A Home for Hashem

There isn't a single one of us who doesn't have a problem that hurts - some have health problems, others have financial difficulties, many have marital issues, quite a few have grief from their children. Some couples don't have children at all, and still others long to find their soulmate and are lonely in the meanwhile. If I haven't alluded to your particular problem, simply fill in the blank. We all have our ills, whether physical, emotional, spiritual, or interpersonal.

Most of us think that an "ointment" of a raise in salary, a new toy, a night on the town or relief of our localized problem will end our ills. Wrong. The root of all our ills is Jerusalem - the lack of our Holy Temple and the Divine Presence within our midst.

We sorely need the tamidim, the daily sacrifices on the altar, and especially the monthly se'ir chata'at, the sin offering that atones for all of Israel. We don't realize how badly are souls have withered, for we've never heard the sublime melodies (in this reincarnation) of 24-part Levite harmony or the magical strains of a Levite's flute and harp – one song or prayer in the Beit HaMikdash would be enough to send our souls in orbit, leaving the disgust of the gross material world that so many of are attached to.

Like those born in caves that have never seen the light, we don't know what we're missing.

Since Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish people, we have an acute national cardiac ailment. The root of the all our pain is in the heart of Judaism – Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple. Hashem wants us to wake up before 9th of Av – this Monday night and Tuesday - to ponder the meaning of the Holy Temple's destruction, not merely from a historical perspective, but from a very pragmatic contemporary perspective as well.

When we think about all that's lacking in our lives a Torah-observant people - High Priest, the sacrifices, the Levites, mitzvoth that can only be performed in the context of the Holy Temple, the Sanhedrin, true spiritual purity and true spirituality – only then do we begin to lament the Temple's destruction with any semblance of sincerity.  But rather than crying out to Hashem, we are tacitly agreeing to the dissection and ultimate surrender of Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish people. Have we asked Hashem even once to prevent the dissection of Jerusalem? Or are we more concerned about our new ceramic floor in the bathroom? We want new furniture and a remodeled kitchen, but are we aware that Hashem's Divine Presence is homeless? Isn't it time we built a home for Hashem?

With the Divine Presence within our midst, there is a limitless blessing of abundance for health, happiness, and everything we need. Our sages say that if we don't rebuild Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash in our generation, it's as if we destroyed it, Heaven forbid. Raise your voice now – skyward. Hashem is listening. Redemption could be no more than a heartbeat away. Your prayers could tip the scales for Moshiach and the full redemption of our people, and maybe we won't have to fast this week, amen.