk in parshas Vayigash. Immediately after Yosef reveals his true identity to his brothers, it says (Bereishis 45, 14): על בכה ובנימין ויבך אחיו בנימין צווארי על ויפול" "צוואריו—then he fell upon his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept; and Binyamin wept upon his neck. Based on the Gemara (Megillah 16b), Rashi comments: “He (Yosef ) fell upon his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept” over the two Temples that were destined to be in the portion of Binyamin and would ultimately be destroyed. “And Binyamin wept upon his neck” over the Mishkan in Shiloh destined to be in Yosef ’s portion and in the end would be destroyed.
This elucidation of the words “he fell upon Binyamin’s neck” is also presented in the Zohar hakadosh (Vayigash 209b) with an explanation as to why the Beis HaMikdash is alluded to by the neck. We find a similar analogy in the following passuk (Shir HaShirim 4, 4): בנוי צווארך דויד כמגדל" "לתלפיות—your neck is like the Tower of David, built as a landmark (“Talpiyos”). According to the Zohar, “your neck” refers to the Beis HaMikdash down on earth. The Gemara (Berachos 30a) expounds on the word “Talpiyos”: "בו פונים פיות שכל תל"—a hill towards which all mouths turn—since wherever one stands to pray, one must face the Kodesh HaKodashim.
The Chasam Sofer (Vayigash) explains that the Beis HaMikdash is compared to a neck, because it connects the brain with the heart. The brains imparts its wisdom and understanding to the heart, so that it will know how to properly sustain and manage all of the bodily systems. In return, the heart supplies blood and life support to the brain. Additionally, food and nutrition that enters the body through the mouth in a person’s head is transported to the rest of the body via the neck.
The Beis HaMikdash provides a similar two-way connection like the neck. HKB”H, our Father in Heaven, is the head, so to speak. The people of Yisrael, the body, as it were, receive all their sustenance and life-support—both material and spiritual—from Him through the Beis HaMikdash. In return, all of Yisrael’s avodah ascends from the Beis HaMikdash to please Hashem. The Shem MiShmuel (Vayigash 5673) writes in the name of his esteemed father, the author of the Avnei Neizer, zy”a: The reason the Beis HaMikdash is referred to as a “neck” . . . because just as the neck is the connection between the head and the body, so, too, the Beis HaMikdash is the connection between the upper and lower worlds.
