Halacha Gimmel, the Rambam continues, אם היה רגיל מרבה בתחינה ובבקשה אם היה עלג שפתים מדבר כפי יכולתו בכל עת שירצה וכן מנין התפלות כל אחד ואחד כפי יכולתו יש מתפלל פעם אחת ביום ויש שמתפללים פעמים הרבה.
So you have this diversity, this variety. The only common denominator was at least once a day and the structure of Shevach Bakasha Hoda’ah. But then the Rambam says in one respect everyone was alike: והכל היו מתפללים נוכח המקדש בכל מקום שיהיה. Everyone davened in the direction of the Mikdash wherever—the Kessef Mishneh suggests two possible translations: wherever he was, wherever it was. וכן היה הדבר תמיד ממשה רבנו עד עזרא. Then the Rambam in Halacha Daled begins to tell us about the D’rabbanan of Tefilla. But in the first three halachos, the Rambam has just been describing and defining the D’oraisa of Tefilla. So Rav Chaim commented, I think Rebbe Ganack in one of his seforim quotes from the Rav that he quoted from Rav Chaim that you see clearly in the Rambam that nochach hamikdash is a din and kiyum d’oraisa. The fact that one davens in the direction of the Mikdash, because here in halachos Aleph through Gimmel, the Rambam is talking about Tefilla purely on a D’oraisa level. That reading of the Rambam is corroborated by the Rambam in Sefer Hamitzvos Aseh. The Rambam Sefer Hamitzvos at the end of Mitzvah Chamishis which is the Mitzvah of Tefilla, the Rambam quotes ואמרו עבדהו בתורתו עבדהו במקדשו. And the Rambam says what do Chazal, what do they mean when they’re darshening from the posuk ovdeihu bemikdasho? כלומר ללכת שם להתפלל בו ונגדו. כמו שביאר שלמה עליו השלום,
which is what the entire Tefillas Shlomo HaMelech is about at the occasion of the Chanukkas HaMikdash. All of which, sort of again what Tefillas Shlomo highlights, the centrality in terms of the Beis HaMikdash in terms of Tefilla. So it’s a little curious at the beginning of Hilchos Beis HaBechira, so the Rambam writes as follows: מצות עשה לעשות בית לה' מוכן להיות מקריבים בו הקרבנות וחוגגים אליו שלש פעמים בשנה שנאמר ועשו לי מקדש.
So the Rambam defines the Beis HaMikdash as (a) a makom of hakravas korbanos—makrivim bo hakorbanos—and (b) re’iyas panim, the mitzvah of yeira’eh kol zechurcha, חוגגים אליו שלש פעמים. And there’s no hint ki hu zeh to its centrality in terms of Tefilla—that ideally, optimally a person davens in the Beis HaMikdash—le’hispallel bo—if he can’t daven in the Beis HaMikdash he davens negdo. So it should have been mentioned. Ella mai, it seems clear that the pshat in the din of nochach mikdash and maybe in perek daled when we skip to perek daled bli neder maybe we’ll try to elaborate and understand this with a little bit less superficially is that the din of nochach hamikdash is if there’s a Mikdash. If there’s a Mikdash, if there’s a place of hashra’as hashkhinah, so then mimmela a person must daven there. That’s not why the Beis HaMikdash was built. The mitzvah of building a Beis HaMikdash is to have a makom of hakravas korbanos and a makom שחוגגים בו שלש פעמים. It’s not to provide an address for Tefilla. Once there is veshakhanti besokham, once there is a place on earth where there is that hashra’as hashkhinah, Mikdash, ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, so then mimmela Tefilla is now associated with that place, le’hispallel bo venegdo.