Torat HaRav Aviner: Where are the Vessels of the Beit Ha-Mikdash (Temple) Today?

Where are the Vessels of the Beit Ha-Mikdash (Temple) Today?

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 20:18

09

מרץ

2010

[Commentary to the Book of Esther, pp. 23-24]

We do not know exactly where. Some say that they are in the Vatican, other say in other places, but the truth is that they are buried somewhere under the Temple Mount. King Shlomo dug tunnels under the Temple Mount, because he knew through his Divine Spirit that the Beit Ha-Mikdash would be destroyed.

Question: Isn't it written that Nebuchadnezar took everything (see Megillah 12a)?
Answer: The vessels which he took were replacement vessels. The original vessels are located under the Temple Mount.

Question: Aren’t there vessels in England which are associated with the Temple?
Answer: Perhaps, but the real ones are under the Temple Mount.

Question: The Menorah and the Table of the Show-Bread also?
Answer: Yes. As is known, Titus stole the Menorah. We see this in the Arch of Titus in Rome. The Jews of Rome have a custom to say Lamentations there on Tisha Be-Av. But those vessels are also replacements. There were ten Menorahs (Menachot 29a, 98b-99a) and many vessels. We do not know if he took the actual Menorah or a fake which was placed in the Beit Ha-Mikdash in order that he would think that he plundered the Temple. Even if he took the actual Menorah, there are nine others. Nonetheless there is no need to search for them today. When the time comes, everything will be found including the Ark of the Covenant and the jar of "man" (manna) as well.

Question: Did anyone ever search for the vessels of the Beit Ha-Mikdash?
Answer: Many certainly searched, but they did not find them. There are different stories and fables.

Question: What about those people who claim to have seen the Ark?
Answer: Anything is possible. Nevertheless, everything that they saw also disappeared. Do not worry, there are others. Incidentally, my daughter who studies art made a relief of the Arch of Titus. She brought to my attention the fact that the direction of those walking is not from Yehudah to Rome, but the opposite, from Rome to the direction of Israel, and this is true today. We are all returning home!

Torat HaRav Aviner: Where are the Vessels of the Beit Ha-Mikdash (Temple) Today?

Torat HaRav Aviner: Parashat Ki Tisa: Spiritual Repair

Parashat Ki Tisa: Spiritual Repair

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 23:46

02

מרץ

2010

[Tal Chermon p. 181]

After the sin of the Golden Calf came the spiritual repair. It is true that there are crises in the world. The world is not a plain. There are mountains and valleys. We cannot deny it. We know that there are crises, but there is no need to panic on account of them. We can overcome the crises and spiritually repair ourselves through the Divine treatment found in the world of the Torah given to us by Moshe Rabbenu. The Torah can only be properly fulfilled after first stumbling in it (Gittin 43a), and by overcoming difficulties one attains a great possession. We received a second set of the Ten Commandments and repaired our relationship with Hashem. Out of the crisis of the sin of the Golden Calf, we clarified our proper relationship to Torah and to the Divine Presence which dwells among us.

Torat HaRav Aviner: Parashat Ki Tisa: Spiritual Repair

Parashat Yitro: The Giving and Receiving of the Torah

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 20:28

02

פבר

2010

Our Rabbi, Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah, pointed out that we must carefully distinguish between the giving of the Torah and the receiving of the Torah. He gave an explanation about this which he had learned from his father, Maran Ha-Rav Kook, an idea which was both simple and deep. On the one hand, the Master of the Universe descends to us. "And Hashem descended on Mt. Sinai" (Shemot 19:20). Hashem lowers himself to meet us. "Who remembers us in our lowly state" (Tehillim 136:23). On the other hand, since Hashem descends, we are "invited" to meet him by exalting ourselves.
This week's parashah, Yitro, and Mishpatim, the one for next week, are a pair. In Parashat Yitro we are given an overview in which all 613 mitzvot are hinted at within the Ten Commandments, while in Mishpatim the details are included. At the end of this parashah, we see our elevation: "They saw the G-d of Israel, and under His feet was the likeness of sapphire brickwork, and it was like the essence of the heaven in purity" (Shemot 2:10).
Hashem's descent and our ascent are one amazing meeting.

Originally posted by Torat HaRav Aviner

Parashat Bo: This is the Bread of Affliction

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 21:24

19

ינו

2010

Question: It seems that this entire section was assembled during the time of the Exile as indicated by the famous declaration at the end, "Next year in the Land of Israel." If so, we can ask, why didn't they establish it before the destruction of the Temple in order to remind us that our ancestors ate this bread in Egypt?
Answer: Rav Kook explained that this statement was not created to remind us so much of the past, but to provide us with faith and hope for the future. It is to ensure that our spirit will not fall when we mention our liberation from slavery, when we ourselves, at this very moment, are in an exile of slavery, a bitter exile. When then is the benefit of the Exodus to us? We therefore remember that we ate the bread of affliction in the past, but we were redeemed, and we will be redeemed in the end. We must eat the matzah joyously, because we believe and trust that even though we are slaves now, we will be free people in the Land of Israel speedily in our days (Olay Re'eiyah vol. 2, pp. 261-262).

Originally posted by Torat HaRav Aviner

Parashat Vaera: The Plague of Blood

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 22:15

12

ינו

2010

Question: "The sorcerers of Egypt did the same by means of incantations, and Pharaoh's heart was strong and he did not listen to them, as Hashem had spoken" (Shemot 7:22). Why did Hashem choose to bring plagues which the sorcerers knew how to perform?
Answer: Some explain that this is exactly how Hashem hardened Pharaoh's heart by giving him the chance to think that Hashem did not perform this act, and that Moshe Rabbenu was a sorcerer. In this way, he truly did not take away his free choice. Similarly, the fact that each plague ended after a specific time was in order to provide Pharaoh with the opportunity to err as to whether it was the result of sorcery or a natural phenomenon which ended. Thus, Pharaoh was given free choice, and Hashem hardened his heart. This is like the opinion of Rabbi Yosef Albo in Sefer Ha-Ikarim, that hardening Pharaoh's heart was providing him with the opportunity to err. And Rabbi Yitzchak of Volozhin explained homiletically: The wonder of drowning humanity in a valley of blood, non-Jewish magicians always knew how to perform this.

Originally posted by Torat HaRav Aviner

Parashat Shemot: I Come From Eretz Yisrael!

פורסם על ידי Mordechai Friedfertig ב- 21:48

05

ינו

2010

"An Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds, and he even drew water for us and watered the sheep" (Shemot 2:19)

Moshe Rabbenu looked like an Egyptian. He dressed like an Egyptian, had an Egyptian haircut, an Egyptian beard and an Egyptian accent. He looked like an Egyptian from head to toe. But our Rabbis expressed somewhat of a criticism of Moshe Rabbenu. They state (Devarim Rabbah 2:8): "One who identifies with his Land will be buried in the Land, and he who does not identify with his Land will not be buried there." Yosef identified with the Land when he said: "For indeed I was kidnapped from the Land of the Hebrews" (40:15), and he was therefore buried in Shechem. But Moshe Rabbenu did not acknowledge the Land. When Yitro's daughters say to their father: "An Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds," Moshe heard himself being referred to as an Egyptian and kept quiet. Based on this, our Sages conclude that since Moshe did not identify with the Land, he did not merit being buried there.

Rabbi Meir Yechiel of Ostrovtza, one of the great Chasidic Rebbes in Poland, asked this question: what did they want from Moshe Rabbenu? Yosef saying that he was from Eretz Yisrael made perfect sense: he was raised there. But Moshe was born and raised in Egypt! Was he expected to lie and say he was from Eretz Yisrael? His answer: Every Jew is obligated to see him or herself as an Israeli. Even if he was born elsewhere – by historical error - he nonetheless belongs to the Land of Israel. A Jew should always say: I come from Eretz Yisrael! Rabbi Moshe from Kutzi, the author of the "Semag" and one of the Tosafot, would sign his name: "Moshe from the Exile of Jerusalem who is in France." It is true that I am in France, but I am from Jerusalem. When a Jew is asked: "Where are you from," he must therefore respond: I come from Eretz Yisrael.

I was once invited to a Brit Milah. When we sat down to eat, a man quickly ran into the hall and said: "When is the Brit Milah?" The participants told him: "It just ended. Mazel Tov!" He took a deep breath: "Oy vey, I missed it!" He sat down at the meal. I was sitting nearby and heard his conversation with the others.
- They asked him: "Where are you from?"
- He proudly said with a German accent: "From Frankfurt am Main!"
- I thought to myself: Poor guy, he came all the way from Frankfurt am Main to the Brit Milah and missed it by a few minutes… Everyone felt sorry for him.
- They asked: "What kind of work do you do?"
- He said: "I sell Sifrei Kodesh (holy book)."
- "In Frankfurt am Main?"
- "No, no. In Bayit Ve-Gan (a Jerusalem neighborhood)."
- ????
- "I live in Bayit Ve-Gan."
- "Didn't you just say that you are from Frankfurt am Main?"
- "Yes, yes. I live in Bayit Ve-Gan but I am from Frankfurt am Main!"...
He may live in Bayit Ve-Gan, but where is he really from? Frankfurt am Main! He breathes Frankfurt am Main, thinks about Frankfurt am Main and lives Frankfurt am Main. This is how German Jews felt right before the Holocaust.

Originally posted by Torat HaRav Aviner