The question de joure for many of us, how can we mourn for the Beis Hamikdash? How can we mourn for what we never experienced? How do we feel an aching void for something that was never a part of our lives? What follows is one of many complimentary approaches that b’siyata d’Shamaya will allow those of us who struggle with being misabeil al Yerushalayim to begin the process of mourning.
Actually, we know of examples of people feeling bereft of what they never experienced, and longing for something they never had. An orphan whose father died prior to his birth feels bereft. When he sees the fullness of his friends’ two-parent homes and the loving, nurturing, enriching role their fathers play, he grieves for the father he never knew. A child growing up in a forsaken place with no formal education and no access to books may happen upon a book and, upon reading it, realize how much there is to learn and how much he does not know. And he may desperately long for the education he has never had.
The common denominator of these two examples (and others) is that a person can develop a sense of appreciation for what he has never experienced, and be given a tantalizing taste of what he never had. And, when this happens, he will grieve for what he has never experienced and long for a different reality.
The lesson is clear. In order to mourn the Beis Hamikdash we need to identify and develop an appreciation for that which is missing from our lives due to its destruction. We need to experience, albeit in the very limited fashion possible, that which the Beis Hamikdash provided in abundance.
The Mishnaic section of Pirkei Avos concludes with the tefillah, “y’he ratzon milfanecha Hashem Elokeinu shetivne ircha b’m’heira b’yameinu v’sein chelkeinu b’Torahsecha.” The Gaon of Vilna beautifully explains the symmetry of the tractate and its concluding prayer. Pirkei Avos begins describing the revelation of Torah (“Moshe kibeil Torah miSinai”) and concludes with a tefillah for its full and flowering restoration. This prayer is predicated upon the rebuilding of the Mikdash because, “ein Torah b’lo Beis Hamikdash k’mo shekasuv, ‘malka v’sa’reiha bagoyim ein Torah’ … k’mo shekasuv, ‘u’mal’ah ha’aretz de’ah es Hashem’”. Without the metaphysical influence of the Beis Hamikdash, Torah is significantly diminished.
Hence, after the churban, Yirmiyahu Hanavi laments, “ein Torah”. And with the rebuilding of the Mikdash, Torah will be fully restored and once again flourish. Hence, Yeshayahu Hanavi, in speaking of the Messianic era, prophesies, “u’mal’ah ha’aretz de’ah es Hashem”.
The Beis Hamikdash not only sustained Torah; the experience of coming to the Mikdash also fostered yiras Shomayim. In presenting the mitzvah of eating ma’aser sheini within Yerushalayim [the outermost precinct of Mikdash], the Torah explains, “l’ma’an tilmad l’yirah es Hashm Elokecha kol hayomim”. Experiencing kedushas Mikdash in this context was a transformative, enduring experience which inspired abiding yiras Shomayim.
The seminal influence of the Mikdash was not limited to the realms of Torah and yiras Shomayim. For instance, the Beis Hamikdash also facilitated atonement for our sins and served as the wellspring from which Jews drew ruach Hakodesh. In our attempt to gain an appreciation for the Beis Hamikdash, we are focusing on Torah and yiras Shomayim as powerful, representative examples.
In our reality Torah and yiras Shomayim, although significantly diminished, are b’chasdei Hashem accessible. We can devote ourselves to talmud Torah. We can taste mesikus haTorah; we can cultivate ahavas haTorah. Similarly, we can cultivate yiras Shomayim and, however incompletely, experience its joyous trepidation.
If we indeed focus upon cultivating deep, genuine ahavas Torah v’yiras Shomayim, much like the orphan and uneducated child, we will feel bereft of Torah in its fullest depth and splendor and yiras Shomayim in its existential profundity which we have never experienced but for which we will desperately long. In so doing, we will be misabeil al Yerushalayim and, b’siyata d’Shamaya, be zocheh v’ro’eh b’binyana.