Each day in camp we sing a joyous melody during the morning prayers which expresses the hope that "Sheyibonah Beit Hamikdash", "May the Temple (in Jerusalem) be rebuilt". The kids love the song, and the sing with joy and zest as they bang on the table and blast out this song and its message.
This morning, a young camper approached me and told me he had a question to ask me, and he proceeded to ask me "why can't we just go and take the stones and Jerusalem stone and rebuild the Temple together as a Jewish people"?
It was a great question from an inquisitive young mind, why just pray for this to happen, why not take a hammer and rebuild it?
I told him that this was truly a great question, but that this prayer is more than just asking G-d to make it happen, it is also a reminder to all of us, to do acts of goodness and kindness, and do another Mitzvah each day to better the world, which are the spiritual bricks that are slowly but surely making the world become the beautiful world it is supposed to be.
In other words, it is not just a building we are praying and working towards, but also a whole new dynamic in the world, where humanity as a whole, believes in each other and in making the world be what G-d wants it to be. The Temple in Jerusalem which we as a Jewish people pray for, is the culmination of this new reality, and one which our faith teaches us will be a place for all people to come and serve G-d together, in beautifying the world in the way G-d intended it to be.
This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of vision, which we read about the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and we also think and visualize the hopes of the future when the Temple will be rebuilt.
It is the intro into the coming week, when we will observe the fast of the 9th of Av and remember the destructions of the Temples and so many other tragedies and also imagine and focus on the future.
During these next few days as we remember the destructions of the past, I will be reminded of the question of this young boy, why don't we build it, or in a deeper way, what are we doing each day to build the better the world of the future?
Please join us for Shabbat Services tomorrow and the luncheon that follows, and please join us for the lecture on Tuesday evening "Leadership after Oct 7th" and the events of the 9th Av on Wednesday evening and Thursday.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Yisroel