The Talmud in Tractate Sukkah talks about Raban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva, four holy Tannaim, who walked down the road and heard the uproar of the Romans from a distance of hundreds of miles. There was so much joy and cheer in Rome that it could be heard far away as the Land of Israel. Upon hearing the commotion, Raban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah and Rabbi Yehoshua cried, while Rabbi Akiva rejoiced and laughed. Why are you happy? His friends asked And why are you crying? Rabbi Akiva answered. How can we not cry when those idol worshipers rejoice while our Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) is burned? They answered Thats the very reason Im so happy, Rabbi Akiva replied. Please explain, they said. if we see that transgressors of Hashems will enjoy so much success and happiness- how much more joy and success will be relished by those who perform His will? Certainty, the Nation of Israel will ultimately merit tremendous joy, infinitely more than the joy the Romans are experiencing now, Rabbi Akiva explained. Rabbi Akiva was adamant to see only the good in every situation, including the aftermath of The Beis HaMikdashs (Holy Temples) destruction. He even saw the good in the fact that those who angered Hashem could enjoy happiness and success. He managed to extract the positive message from any situation. He realized- in the case of the Romans- that if those who anger Hashem receive so much revealed good, one can only imagine the blessings that will come, in due time, for those whose actions gratify Hashem will. We learn form Rabbi Akiva that although we are commanded to cry over the destruction of the Holy Temple, we should only do so durning the midnight prayer (Tikkun Chatzot) and on Tisha BAv. Those times aside, we should be strictly happy- always. The Talmud relates that these four great sages continued walking and reached Mount Scopus, overlooking the site of the Holy Temple. They stood there and tore their clothing as a sign of mourning. (This law is still performed today; anyone who views the destroyed site of the a Temple after not seeing it for thirty days must make a tear in his clothing, similar to a person mourning for a relative, Heaven forbid). The sages saw a fox coming out of the place where the Holy of Holies had stood. They began to cry. But Rabbi Akiva retorted. How can we not cry? They asked. The place of which it is written And the foreigner who nears it will be put to death now foxes walking through it- and we shouldnt cry? And you, what are you laughing about? Rabbi Akiva said to the sages; As long as the prophecy of destruction was not fulfilled I was concerned that the prophecy of redemption would also not be fulfilled. But now that the destruction has indeed taken place, we can be sure that the prophecy of Zachariah will also be fulfilled, and there will be a great salvation and complete redemption., happiness and joy for the Jews. That is why I am happy and laughing. Rabbi Akiva shows us how a servant of Hashem must look at the world. He knew when to cry and when to rejoice. When he did cry, it was not if ingratitude, sadness nor dispair. His tears were tears of longing. What is astonishing about this story is that it reflects Melech Yeshua in every way. Just as the Holy Temple was destroyed by the Romans so was He. Melech Yeshua gave up HIS life in a very dramatic way to give us assurance and be a testimony of Scripture, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The details of Yeshuas last hours are so cruel that the human mind has a hard time grasping the severity of the torture that HE endured for us. History tells us that the method of execution by the Romans was devised to assure death. The prophecy in Zachariah that Rabbi Akiva spoke of has been fulfilled by Melech Yeshua. Now that the death (destruction) has taken place, we have a great salvation and complete redemption (Yeshua). Therefore, just as Yeshua said what are you weeping for ?, we should be happy and rejoice. Yes, there is great longing for our Melech but we should be happy, due to the fact that He is constantly intersecting on our behalf and He paid the ultimate price for our sins. He is our salvation, Yeshua literally means salvation as in what He supplies to those who believe in Him. In Matthew 1:21. Yeshua lives; Yeshua reigns; Yeshua is Messiah, and Yeshua is returning. Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” From this saying we learn several things. First, that simple faith in Yeshua brings forgiveness of sins and eternal life in His presence. The unnamed thief undergoes no religious ritual or prolonged conversion process but by simple expression of emuna in Yeshua receives the promise of sins forgiven and life after death with his Savior. While the word “Paradise” speaks to the reality of the intermediate state for believers, it gives us only a mere glimpse without much explanation. But what we do learn from this saying of Yeshua is that following the death of one who has believed in Yeshua, the conscious soul of that person resides in a state of peace, tranquility, beauty and comfort, which is the picture given by the word “Paradise,” for it reflects the Gan Eden before sin entered the world. Moreover, the bliss and shalom of this place is secured by the very presence of Yeshua Himself. He became vulnerable in order to open the way to intimacy with the Father. No one comes to the Father but thru me. Hashem also said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM Exodus 3:14. Yeshua is using the same phrase numourse times in His teachings. Yeshua is telling them that he is the same I AM that Moses met at the burning bush. John 6:51:”I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;” John 8:23: And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I AM from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. John 8:12: Then Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I AM the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:58, John 10:9, John 10:1, John 10:36, John 11:25, John 14:6, Acts 9:5........ Now we also need to make note of is with the destruction of the second Temple. Lets think for a moment. Do we miss the Holy Temple? If we really did want to rebuilt it, then why do we continue crying? If we truly lamented the loss of our a Holy a Temple, it would have already been built. Our sages teach us that if the Holy Temple is not built in our generation, then its as if it were destroyed in our generation. How can that be? Hashem certainly didnt want the Holy Temple destroyed again, so He wont rebuilt it for us until we are worthy. To merit the Holy Temple, we must return to the path of truth and faith. Every person must strive to do his or her part to avoid being an agent of delay in the full redemption of our people, and rebuilding of our Holy a temple. We can achieve this by strengthening our emuna and enhancing our gratitude to Hashem for everything He does, the good and seemingly otherwise. We can cry justifiable tears because of our sins, which delay the rebuilding of the Holy a temple, or over the painful fact that the Jewish people and worlds at large are shrouded in heavy spiritual darkness. But after one has finished crying, he must be happy and shift into a more constructive mode. Even on Tisha BAv when one laments four hours, he must be careful not to fall into the pit of sadness. Being happy, a person not only strengthens his own emuna, but he also had the ability to help others strengthen themselves as well. In turn, he plays a role in hastening the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Hashem changed His mode of interaction with the universe. Until the destruction, the Temple was the window to Hashems spirituality had a physical home in Jerusalem. With the destruction, Hashem temporarily removed the Temple from its geographic location and placed it within us. Instead of traveling to Jerusalem, He wanted us to find Him in our inner Jerusalem. Now, our bodies are our Temples, our souls are our windows, our minds are our kohanim and our animal instincts are our sacrifices. We cannot offer physical sacrifices three times a day, but we can pray three times a day. We cannot attend Temple services three times a day, but we can tap into our souls three times a day. We cannot atone for our shortcomings by sacrificing animals, but we can sacrifice our inner animals—our hormones, our lusts, our desires, our beastly compulsions. We cannot find Hashem in The Holy Temple in Jerusalem; we must find Him in us. The Temple was a shrine to Hashem and all the things that He means: responsibility, morality, ethics, love, compassion, humility, joy, peace, kindness, generosity......... If the times of the Temple were principally Hashem reaching down to His world, then the times of our exile are us reaching up, from within that world. But we can not rebuilt our Temple within us if we keep crying, being sad and constantly complaining about he way Hashem is running things. Using Lashon Hara, hatred, hostility among Jews and pointing out what everyone is doing wrong. So just as we are guilty of the Holy Temple not being rebuilt today so we are guilty of not having the Temple with in us. It is about an internal restoration first, bringing Heaven down to Earth. We first have to built the Holy Temple within us so that the Ruch HaKodesh has a dwelling place before we can even think of having a Holy Temple in the physical. Rashi, by contrast, explains that the Beis HaMikdash has already been constructed by Hashem and exists in the heavenly realms, waiting for the time when it will descend to the earth. For the Third Beis HaMikdash will be “the Sanctuary of Hashem, established by Your hands.”When the setting within the world, within us is appropriate, this heavenly structure will descend and become an actual reality within our material world. This is Hashems master plan. First, a sweeping, dramatic outdoor concert of public spirituality, reaching viscerally and tangibly into the everyday, physical reality. Then He exchanges this for an internal, personal, private experience, forcing us to reach up to find Him, bringing the entire Creation along with us. Together, the two experiences lay the groundwork for the third and final Temple—an age that will synthesize both directions of spirituality. An age of where His presence inside our hearts and minds and in the physical world is internalized to achieve a whole new reality: The Moshiach within us. Do you not know that your body is the temple of The Spirit of Holiness who dwells within you, whom you have received from Hashem, and you are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19 We have to find our Gan Eden within ourselves which we have been granted thru Melech Yeshua, whoever believes in Him and applies these good attributes will live in a constant state of Shalom, tranquility, love for one another, joy, humility and kindness. We learn the most valuable lesson from all this; To live a life in a constant state of gratitude, happiness and joy. We have absolutely no reason to ever be sad, depressed or complaining about anything. That is the only way to bring Tikkun olam (world repair) and helping to built Beis HaMikdash (The Holy Temple). How can we help built the Beis HaMikdash? It starts within us!!! By Jennifer Wittkopp
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 17:05:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015