Friday, January 18, 2013

The Temple Institute: You Shall Also Bless Me

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

The Temple Institute?

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

"You shall also bless me"
(Exodus 12:32)
Shevat 7, 5773/January 18, 2013

Torah is replete with myriad instances of what would today be branded politically incorrect. When Avraham shattered his father's idol, that was politically incorrect. When Yaakov received the blessing of the first-born, that was politically incorrect. The list goes on and on. As per today's politically correct police, no doubt G-d's creation of the world would, for one reason or another, be considered politically incorrect. But of all the politically incorrect occurrences which take place in Torah, none would rank higher than the slaughtering of the Passover lamb by Israel, while still in Egyptian bondage. This plan to slaughter what was considered by the Egyptians to be a god, and was worshipped as such, and to do so in plain sight of the Egyptians was utterly outrageous in its sheer audacity. To further embellish the effrontery, the Israelites smeared their door jambs with the blood of the slaughtered lambs, rubbing it in, as it were. This, and nothing less, was what G-d commanded Israel to do in order to merit redemption from Egypt. In effect, by so offending the sensibilities of the Egyptians, the Israelites could no longer return to the status quo ante: They would either be put to flight by the Egyptians or be slaughtered by the Egyptians. No other options were on the table. The stakes couldn't be higher, and after the first nine plagues "failed" to ensure Israel's Exodus from Egypt, G-d was very much saying to Israel, it is up to you. If freedom means anything to you at all, this is what you must do.

But G-d didn't compel Israel to go it alone. As if to say, I would never demand of you something that I wouldn't demand of Myself, G-d accompanied the Passover offering by Israel with the last and most devastating of the ten plagues: the killing of the Egyptian first-borns. And just as the Passover offering was unprecedented in its blatant lack of political correctness, so too was the killing of the first-borns by G-d unparalleled in its magnitude of political incorrectness. And as unthinkable as it is for us today, (and most likely as it was for them at the time), Israel fulfilled its end of the bargain and so did G-d. The unthinkable was done: Israel poked a finger in the eye of Egypt and G-d brought the inhabitants to their knees.

It would appear that, at the end of the day, all the requesting and reasoning and pleading by Moshe on behalf of Israel and all the strong arming by G-d was for naught. A resounding slap in the face of the Egyptian people, the Egyptian establishment, Egyptian morality, Egyptian belief system and Egyptian sense of self was what was required to free Israel of Egypt and to free Egypt of Israel. Israel and the G-d of Israel had to become totally repugnant to Egypt.

And then an amazing thing happened. Just as G-d had foretold, even before committing the great offense of slitting the throats of the Egyptian deity, and murdering their first-borns in their sleep, simply by virtue of Israel and G-d's announced intention to do so, "HaShem gave the people favor in Pharaoh's eyes; also the man Moshe was highly esteemed in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and in the eyes of the people." (Exodus 11:3) Extraordinary! And after the Passover was offered and the first-borns were slain, Pharaoh had but this to say: "Get up and get out from among my people, both you, as well as the children of Israel, and go, worship HaShem as you have spoken. Take also your flocks and also your cattle, as you have spoken, and go, but you shall also bless me." (ibid 12:31-32) Not only did Israel get all that it had ever demanded, but Pharaoh, the invincible, immortal, infallible Pharaoh, had but one last request: to be blessed by the G-d of Israel!

A controversy broke out this week when President Obama was quoted as saying that "Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are," and that the Prime Minister of Israel "is moving his country down a path toward near-total isolation." Now Barack Obama is no Pharaoh and Binyamin Netanyahu is certainly no Moshe rabbenu. But President Obama is most certainly today's arbiter and ultimate authority of what is and what isn't politically correct, just as Pharaoh was in his day. And President Obama's attitude toward Israel is identical to Pharaoh's attitude toward Israel: My way or the highway! The president of the United States is most certainly entitled to disapprove of Israel's actions, both publicly and privately, and to direct US policy toward Israel accordingly. But there is one thing in which he is completely and utterly mistaken: Israel, no matter how offensive her actions may be to the politically correct, no matter how unfathomable her desire to strengthen her presence in the land of Israel and the presence of G-d in the world may be to those whose values preclude their understanding, Israel is never alone! She was not alone in Egypt when she made herself offensive to the greatest power of its day by slaughtering its sacred lamb, and she is not alone today as she strives to fulfill the very promise that accompanied her out of Egypt: to adhere to G-d's Torah and to inherit that land promised to her fathers, the land of Israel.

Tune in to this week's Temple Talk, and join Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven, as they explore the vast dimensions of Parashat Bo, including the justice brought upon Egypt and the concept of Rosh Chodesh Nisan, and seamlessly apply these cosmic themes to our contemporary scene. In a brilliant literary stroke, they also invoke the great Hemingway and borrow his oft-quoted line, "the past isn't dead - it's not even past" to underscore the reality of this week's Torah reading. There's only one thing to add: it wasn't Hemingway who said that, it was Faulkner. Oh well, if it's not even past, then the misquote didn't happen yet! This conundrum leads to endless possibilities in the space/time continuum. Our apologies to both gentlemen.

The Torah records that Moshe utilized his staff to bring about the plagues in Egypt. In an amazing analysis of some tantalizing Midrashim, our hosts discover that this was no magic wand or prop, but rather, a signal that evokes a life-changing lesson for us today, and an insight into the dynamic reality of G-d himself. This week's Temple Talk is a collector's item!

Special Delivery: Copper Laver: The Temple Institute is busy preparing for the grand opening of its new Vistors Center. The massive Copper Laver (Hebrew, Kiyor), stands 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) tall and 2.8 meters (9.1 foot) in diameter and is kosher for use in the Third Temple. Twelve priests - kohanim - can approach the laver and simultaneously purify their hands and feet. The Laver is seen in the photograph being lifted by crane onto a tractor which will deliver it to its new home in the Temple Institute's Jerusalem headquarters. The photograph was taken outside the Old City walls. The Mount of Olives can be seen in the background. The Laver, which has never before been on permanent display, will receive a place of honor in the new Visitors Center. To learn more about the Kiyor, please click here and here.

To see a full-size image, click here.

The Ark of The Covenant: It’s well-known that the Temple Institute has no intention of recreating the Ark of the Covenant, unlike all the other sacred Temple vessels that can be seen in our Jerusalem headquarters, ready for use in the soon-to-be-rebuilt Holy Temple. The reason for this omission? We know exactly where the original is hidden, and when the time is right, it will be reinstated in its proper place. For the original ark was neither lost nor destroyed – it was hidden away by King Josiah of Israel, in anticipation of the impending destruction of the Holy Temple by the invading Babylonian army. In a subterranean chamber deep within the bowels of the Temple Mount prepared especially by King Solomon himself, the ark lays waiting for its own redemption. Until that time arrives, the Temple Institute’s spectacular new visitors center will feature a beautiful model of the Ark of the Covenant, created for educational purposes, never before displayed publicly. In this photo the model of the Ark is seen being hoisted up to a workshop, where it will undergo repairs and renovation, before being displayed in the Temple Institute's new Visitors Center. Another giant step towards the rebuilding of the Holy Temple!

To see a full-size image, click here.

For more information on the new Visitors Center, please click here.

No direction home? This is the inside-outside story of the Passover offering in Egypt and on which side of the door jamb the blood was spread and why and what's the reason for. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's teaching on parashat Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16).