ADDRESS AT THE VE'IDAT HAMIKDASH BY THE RAV OF THE TENU'AH

(originally published in Bein HaUlam LaMizbeach, issue 15)

Thousands of seekers of the Beit HaMikdash in Israel gathered together in Ellul 5758 to heed the calling of HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash, in Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem for the annual conference.

The Israeli media was taken aback by the multitudes gathering to call for the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash now. They are unable to deal with the People, and they have become deaf communicators -- never showing or interviewing people yearning for the Beit HaMikdash. All they showed was a mockery and hiding from the situation. For the benefit of those who were not able to make it, here is a recap of the message by the leaders of HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash.

There are those among us who ask: Is it permissible to go up to Eretz Yisrael? Is it permissible to go up to Jerusalem? Is it permissible to go up to the Temple Mount? Or should we ask -- Are we required to go up to Eretz Yisrael? Are we required to go up to Jerusalem? Are we required to go up to the Temple Mount? There is little for me to add, but they asked me to speak, so I say --

Just look up, and you will see that people have come from all over the world.

Ten years ago, we dreamed that one day, thousands of seekers of the Beit HaMikdash would gather in Binyanei HaUma. We have reached this, thank G-d, without governmental assistance and so far without millions of dollars -- only with your efforts and the efforts of the Jewish People, little Jews like you and me, who know what they want and are determined with their constant effort, and with the help of Rav Yishai Baabad from Tefillin Beit El.

"Take heed and hearken, O Israel. This day you have become the People of Hashem your G-d. You shall therefore obey the voice of Hashem your G-d and perform His commandments." The first thing one learns in tractate Yoma in the Jerusalem Talmud is that whoever in his time the Beit HaMikdash was not rebuilt, it is as if he destroyed it! I destroyed it? You destroyed it? Surely we agree that it should be rebuilt! Listen to me, my friends in HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash, my dear seekers of the Mikdash and the Temple Mount, and listen to me all of Israel --

When we were children -- young individuals here and there. We were upset at the leaders, we were angry at the rabbis, we were shocked at our politicians, and we made fun of our judges -- why when it comes to our Holy Place are our holy people dedicated to foreign worship but not to to Hashem and to us?

Thank G-d, we have grown up and flourished and become a People, and we have no right to ask anything from anyone.

It is all up to us. If we will be serious, if we will desire the Beit HaMikdash, if we will enter the Temple Mount, if take advantage of the rights we do have -- we will have what we currently do have and what we do not yet have. No one can stop us, and no one can distract us. If today, we do not all together decide to join the demanders of the Temple -- all of us who visit the Temple Mount at least 12 times a year and contribute a shekel a day in a "horaat keva'" (automatic regular bank transfer).

But if we all together accept upon ourselves the yoke of the heavenly kingdom for the sake of the House of Hashem our G-d. There are already three times as many people standing here as there are members of the Tenu'ah. There are also multitudes of people like us who could not make it tonight. But the spirit of this event will reach them -- even through the media -- they thought for the bad, and Hashem turned it into good. If tomorrow, there is not a national movement to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash, it will be our fault, for not taking our strength and desire seriously. The People who lit the candle of the State of Israel will not light the candle of the Beit HaMikdash? We will all light it up!

We can now imagine how many new "olim" (ascenders) to the Temple Mount there will be. We can envision a nationwide flow of information -- written and broadcast, regular and continuous -- for the Judaization of the place of the Beit HaMikdash. Will there be a revolution, will there be a change, and how will it be? Who will we ask this from -- the office people? the government people? What right do we have to ask for dedication from other people unless we put in our full efforts? Tonight, with the holy community around us, we can decide out loud that we will surely go up and inherit it, because we can do it. If you will it, it is not a legend, on the condition that we put the "na'ase" (we will do) before the "nishma'" (we will hear). This Torah is not in heaven.

Many make the mistake, some rabbis among them, that the Beit HaMikdash will fall on our heads from heaven. Dreams in Bet El about a ladder whose head reaches the heaven and angels of G-d ascending and descending on it are only dreamt on the way to exile. On the way back to the Land of Israel, all is done in the natural plane, and we must sometimes wrestle with angels alone, like with the man until dawn (Ya'akov), and to take the sprained ankle. We will continue until victory.

All the commentaries explain that the Beit HaMikdash coming from heaven is the way of the soul from above, but the parents must make the body here on earth. Even when the Maharal made body from divine names, it turned out to be a "golem".

The ascetic separation between heaven and earth, the division between holiness from heaven and the spirit of this lowly generation -- is not Jewish and borders on idolatry. We Jews sanctify the earth and the earthly -- that which exists, and we do not invent new ascetic holiness. Avraham our patriarch came from Terach, Rabbi Akiva from converts, and Mashiach the son of David will come from Ammonites and Moabites. The Jewish Temple -- the Temple of Hashem which Your hands have established -- is the actions of the righteous, as explained in the Talmud, tractate Ketubot. G-d is in the heavens, but you are on earth.

To wait for someone else to do it for you, someone of unlimited talent and stature, is no different that to wait for a miracle from heaven, and this is against the Jewish religion. "To the place that Hashem chose." Everyone must make a decision -- am I going to the House G-d Chose, or will I suffice by confessing before a spiritual leader, so that my sin will be atoned.

"The least one shall become a thousand, and the smallest one a strong nation, I Hashem will hasten it in its time." (Yeshayahu 60:22)

Holy congregation, we are all attentive to the podium, and thank G-d, it was very interesting to see, and nevertheless looking from the height of the podium, I am impressed and proud of you, and I tell you that there is a deep desire of this holy nation, as the prophet said of it, "more are with us than with them" (Melachim B 6:16) is the message of this evening. We may be the little people, but the Holy and the Temple and the Temple Mount are ours, and it is only missing to us, and only we have the ability to rebuild it and be rebuilt with it. We alone, with our determination, will go and save the Jewish People and ourselves. This is what our Rabbis meant in the Jerusalem Talmud, "Whoever in his time the Beit HaMikdash was not rebuilt, it is as if he destroyed it." My part is cessation, and yours is sitting and doing nothing. This is the personal portion each of us has in the destruction -- not doing what no one can do instead of us.

One small step towards this goal is to send in the membership forms to HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash with a "horaat keva'", as it is written, "and they shall take for me a donation ... And they shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them." (Shmot 25) Amen and may it be the Divine Will, soon in our time.

The days of mercy and the holidays have started. "We shall go with our youth and our elders, with our sons and daughters" -- let us make the pilgrimage to the Temple Mount. Let us not leave the Temple mount unvisited in the month of Tishrei -- every morning and afternoon until 1:30, some in groups and some alone. "Everyone may enter to build and repair" to see and be seen, and may Hashem finish the work of our hands.

Please note: Although this gathering was very successful in bringing together seekers of the Beit HaMikdash and raising consciousness among the Jewish People, it costed more than the tickets covered. This leaves HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash with a deficit of a few thousand shekels. If the Tenu'ah is going to be able to continue with its efforts and possibly do another event if, G-d forbid, the Beit HaMikdash is not built by next year, it is essential that the debt be paid off. Donations to the Tenu'ah to offset this deficit would be greatly appreciated.

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HaTenu'ah LeChinun HaMikdash

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

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