Re'eh: 5783 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with this week's insight on the prohibition of demolishing the altar. After the liberation of the Western Wall, a Jew came to the Rebbe with a piece of stone from the Wall - did the Rebbe…

00:02 Speaker 1 In the weekly parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu warns the Jewish people as they travel to the Land of Israel: “You shall tear down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their asherah trees in fire, cut down the idols of their gods, and obliterate their names from that place.” There was a great deal of idolatry there. They were to destroy all of it. And in the next verse: “You shall not do so to Hashem your G-d.” What does that mean—“You shall not do so to Hashem your G-d”? We learn several halachos from this. First of all, it is forbidden to erase Hashem’s name. Whether it is written on parchment, on a vessel, or in any other way—wherever Hashem’s name is written, it may not be destroyed. Why? “You shall not do so to Hashem your G-d.” We also learn from this that it is forbidden to break a stone off the altar or the Temple courtyard. Yes, there is a prohibition against that. In the Midrash, Rabbi Yishmael said, “Could it enter your mind that Jews would tear down their altars?” Would a Jew tear down the altar or the courtyard? How could anyone imagine such a thing? So he explains: Do not act in ways that cause your sins to bring about the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. In other words, a person is not directly tearing down the altar, but is causing it to be torn down. That is what Rabbi Yishmael learns from the verse, “You shall not do so to Hashem your G-d.” There are many, many detailed laws concerning the erasure of Hashem’s name: whether it is done indirectly, and whether it is done for the sake of making a repair. There are a great many laws on the subject. In any case, after the Six-Day War, a question arose. People wanted to take a souvenir from the Western Wall. Was it permitted? Did taking a piece of stone fall under the prohibition of “You shall not do so to Hashem your G-d”? In fact, there was someone from the neighborhood who, after the Six-Day War, went to study at 770.

02:25 Speaker 1 He had found a small piece of stone between the stones and brought it with him to the Rebbe. He brought it in to the Rebbe, thinking—the way he saw it—the Rebbe would greatly appreciate his having a stone from the Western Wall. But the Rebbe gave it back to him and told him to ask a rabbi what to do with it. There are many, many questions involved. Is it permitted to do that? May you take one, or may you not? In any case, there are many laws on the subject. In Nehardea, there is a synagogue built from stones of the Beis Hamikdash. In Prague, there is a very old synagogue called the Altneuschul.

03:08 Speaker 2 Altneu.

03:09 Speaker 1 Altneu. In Yiddish, alt neu means “old new.” So why is it called Altneu? Because it is a very, very old synagogue that was later renewed. That is why they call it the Altneuschul. To this day, people visiting Prague can still go to that synagogue, the Altneu. Some say, though, that it does not mean “old new.” Rather, Altneu means al tenai—“on condition.” When Jews were exiled from the Land of Israel after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, they came to Prague, to Europe, and built the synagogue there with stones from Jerusalem, from the Beis Hamikdash. But they built it on condition. The idea is not “Altneu,” but “on condition”: if the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt, they will—after all, it is also forbidden to demolish a synagogue. So from the outset they built it on condition that, when the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt, they would take those stones, demolish the synagogue, and return the stones to Jerusalem to build the Beis Hamikdash. In any case, there are many, many discussions and halachos on this subject. Does it fall under the prohibition of “You shall not do so to Hashem your G-d”? May it be Hashem’s will that we see the Beis Hamikdash built. We will need to take those stones back to the Western Wall.

04:29 Speaker 3 Yasher koach.