Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Temple Institute: And He Called

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

The Temple Institute?

So that through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

"And He called to Moshe"
(Leviticus 1:1)
Adar 28, 5772/March 22, 2012

"And He called to Moshe." (Leviticus 1:1) With profound and sacred intimacy, G-d, (referred to by the first half of Leviticus' opening verse only as "He"), "calls" out to Moshe. This soulful, primordial call doesn't assume the form or timbre of a spoken word until the second half of our verse, "and HaShem spoke to him." This call, this pre-verbal gesture, precognitive beckoning of the Divine will toward Moshe, is Torah's deliberate and delicate way of letting us know that the book of Leviticus isn't just any book in the Tanach. It is THE book of G-d's love for man, and His desire to pursue this relationship on the level playing field, where man and G-d meet, free of pretense and unburdened either by man's myriad imperfections or by G-d's perfect One-ness, that is the Tabernacle, known in Hebrew as the Mishkan. Mishkan, from the Hebrew root for "dwelling" denoting a a place, or more specifically, a meeting place, of unlimited, uninterrupted and uncorrupted Being.

Even as we attempt to wrap our intellects around the implications of such a point of convergence and confrontation between the Divine and the profane, between the Creator and the created, we have to marvel at the shy and unassuming manner in which G-d introduces Moshe to the inner workings of the newly assembled Tabernacle, over which Moshe and the children of Israel have been tending to with unceasing dedication and devotion, so as to fulfill G-d's desire for "a Sanctuary, so that I may dwell amongst them." (Exodus 25:8) Not only is G-d not explicitly identified as the caller in the verse's opening, but the very word "and He called", in Hebrew, "vayikra" is uniquely written in every Torah scroll with a diminutive final aleph, as if to denote a whisper, or a lump in G-d's throat, as it were, choked up by the very import of the moment. For this moment, the beginning of the Divine service within the Tabernacle, is nothing less that the ultimate completion of the very first "In the beginning," the one that introduced creation. Now that G-d has lined up His creation and chosen from it His people, He can complete His creation by dwelling amongst His people. The small aleph which completes the word vayikra, "and He called," now supersedes the (always written large in every Torah scroll) letter bet of "Bereshith - In the beginning" which opens the book of Genesis. Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, at last assumes its rightful position ahead of the bet, the Hebrew alphabet's second letter. The big bang of bereshith - creation, is now and forever modified and defined by the whisper of vayikra - the voiceless call of G-d to His creation!

All this, ladies and gentlemen, is by way of introducing Moshe and the children of Israel, and ourselves, to the reality of the Divine service, the heart and the soul of which is the service of the offerings, the korbanot. Today, two thousands years after the Romans, with brutal and willful intent, destroyed the Holy Temple thus ending the Divine service and upending the order of the created world as G-d intended it, where man is supreme and the animal and vegetative and mineral worlds all play their essential role in man's worship of G-d, we effectively live in a world in which man instead aspires to serve his own physicality and animal urge. As a result, today the idea, the reality of the Divine service is grossly and devastatingly misunderstood. But how could it not be so? Like every one of the Torah commandments, the service of the offerings is to be performed and experienced, not simply studied or read about. Just as one who has never observed Shabbat as Torah intended cannot possibly comprehend its beauty, so too, all of us, even those among us whose desire to renew the Divine service burns constantly within their hearts and their souls, cannot truly grasp the spiritual enormity of the Divine service. Five decades ago the Lovin' Spoonful put it this way: "I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll." To our great regret we are currently strangers to the intimacy of the Divine service of the Holy Temple, and in our estrangement we are intimidated by it.

Our sages teach us that the Song of Songs is an allegory of the love between G-d and Israel. As such, it chronicles the ups and downs of our relationship with G-d. At times we rejoice in our closeness to HaShem and at times we grieve the seeming distance between us. The book of Leviticus isn't an allegory of the love between G-d and Israel, it is the most intimate expression of that love itself. The new month of Nisan begins on this coming shabbat. Nisan is the "first of [our] months," (Exodus 12:2) the month Israel was commanded to observe while still in Egypt, the beginning of time. The first day of Nisan was also the day, exactly one year later, that the Tabernacle was established and the Divine service was begun. It was the day that G-d whispered to Moshe, the opening words of Vayikra. On Sunday, the 2nd of Nisan, (March 25), we will be celebrating the new beginning of Nisan, the once and future reality of the Tabernacle and the Holy Temple, the Temple Mount and the pure joy and adventure of being on the receiving end of G-d's love for His creation. We invite you to join us for the 3rd Annual International Temple Mount Awareness Day 6 Hour Live Streaming Online Happening. Details are below. If we can but filter out the din and the clutter of the thousand things that pull us away from the reality of G-d's love, then surely we can still hear the soft, small aleph of G-d's call to us, beckoning us to step into His embrace, and renew as before, His Divine service.

Tune in to this week's Temple Talk, as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven are striving to hear the still, small voice and the awesome challenge of Vayikra. Why wait any longer for the world to begin? Rosh Chodesh Nisan happens this coming Shabbat, and that means that time is about to start! On that day, "the first day of the first of the months," the Tabernacle was erected, and the Divine Presence began to dwell in this world with man. Not since man's salad days back in the Garden of Eden had this relationship been manifest! No wonder Nisan is the time of the Exodus from Egypt, the time of spring, the time of the earth blossoming forth in joy and song... it's all a reflection of G-d's joy at being welcomed back into this world again. What a perfect time to begin reading the enigmatic, ever-fresh book of Vayikra, otherwise known as Leviticus, G-d's own whole-earth manual for "synchronization." The question is: Do we get it? This week's Temple Talk examines the breathless confluence of the beginning of this widely misunderstood third book of the Torah, the month of Nisan, the special Torah reading for Rosh Chodesh Nisan, - and of course, the major upcoming Temple event, the Third Annual Temple Mount Awareness Day six-hour live stream video happening, this Sunday March 25th.

SUNDAY, MARCH 25TH: THE 3RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL TEMPLE MOUNT AWARENESS DAY ONLINE SIX HOUR STREAMING VIDEO HAPPENING! 5 PM - 11 PM, Israel time, (11 AM - 5 PM Eastern; 10 AM - 4 PM Central; 9 AM - 3 PM Mountain; 8 AM - 2 PM Pacific). We are busy making every effort to make our upcoming 3rd Annual International Temple Mount Awareness Day Online Six Hour Streaming Video Happening the very best yet! We are working with a first-rate, top-notch production team, and have invited a very special array of guests to join us for the event. Our goal is to deliver a day both informative and entertaining; a day in which our love and enthusiasm for the Temple Mount and the Holy Temple will be palpably in the air, so much so, that you, our viewing audience, will likewise be swept up in the joy of the Beit HaMikdash - the Holy Temple. In short, Sunday, March 25th, is going to be a celebration that you are personally being invited to join us in. We hope to "see" you there! You will also be able to participate in the event via the chatroom that will appear on the same web page as the online streaming video. To learn more about the upcoming International Temple Mount Awareness Day Online Happening, including our line up of special guests, please click here.

In addition, we also call upon everyone whose heart moves them, and who has the ability, to help sponsor the online Temple Mount Awareness Day event. Our sponsors names are listed on our website, and will appear on screen throughout the live event. Sponsors can even call in their pledges throughout the webcast, via our 1-800-940-9121 toll-free number. For complete sponsorship information, click here.

WATCH OUR TWO-MINUTE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO!
Click here.

This week's all-new Bat Melech teaching by Rena Richman, is entitled, "The Well of Miriam, Part III: The prophet Miriam: Sanctified and dedicated to her people. In this all-new series, Rena explores the life and work of this great leader of Israel." Click here to view.

This week's all-new Return of Prophecy teaching by Rabbi Avraham Sutton, is entitled, "Chapter 17: Day Six: Adam's Garments of Light: Man is created: A rarefied being." Click here to view.

Inside the Tabernacle we return to Gan Eden and to the pristine, sacred and intimate relationship with G-d that was intended from the very start. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's teaching on parashat Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1-5:26).