Connecting Time and Place to the Sacred

Our world is complex, intertwining spirit and matter. Humans serve as the bridge between these realms, being the pinnacle of creation as beings made in Hashem's image. Thus, holiness means revealing the spiritual within the material world. When the Torah commands, "Be holy, for I, Hashem, am holy," it doesn’t require asceticism but instead a linking of the earthly realm to the divine and spiritual.

Humans live, function, and act in the realms of time and place. Our activities do not occur in a vacuum; to fulfill our spiritual purpose, the Creator gives us points of connection to holiness in both temporal and spatial dimensions. These connections expose the presence of holiness in the world's desolation, serving as manifestations of sanctity and spirituality that unite the material world with something beyond, the realm of spirit and holiness.

What are these sacred connections in time and place?

Time - Shabbat represents the summit of time. Our sages say: "I have a precious gift in my treasure house and I have given it to you." On Shabbat, a person readily connects to holiness, a time when the gates of the soul open wide and a "second soul" dwells within. There's a special commandment to delight in Shabbat through food and drink, for even eating acquires a unique significance. It's not mere indulgence but an elevation of one's physical being. This is also why certain labors are forbidden, as they anchor us to material reality and prevent us from ascending to our soul's peak. Breaking Shabbat, therefore, creates a void between spirit and matter, instead of cohesively joining them and allowing for higher ascent.

Place - The Temple (the Mikdash) is an expression of holiness within the dimension of place, a profound revelation because land is generally seen as lifeless. Yet, according to our sages, even here exists a sacred connection that links our earthly world to places of purity and holiness. This site, the Temple Mount, holds a unique value since the world’s creation and is the source of this extraordinary sanctity.

What is this unique essence tied to the Mikdash?

Our sages teach that the world's beginning point was the Mikdash. The entirety of the cosmos spread and manifested from here. The renowned Foundation Stone, set within the Mikdash, was the starting point of the groundwork of our world. Even the creation of the first human took place here, where the Creator gathered earth from the Mikdash, infusing it with a divine soul. Thus, the foundational connection of spirit to matter began here. This location was once home to the splendid Garden of Eden, where Adam dwelt until expelled. The garden revealed holiness to the world, but after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, sanctity left this place. Adam was sent to repair the world with the challenge of rediscovering the Mikdash. King David found this site again generations later and built an altar. His son, Solomon, continued by constructing the first Temple.

Even its name, Mount Moriah, reflects its essence: from the root "instruction" or "seeing," for this is where the Divine becomes visible to His creations. The name Jerusalem is linked to this, composed of “awe” and “peace.” It was Abraham who coined the name after binding Isaac on this site, proclaiming, "Hashem will be seen revealed on this Mount of vision."

During the period when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, every Jew was commanded to appear three times a year before their Creator at this site: on Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. This commandment of pilgrimage, referred to as aliyah, also means to ascend, to spiritually elevate. Among our sages, it’s called the mitzvah of seeing ("reiya"), as it represents the time when one achieves the height of vision and revelation. Descriptions from our sages and historical sources depict pilgrimage as an uplifting spiritual experience, a moment of immense sanctity. This mitzvah played a central role in the fabric of the Jewish people in the land, with the economy revolving around this event.

Not only Jews participated in this pilgrimage; many non-Jews joined as well. When King Solomon dedicated the first Temple, he prayed that Hashem would heed the non-believer's prayers. The Mikdash is a revelation not only to the Jewish people but to the entire world, a central point for all creation. Our sages assert that if the nations of the world knew the beneficence brought to the world via the Mikdash, they would rise and build it with their own hands. Even today, interest in the Temple spans cultures, with many feeling that the world's hopes are tied to this unique place.

Understanding the Temple also involves sacrifices (korbanot), which we’ll mention briefly. The sanctity revealed in the Temple isn't only divine spirituality but is manifested in the concurrent repair of the animalistic world. This world primarily resides within humans, described in the Torah as having an inclination toward evil. The essence of korbanot is to rectify the animalistic world, bringing closeness between realms. The sacrifice, offered on the altar, becomes a "pleasing aroma," elevating its divine spark to its origin, refining its animal nature. The person offering the sacrifice must confess and fully repent before this act, ensuring that this transformative offering purifies his own animalistic tendencies through the sacrifice.

Today, we live without the completeness of holiness. Although we dwell within a spiritual reality, without the Mikdash, we lack the ability to fully connect the worlds. Only through yearning hearts and souls earnestly longing for Hashem can the construction of the Third Temple allow for the revelation of holiness in the dimension of space. With the return of the Divine Presence to dwell among us, the prophet’s words will be fulfilled: "In the last days, the mountain of Hashem's house will be established atop the hills and exalted above the mountains, and all nations will flow to it. Many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of Hashem, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways, and that we may walk in His paths'" (Micah 4).

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Rabbi Menachem Makover has been studying and teaching about the Mikdash for years, having directed the Temple Institute in Jerusalem for nearly a decade. His lectures and writings integrate practical knowledge with the conceptual realm of the Mikdash, aiming to promote awareness and longing for it. Rabbi Makover heads the “Veharenu Bevieno” Association for Temple Studies, offering lectures and writings both in traditional yeshivas and other educational institutions.

Among his published works are:

The Light of the Temple – The World of the Temple's Thought (Two Volumes).

The Chosen House – A Comprehensive Exposition on the Rambam's Laws of the Chosen House.

The Hope of the Scarlet Thread – A Depth View from the Patriarchs to the Temple.

The Temple Treasury Series – Deluxe Albums by Dani Publishing.

The Tabernacle Treasury – The Tabernacle and Its Vessels – Structure and Thought.

The First Temple Treasury – The Mikdash and Its Vessels – Structure, History, Commentary, and Thought.

The Third Temple Treasury – The Future Temple – Structure and Essence.

The Sacrifices' Treasury – Action and Thought.