Playing With Fire – Shmini
讜ַ讬ִּ拽ְ讞讜ּ 讘ְ谞ֵ讬 讗ַ讛ֲ专ֹ谉 谞ָ讚ָ讘 讜ַ讗ֲ讘ִ讬讛讜ּ讗 讗ִ讬砖ׁ 诪ַ讞ְ转ָּ转讜ֹ 讜ַ讬ִּ转ְּ谞讜ּ 讘ָ讛ֵ谉 讗ֵ砖ׁ 讜ַ讬ָּ砖ִׂ讬诪讜ּ 注ָ诇ֶ讬讛ָ 拽ְ讟ֹ专ֶ转 讜ַ讬ַּ拽ְ专ִ讬讘讜ּ 诇ִ驻ְ谞ֵ讬 讛' 讗ֵ砖ׁ 讝ָ专ָ讛 讗ֲ砖ֶׁ专 诇ֹ讗 爪ִ讜ָּ讛 讗ֹ转ָ诐. 讜ַ转ֵּ爪ֵ讗 讗ֵ砖ׁ 诪ִ诇ִּ驻ְ谞ֵ讬 讛' 讜ַ转ֹּ讗讻ַ诇 讗讜ֹ转ָ诐 讜ַ讬ָּ诪ֻ转讜ּ 诇ִ驻ְ谞ֵ讬 讛'. (讜讬拽专讗 讬, 讗-讘)
In parshat Shmini we read about the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, on the 8th day of Nisan, the day of the inauguration of the Mishkan – a day that epitomized the climax of celebration and redemption of Am Yisrael.
Just one passuk before, we read about a different kind of fire 讜ַ转ֵּ爪ֵ讗 讗ֵ砖ׁ 诪ִ诇ִּ驻ְ谞ֵ讬 讛' 讜ַ转ֹּ讗讻ַ诇 注ַ诇 讛ַ诪ִּ讝ְ讘ֵּ讞ַ 讗ֶ转 讛ָ注ֹ诇ָ讛 讜ְ讗ֶ转 讛ַ讞ֲ诇ָ讘ִ讬诐 讜ַ讬ַּ专ְ讗 讻ׇּ诇 讛ָ注ָ诐 讜ַ讬ָּ专ֹ谞ּ讜ּ 讜ַ讬ִּ驻ְּ诇讜ּ 注ַ诇 驻ְּ谞ֵ讬讛ֶ诐 (讜讬拽专讗 讟, 讻讚). HKB"H's fire descended onto the mizbeach and consumed the korbanot. This was not fire made by man - it was unmistakably supernatural, Heavenly fire, a clear, visible sign that HKB"H's Shechina rested amongst Am Yisrael in the Mishkan. This caused Am Yisrael to rejoice and to fall on their faces in awe, what is known as 讙ִּ诇ּ讜ּ 讘ִּ专ְ注ָ讚ָ讛.
Immediately after that we have two additional psukkim that speak about fire – Nadav and Avihu bringing an 讗ֵ砖ׁ 讝ָ专ָ讛, which resulted in a second Heavenly fire that descended and consumed them, causing their deaths.
The stark contrast between "fire of celebration" and "fire of retribution" in such a short time period is jarring and difficult to reconcile. According to the Midrash (住驻专讗) Nadav and Avihu sinned much early, at Har Sinai, but HKB"H did not take retribution on them at that time, because He did not want to ruin the rejoicing of Matan Torah. If so, why did HKB"H take their lives on the day of the inauguration of the Mishkan and ruin the celebrations of that great day? Could it not have waited until after the celebration?
According to the Or HaChaim (ibid.) Nadav and Avihu knew that their actions would result in death, but so great was their desire to be closer to the Shechina through the act of bringing the Ketoret, that they were willing to die for it. HaRav Baruch Rosenblum 砖诇讬讟"讗 says that it is like someone who is willing to risk their life to climb Mt. Everest, just to experience the sublime feeling of reaching the peak and being closer to Heaven than another other point on earth.
In a similar vein he says that in the sin of Korach, all the followers of Korach knew that they were going to die if they brought the Ketoret, but they went ahead with it anyway, because it was something they felt was worth dying for. Same with all the Kohanim Gedolim in the time of Bayit Sheini who bribed and paid to be Kohen Gadol. They knew when they entered the Kodesh HaKodashim on Yom Kippur they would die, but they considered it worth the cost. This is why there was such a turnover of Kohanim Gedolim in the period of Bayit Sheini.
In a previous shiur (Shmini 2025) we discussed the sin of Nadav and Avihu in more detail, and we will not repeat that here. Instead, I would like to explore a topic related to the above, but which is also connected to current events and raises a major issue that Am Yisrael, in this generation and these times need to address.
The question is "Is it possible to experience the presence of the Shechina today, even though we don't have the Beit HaMikdash?"
To illustrate, I would like to bring a mashal from the movie "Avatar". For those who have not seen this great (3D) movie, it is a fictional, futuristic story about pioneers from a dying planet earth who try to save humankind from extinction by attempting to colonize another planet with its own indigenous population, culture and religious beliefs.
This native population is connected to their wellspring of existence through the "Home Tree", a special, magical tree that connects past, present and future and is the source of all life for these people. In the movie, some evil humans destroy the "Home Tree", thus scattering the native population and managing to take control of the planet. Without the umbilical cord of their "Home Tree" to connect them, the planet's society collapsed.
For Am Yisrael, our "Home Tree" (lehavdil) is the Beit HaMikdash. One might think that since our "Home Tree" has been destroyed, it is no longer possible to experience the Shechina. Am Yisrael at the inauguration of the Mishkan, above, experienced the presence of the Shechina with their own eyes. They saw the fire descending from Heaven onto the mizbeach.
The Mishna (讗讘讜转 讙, 讜) says that even though we no longer have the Beit HaMikdash, it is still possible to experience the Shechina. If ten people are 注讜ֹ住ְ拽ִ讬谉 讘ַּ转ּ讜ֹ专ָ讛, the presence of the Shechina is 砖ְׁ专讜ּ讬ָ讛 讘ֵּ讬谞ֵ讬讛ֶ诐 – the premise of a minyan. However, it is not only if there are ten or more. If there are 5, 3, 2, even one person who is 注讜ֹ住ֵ拽 讘ַּ转ּ讜ֹ专ָ讛, the Shechina can be present. The Mishna brings various psukkim to prove each number.
Each and every one of us have experienced the Shechina at least once during our lives (probably many more) and I can prove it.
Anyone who has been present in shul when the Kohanim go up to duchen – every day in Israel and on chagim in the Diaspora – knows not to look directly at the Kohanim while they are reciting the priestly blessing. Why? Because the Shechina is present in the spaces between their fingers and we are not allowed to gaze directly at the Shechina. The 讬ִ专ְ讗ַ转 砖ָׁ诪ַ讬ִ诐 we have is equivalent to Am Yisrael falling on their faces and rejoicing in our passuk above (hint: – we need to rejoice when we listen to 讘ִּ专ְ讻ַּ转 讻ֹּ讛ֲ谞ִ讬诐, at least have a smile on our face throughout – and certainly to not chat with the person sitting next to us in shul during the blessing).
However, it is not limited to being in shul, with a minyan, where the Mishna specifically tells us that the Shechina rests. All of us have experienced the Shechina on a personal, individual level at some point in our lives, be it a period of crisis, joy, epiphany, challenge, etc. I personally experienced it multiple times during the writing of sefer Meir Panim, the undeniable siyata di'Shmaya guiding my eye and my pen to discover and record things that could never possibly have emanated from my own limited intellect.
When I reread the sefer (I try to read it often, to keep the details clear and vivid in my memory – R' Eliezer ben Horkenos had to repeat things 100 times before it sank in, this Eliezer needs many more than 100 times), when I get to certain sections, I cannot believe that it was my hand that actually wrote those words. Sometimes, I cry tears of joy when I read them. That is experiencing the Shechina.
This is what David HaMelech meant when he said 讗ַ讞ַ转 砖ָׁ讗ַ诇ְ转ִּ讬 诪ֵ讗ֵ转 讛' 讗讜ֹ转ָ讛ּ 讗ֲ讘ַ拽ֵּ砖ׁ 砖ִׁ讘ְ转ִּ讬 讘ְּ讘ֵ讬转 讛' 讻ׇּ诇 讬ְ诪ֵ讬 讞ַ讬ַּ讬 诇ַ讞ֲ讝讜ֹ转 讘ְּ谞ֹ注ַ诐 讛' 讜ּ诇ְ讘ַ拽ֵּ专 讘ְּ讛ֵ讬讻ָ诇讜ֹ (转讛讬诇讬诐 讻讝, 讚). The 谞ֹ注ַ诐 讛' he is referring to is the Shechina. Once someone has experienced the 谞ֹ注ַ诐, the Shechina, all other pleasures in the world pale in comparison. David HaMelech personally experienced the Shechina, which enveloped him 24/7.
Even without the Beit HaMikdash we can experience the Shechina! So, why then do we need the Beit HaMikdash at all? Why was it insufficient for HKB"H to leave the world with the reality of the Avot, individual families, whose reality and everyday existence were de facto like having a Mikdash! The Ramban, in his introduction to sefer Shmot, says that the tents of the Avot were de facto a Beit Mikdash – the Menorah, perpetually lit, the blessing in the bread (Shulchan) and the Shechina in a cloud on the tent. Why is having a "personal", private Beit Mikdash insufficient? The passuk says 讜ְ注ָ砖ׂ讜ּ 诇ִ讬 诪ִ拽ְ讚ָּ砖ׁ 讜ְ砖ָׁ讻ַ谞ְ转ִּ讬 讘ְּ转讜ֹ讻ָ诐 (砖诪讜转 讻讛, 讞) – the ultimate purpose of the Beit Mikdash is to create a Mikdash within ourselves anyway!
However, that was not HKB"H's plan. It is not enough that each person has a private Mikdash within them and experiences the Shechina on a personal level, HKB"H also wanted us to have "national Beit Mikdash", in addition to the personal version. This is why He commanded us to build the Mishkan in the Midbar, which then entered Eretz Yisrael with Yehoshua.
This is where David HaMelech learned it from, that a situation where a national Mikdash does not exist – is unacceptable. Mishkan Shilo had been destroyed and the Aron HaBrit was "wandering" from place to place and was not permanently resting where it should. David, who was already king and had defeated his enemies, said "This is totally unacceptable! It cannot be that I am living in a 讘ֵּ讬转 讗ֲ专ָ讝ִ讬诐 while the Aron HaBrit is in storage" (砖诪讜讗诇 讘, 讝, 讘). That night HKB"H appeared to Natan HaNavi and said "Quick! Go immediately to David and tell him not to build the Mikdash.
I know David, when he gets an idea in his head, he doesn't mess around! David will get up early next morning and start building the Mikdash!" Natan Hanavi appeared in front of David the following morning and said "HKB"H says wait. You will not be the one to build the national Mikdash, it will be your son Shlomo" (why David was not zocheh, we will examine later).
David HaMelech's words should be reverberating in our ears every minute of every day! "How is it possible that I am living in a comfortable house/apartment, with a leather upholstered lounge suite, a well-equipped kitchen, an ornate jacuzzi in the bathroom, a shaded swing chair on the porch overlooking the garden … while HKB"H's "house" has not yet been built! This is totally unacceptable!" You might say "Well that is not true, we have built a beautiful shul in our community with an ornate Aron Kodesh, wood pews, stained glass windows, lavish carpeting … I personally donated a large sum for building it!" It is true the shul is called a 诪ִ拽ְ讚ָּ砖ׁ 诪ְ注ַ讟, but it is still a "personal" Mikdash, on a small community level, like that of the Avot perhaps. It is not yet a "national" Mikdash that the Rambam says we have a 诪ִ爪ְ讜ַ转 注ֲ砖ֵׂ讛 to build (讛诇讻讜转 讘讬转 讛讘讞讬专讛 讗, 讗).
What purpose does a national Mikdash serve that a private Mikdash doesn't?
The answer is that each of us having a private Mikdash preserves the integrity of Am Yisrael and allows the Shechina to rest within Am Yisrael. Having a national Mikdash preserves the integrity of and allows the Shechina to rest in the … WHOLE WORLD!
The purpose of Am Yisrael is not only to be an 注ַ诐 诇ְ讘ָ讚ָ讚 讬ִ砖ְׁ讻ֹּ谉 and to selfishly keep the Shechina to ourselves. It is to do tikkun olam, to be an 讗讜ֹ专 诇ַ讙ּ讜ֹ讬ִ诐 so that the entire human race will achieve completion! This is the purpose for which HKB"H created the world, and this is the mission and role of Am Yisrael in the world. By not building a national Beit Mikdash we are dooming the rest of the world to poverty and war. Only when the Beit HaMikdash exists will the entire world be blessed and peace will reign. This is why the nations have to send representatives to the Beit HaMikdash on Sukkot, to thank HKB"H for their bounty that exists by virtue of the Beit HaMikdash.
Some of us are more attuned to the Shechina than others. Those who are more 诪ִ转ְ注ַ住ְּ拽ִ讬诐 讘ַּ转ּ讜ֹ专ָ讛, as the Mishna says, will be more attuned. The greater the 注ִ住ּ讜ּ拽, the more attuned we will be.
Similarly, some of us are more attuned to building our private Mikdash, while others are more attuned to building our national Mikdash. Ideally there should be a balance between and an equal focus on both, however, in this generation that is hard to find. Some are completely unattuned, not to building the private nor the national Mikdash.
Without generalizing, the Charedi sector (with the exception of Chabad and Brisk) is predominantly focused on building the private Mikdash and is purposely unfocused on building the national Mikdash, which they believe will descend ready made from Heaven. They are often, sometimes violently, against any attempts to our building it (despite the psak of the Rambam), or even devoting time to studying it. With the exception of one or two, the vast majority of Charedi yeshivas focus on studying the "seven masechtot" of halacha intensively, while the entire seder Kodshim is purposely neglected.
Perhaps the most interesting and perplexing phenomenon that prevails today (also without generalizing) is that the National Religious sector, who ideologically do believe in settling and rebuilding Eretz Yisrael and fulfilling the psak of the Rambam to build the national Mikdash - while they verbally express support for it, they sadly take little active part in it. In the microcosm of our activities in Machon Lechem HaPanim (which is a mirror to the larger picture), we have found that the Dati Leumi sector is almost totally uninterested in taking any active part in building the national Beit HaMikdash.
While they do not voice opposition to it like the Charedi sector does, their support is mostly lip service and nothing more. The largest demographic that attends our Lechem HaPanim workshops is Chabad. We have repeatedly found that spending equal amounts on advertising our activities to the Dati Leumi sector and to the Chabad sector results in an overwhelming majority of participants to our workshops from the Chabad sector.
This is a very surprising reality, given that the "motto" of the Dati Leumi sector (to which I belong) is 转ּ讜ֹ专ָ讛 讜ַ注ֲ讘讜ֹ讚ָ讛, which essentially means studying Torah and building and serving in the Beit HaMikdash! However, the 注ֲ讘讜ֹ讚ָ讛 part has been "transformed" into something else - being participant in the economy of the country (studying/working for a parnasa, serving in the army, etc. – all of which are no less important, but also no more important than building the national Mikdash). I attribute this phenomenon to the bourgeois mindset that has mostly overtaken the Dati Leumi sector, in which building the national Mikdash does not really fit in with the busy schedule of other "more important" things. In this, the Dati Leumi sector has become identical to the Charedi sector, who regard the Beit HaMikdash very low priority, compared to the other "more important" issues.
I will not even speak about the secular sector, for whom the national Mikash is a total non-entity and is as foreign to them as aliens from the planet in the movie Avatar. This was the opinion of an Ha'aretz reporter who came to write an article on our workshops.
After Chabad, I am sad to say, the largest population group who are interested in building the national Beit HaMikdash are – Evangelical Christians! This is an enormous 拽ִ讟ְ专讜ּ讙 on Am Yisrael, Rachmana litzlan, that the goyim are more interested in our destiny than we are.
There is, I am glad to say, a small, but growing group of the younger generation, many from the 谞ֹ注ַ专 讛ַ讙ְּ讘ָ注讜ֹ转, who have been captivated with the concept of rebuilding the national Mikdash. They frequently engage in activism, trying to change the status quo on Har HaBayit, trying to offer korbanot, like recently trying to bring a Korban Pesach on Har HaBayit, etc. Last Shavuot they tried to offer the Shtei HaLechem on Har HaBayit, in an intricate mission that could put many Hollywood movies to shame.
They smuggled in the two large loaves in a baby stroller, underneath the baby! Unfortunately, while this group are highly focused on building the national Mikdash, they are less focused on the private Mikdash, paying less attention to halacha than to evading the secret service. Last year I voiced frustration with the way they conducted the mission which resulted in the Shtei HaLechem on Har HaBayit being pigul – unfit for the korban (see shiur on Naso 2025).
I participated in a Mikdash conference last year in Jerusalem and heard HaRav Yisrael Ariel 砖诇讬讟"讗 from Machon HaMikdash address this issue, voicing the opinion that, even though these activists didn’t pay enough attention to halacha – they compensated for it with their passion to rebuild the national Mikdash, while the rest of the bourgeois establishment prefer to pay lip service, rather than doing anything real to further the vision of the national Mikdash.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. To rebuild the national Mikdash we need a balance of passion and halacha. We need to have a pure, innocent, 转ָּ诪ִ讬诐 yearning to build our national Mikdash and the courage to act on this passion. This needs to be coupled at the same time with adherence to halacha. In the equation of whom we need to fear most, the Shabak or HKB"H, the answer is undoubtedly HKB"H. If the toss-up is between avoiding being phone-tapped or having a kosher korban, the kosher korban takes preference. Hopefully the lessons have been learned and this year's attempt will be with a kosher set of Shtei HaLechem.
This is what our parsha teaches us. The unbridled passion of Nadav and Avihu that was not tempered by halacha – led to disaster. This is the foundation principle of the Beit Hamikdash and if an infringement of this principle takes place, even on the day of its inauguration, intended as a celebration, retribution cannot be postponed.
In this matter, it is incumbent on leaders and scholars like HaRav Yisrael Ariel 砖诇讬讟"讗 from Machon HaMikdash and other authorities in the field, like myself to make a more concerted effort to be mekarev these activist groups and to give them halachic guidance, so that their activities are not counterproductive, but rather highly focused to 诇ְ注讜ֹ专ֵ专 专ַ讞ֲ诪ֵ讬 砖ָׁ诪ַ讬ִ诐.
Similarly, the task of reconnecting the Dati Leumi sector to the mission of building the national Mikdash is something we need to invest more resources and energy on. This sector is a niche audience for this mission, they just need to be woken up and shown how important the national Mikdash mission is to our future, certainly no less than serving in the army or settling in Eretz Yisrael, learning Torah and working for a parnasa – perhaps even more so!
It sounds good in theory, in practice however, it is a little more complex.
It all starts with 转ְּ诪ִ讬诪讜ּ转, a sincere, innocent, burning desire to restore HKB"H's Shechina to Am Yisrael not only on a private level, but also on a national level. Unfettered by agendas - personal, or political.
It cannot however come about only with 转ְּ诪ִ讬诪讜ּ转, it also needs maximum hishtadlut. The resources needed to reach the target audiences to establish a mass grassroots movement are enormous. It needs the backing of established organizations with a common vision. It needs funding from philanthropists who support that vision.
As we speak, we can see the destructive power of sheer money. How Qatar, with its almost unlimited financial resources have succeeded in infiltrating and controlling most of the Western world. What the antisemites accused the Jews of doing in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a worldwide conspiracy to control the world – has de facto been implemented in the opposite direction by the enemies of the Jews, Qatar and the Moslem Brotherhood. They have succeeded in perpetuating lies and rewriting history – just using money!
Imagine what we could achieve in the opposite direction if we recruited our entire nation and those of influence in the world who support us, to reverse this evil and reestablish the truth. To strip away all the lies and fallacies these evil people have been encasing reality with and rediscovering our core and our destiny.
This is a call to arms! I urge you to forward this shiur to as many people as you can. If you know of people of influence who are interested in helping Am Yisrael fulfil its destiny as a nation thereby restoring the world to peace and prosperity, I implore you to try recruit them to this cause.
There is an army of people out there, of which I am a proud member, each dedicating their lives to a specific aspect of the national Mikdash. All together, we have the know-how to build it.
We are lacking only one thing – a burning desire in the majority of Am Yisrael to build the Mikdash. When we have a grassroots movement of the majority of Am Yisrael who urgently want the Mikdash to be built, then it will be rebuilt. To establish this grassroots movement requires vast financial and organizational resources to reconnect our people with their authentic roots. Until our nation achieves parity and internal peace, this vision cannot be realized. This is why David HaMelech could not build the Beit HaMikdash, he had to wait for his son Shlomo, in whose time internal peace reigned in Am Yisrael.
This movement has to be spearheaded by leaders with vision and vast knowledge of halacha relating to the Beit HaMikdash. It needs to give our hungry youth a roadmap, to harness their passion and to focus it with halacha, so that we don't have a recurrence of the Nadav and Avihu syndrome.
When HKB"H sees that we are doing our maximum hishtadlut, He will 诪ַ砖ְׁ诇ִ讬诐. We cannot expect HKB"H to send the 3rd Beit HaMikdash down from Heaven, without us lifting a finger and doing our own maximum hishtadlut. This is the way HKB"H and the world works. Heavenly abundance cannot appear when the table is empty. To rain blessing down to the world there has to be Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan.
Am Yisrael are changing conceptions. Instead of going around in endless circles defending from and weakening the proxies, we have finally decided to deal with the head of the snake, on the premise, that if the head of the evil snake falls, its proxies will wither and die.
The same applies to building the national Mikdash. We have been furiously running around in endless circles dealing with the symptoms of the absence of a national Beit HaMikdash, assimilation, antisemitism, internal strife etc. We should instead be targeting the "head" issue. If we succeed in rebuilding the national Mikdash, all the "proxy symptoms" will evaporate.
Just like we have decided to go all out to root out evil from the world, we need to stop fooling around with half measures and go full out to replace evil with the absolute good. If we win this battle with Amalek, but do not continue the mission by fulfilling our destiny as a nation, then it will all have been for nought. We will revert to the infighting that has plagued our nation for millenia.
Both are flip sides of the same coin. You have 砖ַׁ讗ֲ讙ַ转 讛ָ讗ֲ专ִ讬 on one side, eliminating the evil. On the flip side you have 讘ִּ谞ְ讬ַ谉 讗ֲ专ִ讬讗ֵ诇, establishing the absolute good by building the national Mikdash. 讘讘讬"讗.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
www.machonlechemhapanim.org
