MIKDASH-BUILD
7 Heshvan 5759
Volume III, Number 1
|
Table of Contents
- 1. THE TEMPLE AS AN ECONOMIC CENTER, part 5
- 2. IN THE NEWS
THE TEMPLE AS AN ECONOMIC CENTER -- CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED FOR THOSE
SERVING THE ECONOMIC NEEDS OF THE TEMPLE
by Rav Elitzur Segal
(originally published in Yibane HaMikdash, issue 110)
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
It is clear that those with a spiritual role in the Temple are righteous
people, or at least they are supposed to be.
Still, what criteria were used to chose the business workers of the
Temple -- the treasurers, administrators, and other people in the
extensive organizational/economic system of the Temple?
To our great surprise, we find that King David, who did not lack man
power and in whose time there was no general gap between the ideal and
the reality, chose a general director of the Temple building project who
was prepared otherwise to work for idolatry. His only quality was that
he loved money. Our Rabbis tell us (Baba Batra 99b) that Yonatan the
son of Gershom, the grandson of Moshe Rabbeinu, strayed and became an
idolatrous priest. He originally served Micha's statue in Beit El, and
later in Dan. The reason he chose idolatry was that it insured him a
nice income. He could not receive such an income by other means ...
Since 480 years passed between the Exodus from Egypt and the building of
the Temple, it is conceivable that there was a gap of several
generations -- that there were a few generation between Yonatan and
Gershom, and the Bible skipped them because of their insignificance or
for another reason -- as is common in the Bible. It is also possible
that our Rabbis intended to express the idea and did not intend to tell
over Yonatan's history, as is common in several aggadic passages.
HaRav Tzvi Tau (Emunat Itenu p. 37-40) explains, Our Rabbis learned this
from the question of the Children of Dan to the youth when they meet him
in the House of Micha, "Who brought you here ("halom")? What are you
doing with this? Who are you looking for here?"
They intended to hint to him his situation -- are you not the son of
Moshe Rabeinu, to whom G-d said when He revealed Himself for the first
time by the Burning Bush, "Do not come close to here ("halom")"? Are
you not from the upbringing of Moshe, to whom G-d said, "what is *THIS*
in you hand"? Are you not from the family of Moshe, to whom G-d said at
Mount Sinai, "and now you will stand *HERE* with Me"?
Should a person like you, from such family lineage, serve as a priest of
idolatry?
Having a strong personality, he was not shocked, and he answered them
that in his family they taught, "It is preferable to be hired for
idolatry than to need to accept charity."
It is clear that this approach is mistaken. When the Tabernacle in
Shilo stood as the spiritual center for serving G-d, Yonatan, the
grandson of Moshe Rabeinu publicly and openly established a center for
idolatry, with all its evil and corruption. Being such a charismatic
personality, he attracts a multitude of Jews, sins and causes others to
sin, and destroys the Jewish People.
When David became King of Israel, one would think that the first thing
that he would do is arrest Yonaton (Shevuel) the idolatrous priest and
execute him.
To the contrary, we find that the opposite was the case. "Since David
saw that he was obsessed with money, he appointed him over the
treasuries." David appointed Shvuel as the Minister of Finance!
This is perplexing. Was this not irresponsible of King David to appoint
such an evil person over the national treasury? Couldn't he find
someone more appropriate for the job?
The answer is that King David knew that in order to establish a national
economy and wisely manage it, the person needs governing and leadership
qualities, charisma, and talent in public relations -- a true business
man. To overcome hatred and competition from private interests and
monopolies, there is a need for this type of person --someone who will
only feel good when he has tremendous monetary power.
It is clear that this in the future will serve the high goals of "a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation". Nevertheless, a nation cannot be
built solely on high and holy thoughts. A "nebbach" yeshiva boy cannot
be the Minister of Finance. For this, we need someone who lives for
money, and for him this is his Service of G-d.
King David looked for such a person and found him in the image of
Yonatan. King David recognized the pearl in the heap of dung. He knew
to reach his soul. David knew that Yonatan worshipped idolatry because
he could find no other place to reveal his great strength. He could not
repress the great forces within him, and this was the only reason he
made the temple to the Micha image.
Other people certainly viewed him as a pathetic character. David,
however, saw the positive point in him, and he strengthened and
encouraged it, and redirected it towards the building of the Temple and
establishing the Kingdom of Israel.
Why did Yonatan change his name to "Shvuel"? Because he returned to G-d
with all his heart, as our Rabbis teach. The scripture testifies out of
Divine Spirit that he returned with deep and sincere penitence.
In David's court, "Yonatan" turned into "Shvuel". He elevated his great
strength and redirected them towards G-d's will -- to pure and high
ideals. This was King David's unique talent, of whom it is written,
"those who fear me will fear you and rejoice."
One could expound on Rav Tau's idea that it was not only because of the
technical reason of hiring people fit to manage money that specifically
the former idolatrous priest Shvuel was chosen to establish the Temple.
Rav Kook explains (Maamarei HaReiyah, vol. 1, p. 147) the the Beit
HaMikdash combines the Mankind's technical achievement with nature as it
is. We therefore blow in the Temple the "Chatzrotzot" (trumpets), a
man-made tool, together with the shofar (ram's horn), which is a product
of nature.
This idea symbolized by the blowing in the Temple is true in a broader
sense. In the Beit HaMikdash, we consecrate all forces of the world to
G-d. Money is one of the great forces moving the world. The world is
not elevated by its wars and destruction, but by its elevation and
sanctification. The use of money for heavenly purposes purifies use of
money for mundane purposes. The repair ("tikkun") of people who invest
all their energies into money will come about when they use their great
economic force for heavenly purposes -- to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash.
Repression of the great force of desire for money will not bring about
the rebuilding of the Beit Beit HaMikdash and the revitalization of the
world as whole -- only the redirection of this great force out of desire
for good.
This was the special talent of David, the man who established an eternal
kingdom in Israel and to lay the foundation stone of the Beit HaMikdash
-- a man who if he had build the Beit HaMikdash, it would have never
been destroyed (Yalkut Shim'oni Shmuel II 247:145). He was the man who
had the ability to harness an apparently negative power and to seemingly
make it positive. He was the man who had the ability to find all forces
in the world -- the holy and the lowly, the pure and the defiled, the
high and the humble -- for the purpose of fixing the world with the
Kingdom of G-d -- to build the Beit HaMikdash in all its splendor.
The way of David is the way for us to go to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash -
- soon to be rebuilt.
Table of Contents
IN THE NEWS
(Arutz Sheva News Service Wednesday, Sept. 16, 1998 / Elul 25, 5758 )
ACQUITTALS FOLLOW TEMPLE CELEBRATION
For the fourth time in two weeks, members of the Chai Vekayam
organization were acquitted of charges relating to their desire to pray
on the Temple Mount. Judge Friedman-Feldman found the four members -
including Prof. Hillel Weiss - innocent of charges that they "illegally
assembled" on the Mount. She ruled that they were the victims of rioting
by Moslems and Waqf personnel there.
Prof. Hillel Weiss, one of those found innocent in the case, told
Arutz-7 today that the State Prosecutor's office simply lied when it
charged the Jews with attacking police officers. "What really
happened," explained Weiss, "is that when we ascended the Mount to pray,
we were attacked by Arabs with concrete blocks. At the height of the
onslaught, we were in real mortal danger. One of the Arabs slammed a
door closed on [fellow defendant] Yoram Cohen's arm, but he managed to
film the entire incident despite the attack. Yoram's film confirmed our
version of what happened, as opposed to the State Prosecutor's account."
Prof. Weiss opined that the ongoing violence of Wakf officials and Old
City Arabs is a product of the Israel government's failure to firmly
establish its sovereignty on the Mount. He articulated what he views as
the origin of the problem: "The government's fear of asserting itself
is an outgrowth of the fear that the Jewish people in general has of its
future, its destiny. As a result, the Jewish public recoils from any
discussion of its right to maintain a real presence on the Temple Mount.
Those who wish to pray on the Mount are conveniently transformed into
the aggressors." Weiss also sharply criticized the State Attorney's
office whose "false accusations have inspired a litany of failed
indictments" in recent months against Yesha residents and political
activists. He said that the State Attorney's Office is comprised of an
elite "which believes that it owns the country, abusing powerful
positions to push its narrow agenda."
The annual convention in honor of the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was
held last night in Binyanei Ha'Umah Convention Center in Jerusalem.
1,000 participants viewed specially-prepared videos on the Temple
service and related issues, heard poems and speeches from rabbis and
public figures, and listened to musical and cantorial selections. Many
foreign reporters covered the event.
Editors note:
Regarding the first point, congratulations to Hillel Ben Shlomo who said
the thanksgiving blessing at Shabbat services a week ago for being
released from prison after spending the Sukkot holiday there. His
sentence was for praying on the Temple Mount three years ago, and he has
been fighting this and other charges in court for three years.
Chazak ve-ematz.
About the Ve'idat HaMikdash, for those who were not fortunate enough to
attend, it was an incredible event. The arts performance were
spectacular, and they conveyed our yearning for the Beit HaMikdash in a
deep sense. The message to take home from this gathering, however, is
that we need to work for the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash.
As was said there -- "We should have come in our working cloths prepared
for construction work."
Table of Contents
Gathering en masse to arouse consciousness among the People,
its rabbis, and its leaders to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash
and return the Kohanim to their Service
P.O. Box 31336, Jerusalem, ISRAEL
Telephone: +972-2-5371904
Email: Yirmiyahu Fischer
This page hosted by
Tefillin Beit E-l: www.tefillin.co.il
HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash