In a series of articles, one “Rav Shmuly” Yanklowitz recently made the case against the rebuilding of the Third Bais HaMikdash. First, he is “skeptical of centralized authority” since there was some corruption during the first two Temples, and it would be “detrimental to return to a monolithic model that dismisses the plethora of view and practices we have cultivated.” Second, an avowed vegan, Rav Shmuly takes exception to the future bringing of animal sacrifices, arguing that the Jewish people “must be a light to the nations, not a source of darkness by returning to a practice…perceived by the global masses as barbaric.”
Both arguments are losers. Rav Shmuly fails to recognize that the era of the Third Bais HaMikdash will be markedly different than the times of the first two Temples—indeed, it will be a time free of corruption and evil altogether. And Rav Shmuly refuses to recognize that some “views and practices”—perhaps even some of his own—should be dismissed and will have no place in the era of the Third Bais HaMikdash.
His second point is even more meritless. There is nothing objectionable about animal sacrifices—and, in the era of the Third Bais HaMikdash, even animal rights activists will recognize as much. More critically, since when have we used the opinions of the nations of the world as a barometer for our Torah observance? What’s next, Rav Shmuly? Should circumcision be banned because some deem it barbaric? Are we to fulfill only those commandments Rav Shmuly feels portray us favorably to the nations of the world?
His are not really new ideas. Generations before Rav Shmuly, those who corrupted Judaism in the name of misguided “reform” had similar concerns. But at least those people did not self-identify as Orthodox.
Rav Shmuly’s forebears—who had the courage to stand firm in their beliefs in the shadow of the gauntlet and the gallows—yearned with every fiber of their beings for a Third Bais HaMikdash. It is only the craven grandchild who asks, in all seriousness, “Is the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem what is best for us?”
The whole sorry episode reminds me of the Jewish heretic who challenged a rabbi as to whether there would be a third Temple at all. After all, argued the heretic, does not G-d, speaking through the prophet, state clearly in reference to the Second Temple, “The glory of this last house shall be greater than that of the former” (Chagai 2:9). “Since the verse refers to the Second Temple as the last,” continued the heretic gleefully, “it must be that there will be no Third Temple.”
Without hesitation, the rabbi explained that, before approaching the Jewish people to redeem them from Egypt, Moshe was given three signals to prove his legitimacy. First, Moshe would throw down his staff and it would become a snake; when he picked it up, it turned back into a staff (Shemos 4:2-5).
“And it will be, if they will not believe you, and they do not listen to the voice of the first sign, and they will believe the voice of the last sign” (Shemos 4:8). So G-d gave Moshe a second sign. He would place his hand into his cloak and it would turn leprous; when he returned his hand to his cloak, the hand would return to its normal, healthy state (Shemos 4:6-7).
And then G-d taught Moshe a third sign: “And it will be, if they do not believe even these two signs, and they do not listen to your voice, and you shall take from the waters of the Nile, and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land” (Shemos 4:9).
Now the rabbi turned to the apostate. “There is no question that G-d conveyed three signs to Moshe—the staff, the hand, and the blood. Yet, the Torah refers to the second of these signs—the leprous hand—as the ‘last sign’ (Shemos 4:8). So, you see, the second item in a series of three can be referred to as “the last”—even when followed by a third. So it is with the Temples. Though the second is referred to as “the last,” there still can (and will) be a third.
The rabbi concluded with the following allusion. “And the blood shall be to you for a sign upon the houses” (Shemos 12:13). Literally, G-d was referring to the blood on the doorposts of the Jews’ homes, smeared there so as to avoid the Plague of the Firstborn. But one cannot help but understand But G-d’s words also support those of the rabbi: the blood (i.e., the third sign given to Moshe) will be a sign regarding the houses (i.e., the Temples) inasmuch as it proved that the second in a series of three can be coined “last.”
Like it or not, Rav Shmuly, there is going to be a Third Bais HaMikdash.
That’s not to say we know exactly how it will be built.
Because it is referred to as “the sanctuary which Your hands, G-d, have established” (Shemos 15:17), Rashi is of the opinion that the Third Bais HaMikdash will descend from the heavens fully built (Rashi, Rosh Hashanah 30a; see also Rashi, Succah 41a; Tanchuma, Pekudei 11; but see Yerushalmi, Megilla 1:11; Yerushalmi, Pesachim 9:1; Bereishis Rabba 64:10; Vayikra Rabba 9:6; Bamidbar Rabba 13:2).
The Rambam, however, maintains that the Third Bais HaMikdash will be built by man—either by each Jewish person (Sefer Hamitzvos, Positive Commandment 20; Rambam, Bais HaBechira 1:1, 12); by the Jewish community as an entity (Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos, Positive Commandment 248); or by the Messiah (Rambam, Melachim 11:1, 4). Indeed, Rav Shmuly would do well to note that the Rambam—whose views of animal sacrifice he purports to espouse—repeatedly describes the Third Bais HaMikdash as the locus for the future bringing of animal sacrifices (Rambam, Bais HaBechira 1:1; Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos, Positive Commandment 20).
R’ Yaakov Ettlinger offers a third possibility—an amalgam of the opinions of Rashi and the Rambam. Referencing the daily prayer that the Third Bais HaMikdash “be built speedily in our days,” he concludes that the Third Bais HaMikdash will be built by man, and then, the heavenly Bais HaMikdash will enter it and fill it with sanctity just as the soul gives life to the body (Aruch LaNer, Sukka 41a; see also D’rishas Tzion by R’ Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer).
These views do not necessarily conflict with one another, as the building of the Third Bais HaMikdash may depend upon the manner of our redemption, for which there are essentially two scenarios: “If they are worthy, I will hasten it; if they are not worthy, it will be in its time” (Sanhedrin 98a; see also Yeshaya 60:22). If the redemption comes through our own merits, perhaps the Third Bais HaMikdash will descend ready-built from heaven, whereas if the redemption comes other than through our merits, we will have to build it ourselves (but see B’Yitzchak Yikarei 2:39 [arguing the reverse]).
But, more fundamentally, if Rashi is correct and the Third Bais HaMikdash will simply descend from heaven already built, we won’t have the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of building it. So why command us at all?
We are taught that when the Bais HaMikdash was destroyed, its gates were swallowed into the earth and hidden (Eicha 2:9; Bamidbar Rabba 15:13; Eicha Rabba 2:13). Elsewhere, we are taught that “if one builds a palace on the property of a deceased convert (who has no legal heirs), and a second person establishes doors for the palace—the second person legally acquires the property” (Bava Basra 53b). That is, the one who attaches the doors is considered to have built the structure.
R’ Yehoshua Leib Diskin explains that G-d preserved the doors of the Second Bais HaMikdash so that they could be installed by the Jewish people in the Third Bais HaMikdash. Even though the Bais HaMidash will be heaven-built, it will lack doors. By installing those doors, the Jewish people will assert ownership over the building of the Third Bais HaMikdash, thus fulfilling the commandment “And you shall make for Me a Sanctuary” (Shemos 25:8).
Perhaps this is what is meant in the festival liturgy by “show us its building and gladden us with its establishment.” “Show us its building” refers to sending down the already-built Third Bais HaMikdash. But, seeing it already built, we are likely to become dejected: what of our obligation and joy to rebuild it? For that, G-d will direct us to attach its doors, thus crediting us—and gladdening us—with its final establishment.
* * * *
Never in all the tortured history of the present exile have the Jewish people given up on the dream of rebuilding the Bais HaMikdash—even (or perhaps especially) when those prospects seemed hopeless and bleak.
Whether the Third Bais HaMikdash descends from heaven or we built it ourselves, one cannot help but feel that the day draws nigh. “And then, the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to G‑d, as in the days of old and as in bygone years” (Malachi 3:4).
Sorry, Rav Shmuly.