intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

ONE HUNDRED TT Mikdash Articles!
Over two years have passed since I first had the privilege of writing articles on Beit HaMikdash related topics in Torah Tidbits and to date I have written 100 articles in all. Hoping to "increase the knowledge, interest and anticipation of the reader", I have covered all aspects of the Mikdash; its structure, history, religious significance, Korbanics, Yom Kippur, Kohanim, and what not. And, Baruch Hashem, the response has simply been wonderful with emails and telephone calls from TT readers from all over Eretz Yisrael and abroad. People have come up to me and initiated Mikdash discussions at weddings, on Tiyulim to Yesha, even in Jerusalem, everywhere. (You try to answer a question on fine points of Mikdash procedure when your cotton-stuffed mouth is wide open and your inquisitive dentist is merrily drilling away!). I have found that there are TT readers who save these articles in notebooks and that there are even "Mikdash-oriented families" who every week discuss these articles over the Shabbat table. And answering reader's inquiries about the most fascinating part of Torah is not always easy. Frequently I have to plow through exotic Gemarot, the Rambam, commentaries, archeological and historical works etc. My own knowledge thereby increases. And yes, Be'avonotai Harabim,I have even made the occasional error. But "From all my teachers have I gained wisdom…" Thank you.

Most of us feel a certain detachement from the hundreds of Mitzvot that are directly connected to the Beit HaMikdash, the Korbanot and the laws of Tum'ah and Tahara (ritual purity). And yet these subjects represent roughly 40% of the text of the written Torah! Let's be honest! After being spiritually uplifted by the grandeurof the Torah's narration of the lives of the Avot, Moshe and Yetziat Mitzra'im, how many people seem to get "bogged down" by the minutiae of the ever so detailed descriptions of the Mishkan's construction? And how many people have an almost disdainful attitude to Sefer Vayikra and the first half of Sefer Bamidbar wherethe subject matter is primarily Korbanics and the laws of Tum'ah and Tahara?

Mishnaic authorities, the pillars of Yahadut, did not share this cavalier attitude. These Chachamim lovingly recorded and thoroughly analyzed every detail of sacrificial procedure and every particular of the laws of Tum'ah and Tahara that are written in the Torah. The majority of these sages, including such luminaries as R. Akiva, R. Yishmael, R. Meir, R. Yehuda, Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel and R. Simeon bar Yochai, lived in the post- Mikdash era. These Mikdash-related Halachot were then already in abeyance, but these disseminators of Torah did not neglect them. Led by R. Yochanan Ben Zakkai, the sages that survived the Churban tried to fill the vacuum created by the Destruction. They helped revive the religious life of K'lal Yisrael by transferring as much as possible the resplendent pageantry of the Beit HaMikdash to the Batei Knesset. Obviously with the Temple gone, the Korbanot and most purity laws were in suspension, but other Mikdash rituals could be preserved at least partially. "Before time, the Lulav was carried seven days in the Mikdash, but in the provinces (outside of the Mikdash) only one day. After the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan decreed that in the provinces, it (the Four Species) should be carried seven days in memory of the Mikdash" (Sukka3:12). R. Yochanan wanted to prevent an important Mikdash-distinguishing feature of Sukkot observance from falling into disuse in the Mikdash's absence.

The Gemara lists nine ordinances laid down by R. Yochanan ben Zakkai after the Churban. One of them is that "Kohanim are not permitted to ascend the Duchan (to bless the people) in their sandals" (Rosh HaShana 31b). The importance of "transplanting" Birkat Kohanim from the destroyed Beit HaMikdash to the ubiquitous Batei Knesset can not be overestimated.

When the Beit HaMikdash stood, the central feature of the Seder was the Korban Pesach. With the disappearance of the Korban Pesach, there was a danger that the entire Seder concept might disintegrate. Rabban Gamliel emphasized that the memory of Korban Pesach must continue to be a major component of the Seder. "Rabban Gamliel used to say, 'Whoever had not said these three things on Pesach has not fulfilled his obligation, namely the Passover Sacrifice, Matza and bitter herbs….'" The Sages would not permit the aura of the Beit HaMikdash, the magnificent panoply of the Avoda, and the hope for its speedy restoration, to vanish from the consciousness of the people. (An interesting aside: Roughly 200 years ago, the venerable sage R. Akiva Eger asked his equally celebrated contemporary, the Chatam Sofer (R. Moshe Sofer), if it would be permissible (assuming the Turkish authorities who then ruled Eretz Yisrael were agreeable) to offer the Korban Pesach. His reply was an enthusiastic 'Yes!' (Chatam Sofer Responsa, Yoreh De'ah 236). Another question. What about the Korbanot? Can they be "replaced"?"Said Abraham before G-d, 'Rebono Shel Olam, perhaps Israel will sin before You and You will do to them what You did to the generation of the Flood…?' He answered, 'Not so.' He then said before Him: 'Rebono Shel Olam, by what shall I know this?' He said, 'Take Me a heifer… (Bereishit 15:9,10 intimates that Israel will obtain atonement by means of Korbanot.) 'Rebono Shel Olam, this is all very well when the Beit HaMikdash is still standing, but in the time when there will be no Mikdash?' He replied to him, 'I have already fixed for them the order of the Korbanot. Whenever Israel will read the section dealing with them, I will reckon it as if they were bringing Me an offering, and I will forgive all their sins'" (Megalith 31b).

The Torah says, "And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Shemot 25:8). This positive commandment is listed in the Sefer Hamitzvot of the Rambam (Mitzvat Asei 20) as well as the Sefer Hachinuch (No. 95). Basing himself on the Gemara in Sanhedrin 20b, the Rambam rules "Three Mitzvot were given to Israel when they entered the land… and to build the Beit HaBechira, the Chosen House, as it is written, '…you shall seek his Presence and come there" (Devarim 12:5) (Hilchot Melachim 1:1). Building the Beit HaMikdash, a Mitzvat Asei, is incumbent upon the entire Jewish people collectively - but how can I personally build the Beit HaMikdash? "When G-d revealed the details of the construction of the Beit HaMikdash to the Prophet Yechezkel, He said, "Go and tell the People of Israel of the form of the House…" Yechezkel replied, 'Lord of the Universe, why are you telling me to go and tell Israel the form of the Beit HaMikdash? They are in exile…Is there anything they can do about it? Leave them until they return from exile and then I will tell them.' G-d answered, 'Should the construction of My House (and the Avoda, Korbanot and all Mitzvot and Halachot linked to them) be ignored because My children are in exile? As a reward for their study, I will consider it is if they actually built the Beit HaMikdash'" (Midrash Tanchuma 96:14).

Catriel is in the process of writing a book: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service