Explanations of the Prayers - Halleluyah, Ki Tov - Part 2

00:00 So we can, as they say, kill two birds with one stone. We’ll talk about that too. Here we have a verse we say in davening every day, which also relates to the Beis Hamikdash: “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” It’s in Pesukei Dezimra. We say, “Hallelujah. For it is good to sing to our G-d; for it is pleasant, praise is fitting.” And then we say, “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” So there’s something to this. It’s speaking here about the building of the Beis Hamikdash: “Hashem builds Jerusalem.” That’s the building of Jerusalem, the building of the Beis Hamikdash. Then it says, “He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” That’s the ingathering of the exiles. After that it says, “He heals the brokenhearted.” According to the Zohar, that refers to the Resurrection of the Dead. That’s the order of events as stated in the Zohar. What will the order be in the Geulah? First the Beis Hamikdash will be built, then the exiles will be gathered in, and afterward there will be the Resurrection of the Dead. That’s what the Zohar says, and that’s also how the Rambam rules. The Rambam rules that first a king from the House of David will arise and build the Beis Hamikdash in his time, and afterward, he writes, “He will gather in the dispersed of Israel.” So we see in the Rambam, too, that the Beis Hamikdash is built first, and the ingathering of the exiles comes afterward. But in the Midrash—in the Gemara, the Midrash for certain; I don’t remember right now all the references the Rebbe brings on this—there’s a letter from the Rebbe Rashab about it, and also a sicha from the Rebbe. So there is a disagreement among the Midrashim about this. On this verse, the Midrash says the opposite: first there will be the ingathering of the exiles, and afterward the Beis Hamikdash will be built. There’s even a statement—I don’t know whether it’s in the Gemara or the Midrash—that if someone tells you the Beis Hamikdash has been built but

02:15 the exiles have not yet been gathered in, don’t believe him. There’s a Midrash like that. In other words, it has to happen in that order. The wording teaches that first the dispersed of Israel will be gathered in, the ingathering of the exiles, and only afterward will the Beis Hamikdash be built. How, then, does the Midrash explain the verse here? It explains it differently from what appears to be its plain meaning. The Midrash reads, “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel,” as though it said, “because He gathers in the dispersed of Israel”—as though “He gathers in the dispersed of Israel” gives the reason. “Hashem builds Jerusalem”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu will build Jerusalem. Why will He build Jerusalem? Because He will gather in the dispersed of Israel, as though that were written here. Because He will gather in Israel, He will build Jerusalem. It’s as though the building of Jerusalem results from the gathering in of Israel. So there are two approaches here. But the Rambam does not rule like the Midrash. The Rambam rules like the Zohar. There are several points in the Rambam that follow Kabbalah. I don’t know if I’ll speak about that. In any case, the Rambam rules in accordance with the Zohar, where the order is the opposite: first Jerusalem is built, and afterward the exiles are gathered in. But what is the reasoning, really, behind the Rambam’s conclusion? Where did the Rambam get it from? Why does he rule that the order will be first the building of Jerusalem and then the ingathering of the exiles? The Rebbe gives several explanations. One of them is very interesting. I was privileged to be at the farbrengen when the Rebbe spoke about it. It was on Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah 5748. It’s written in the Shulchan Aruch, by the Rebbe. So the Rebbe gave this sicha. What did the Rebbe explain? The Rebbe explained: What difference does it make, in general, if we say that first

04:16 What’s the explanation? What difference does it make whether the Beis Hamikdash is built first and the dispersed of Israel are gathered in afterward, or the other way around—first the dispersed of Israel are gathered in, and afterward the Beis Hamikdash is built? The Rebbe said this: If the Beis Hamikdash is built first and the dispersed of Israel are gathered in afterward, that means the Beis Hamikdash is already standing, but the Jewish people are still in exile. There’s already... That is, they’ve built the Beis Hamikdash, but the Jewish people have not yet returned from exile. That means the time has already come. In fact, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has already given permission and the instruction to build the Third Beis Hamikdash, and yet the Jewish people have still not reached Eretz Yisroel. So this indicates a state of “they have not merited.” Building the Beis Hamikdash first, with the Jewish people going to Eretz Yisroel only afterward, indicates something of an intermediate state of “they have not merited.” By contrast, when the ingathering of the exiles comes first—there is an ingathering of the exiles, and then the Beis Hamikdash is built—that means the Jewish people have already merited the Geulah. They have already reached the level of “they have merited,” and therefore the ingathering of the exiles comes first, followed by the building of the Beis Hamikdash in its ultimate perfection, with all the Jewish people there. So the Rebbe says that the difference between these two possibilities is the difference between “they have merited” and “they have not merited.” The Gemara says there are two possibilities. There are various disagreements about how the days of Moshiach will arrive. For example, will Moshiach come “with the clouds of heaven,” or will he come “poor and riding on a donkey”? The Gemara says that one verse says it one way and another verse says it another way. The Gemara resolves it: “They have merited” or “they have not merited.” If the Jewish people have merited—

06:22 if they are ready for the Geulah, having done all the work and become ready for the Geulah on their own—then it will be “with the clouds of heaven”; it will be a heavenly Geulah. But if the Jewish people have not merited, if they are not in a state of merit and the Geulah comes because its time has arrived, then the order will be different: “poor and riding on a donkey.” Similarly, there is the distinction between “I will hasten it” and “in its time.” There are two kinds of Geulah: if they have merited, “I will hasten it.” If the Jewish people have done special work, the Geulah will come immediately—“I will hasten it.” If not, it will come “in its time.” So the same applies to this disagreement: whether the Beis Hamikdash will be built first and the dispersed of Israel gathered in afterward, or the reverse—first the dispersed of Israel gathered in and afterward the Beis Hamikdash built. It depends on whether they have merited or have not merited. Now, the Rambam wrote his work for a situation in which “they have not merited.” As is known, a number of questions about the Rambam are answered on the basis that he wrote the laws of Moshiach for a situation of “they have not merited.” In other words, he writes the laws of Moshiach according to the most natural way things could unfold, not according to what would happen if “they have merited.” On this basis, the Rebbe resolves a number of questions about the Rambam. So since the Rambam is discussing a situation of “they have not merited,” the building of Jerusalem comes first, in keeping with that order. First there will be “Hashem builds Jerusalem,” even though the Jewish people have not yet merited, and gradually, afterward, the Jewish people will come to Eretz Yisroel, to Jerusalem. That’s one explanation. But it can certainly also be a situation of “they have merited.” Then the order could be reversed: first the ingathering of Israel,

08:10 and then “Hashem builds Jerusalem.” But in the end, the Rebbe also said that each order has an advantage. Yes, each has an advantage. There is a special advantage—even though we say this is a case of “they have not merited”—to Jerusalem being built and the Jewish people arriving after it has already been built. It shows how precious the Jewish people are: everything is prepared for them. The Beis Hamikdash is already there; everything is ready. They don’t have to arrive in Eretz Yisroel when there’s still nothing there, with the Beis Hamikdash only then needing to be built. Rather, as the Rebbe says, Jerusalem is built first and then the Jewish people arrive. That shows how precious they are: everything has already been prepared for them. Hakadosh Boruch Hu prepares the Beis Hamikdash for them. That way, when the exiles are gathered in, they will have everything in its fullness. So each order can have an advantage. And these possibilities are not necessarily contradictory. Jerusalem could be built first, the dispersed of Israel could then be gathered in, and afterward Jerusalem could be built on a higher level. After all, it says that there are several levels to the Beis Hamikdash. There is the Beis Hamikdash built from below, and there is the Beis Hamikdash that comes from above, from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So the order could be that first they build the Beis Hamikdash in a natural way, as the Rambam writes, “He will build the Beis Hamikdash”—Moshiach will build it from below. Then there will be the ingathering of the exiles, with the Jewish people moving to Eretz Yisroel. And then the Beis Hamikdash from above will arrive: the spiritual Beis Hamikdash will be revealed from above and enter this Beis Hamikdash. So both advantages will be present. There will also be the building of Jerusalem before the ingathering

09:53 Exiles, and there will also be the building of Jerusalem after the ingathering of the exiles. So this is not a disagreement about what will happen first; rather, both advantages will be present. There will be both this and that. One is the physical Beis Hamikdash, and the other is the spiritual one. There are several other points to this, but this is one of the Rebbe’s explanations of the matter. Then there is a very wonderful sicha of the Rebbe here, which the Rebbe delivered at a farbrengen [unclear]. The Rebbe made a siyum on tractate Bava Metzia, and then presented a siyum based on one by the Tzemach Tzedek. It is very interesting: it explains the verse, “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” The Rebbe cites a Midrash. The Midrash says something that is not understandable on a straightforward level—a puzzling Midrash cited by the Tzemach Tzedek. The Tzemach Tzedek writes that on the verse “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel,” the Midrash says: “Although Hashem builds Jerusalem, nevertheless He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” That is what the Midrash says. “Although Hashem builds Jerusalem, nevertheless He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” What? What does that mean? What? What? It makes no sense. “Although Hashem builds Jerusalem”? What problem is there with Hashem building Jerusalem? It sounds as though, because Hashem builds Jerusalem, the dispersed of Israel should not be gathered in, and so we are told that nevertheless they will be gathered in. The Midrash is completely puzzling. And the Tzemach Tzedek explains it in a most wonderful way, beginning with a passage in Bava Metzia. Toward the end of Bava Metzia there is a chapter called “The House and the Upper Story.” The Gemara there discusses a case in which a person had a house with an upper story above it. How would you put it—a two-story house? A house with

11:53 two stories, with the owner of the house living downstairs and someone else living upstairs on the second floor. Then the house collapsed, and the owner of the house does not rebuild it. The owner of the upper story has nowhere to live. The house has collapsed. He wants a place to live, but the owner of the house does not rebuild his house. So what do they do? The Mishnah says that the owner of the upper story may build the house—the first floor. Since the owner of the house is not building it, the owner of the upper story is permitted to build it and live there until the owner of the house decides he wants it, at which point he pays him. Right? He pays him. The owner of the upper story lives in the house, and when the owner of the house decides he wants to move in, he must reimburse him for all the expenses and build the upper story. Then the house is returned to him. This is a law in tractate Bava Metzia, concerning a house and an upper story. The Tzemach Tzedek offers a wonderful discussion of it. What are the house and upper story in spiritual terms? The house is the Beis Hamikdash down here, earthly Jerusalem. The upper story is heavenly Jerusalem. There are two Jerusalems, two Batei Mikdash: a Beis Hamikdash below and a Beis Hamikdash above. As Rashi cites in Chumash, the Beis Hamikdash above is aligned with the Beis Hamikdash below. Heavenly Jerusalem is aligned with earthly Jerusalem. So there are two Jerusalems. Now the Midrash says—and this is also brought in the Gemara—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu swore an oath not to enter heavenly Jerusalem until He enters earthly Jerusalem. After the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, Hakadosh Boruch Hu swore that until earthly Jerusalem is rebuilt, until there is a rebuilding of earthly Jerusalem,

13:50 Hakadosh Boruch Hu will not enter heavenly Jerusalem. In other words, as long as the third Beis Hamikdash has not been built down here in this world, as long as earthly Jerusalem has not been rebuilt, Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not enter His Beis Hamikdash either. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu is waiting for the Jewish people. When the Beis Hamikdash stood, there was a Beis Hamikdash below and a Beis Hamikdash above. “Because of our sins, we were exiled from our land.” What happened? The house was destroyed. In other words, we, the Jewish people, are connected to the Beis Hamikdash below, to earthly Jerusalem. We caused the Beis Hamikdash to be destroyed. So it is like the case in the Gemara: the house has collapsed, and the owner of the upper story waits for the owner of the house to rebuild it. That is, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is waiting for us to build our house, earthly Jerusalem. What does it mean to build earthly Jerusalem? Jerusalem represents fear of Heaven—a complete fear of Heaven. Through fear of Heaven we correct the “because of our sins,” and through that Moshiach comes. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu sits and waits for us to do teshuvah, for us to have Jerusalem in a spiritual sense—fear of Heaven. Then earthly Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be able to enter heavenly Jerusalem. That is how the order should be. In the proper order, we should build the house, build earthly Jerusalem through our own avodah, and then Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be able to enter. Hakadosh Boruch Hu swore that He would not enter heavenly Jerusalem before that. But what happens when Hakadosh Boruch Hu sees that the Jewish people are not doing their work? They are not repairing the house; they are not doing teshuvah. Time passes, and still the matter has not been put right. What will Hakadosh Boruch Hu do? So what does Hakadosh Boruch Hu do?

15:40 He builds the house. Just as in that halachah: when the owner of the upper story sees that the owner of the house is not rebuilding it, he goes and builds the house. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself will not wait for the Jewish people. He will go and build earthly Jerusalem so that He can enter heavenly Jerusalem. But then the law is that the owner of the house cannot move in. If the owner of the upper story built the house, the owner of the house cannot enter it until he pays the expenses. So it follows that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will build Jerusalem, but we will not be able to enter. The Rebbe then used a very strong expression: Moshiach is already here, the Beis Hamikdash is already here, but we do not feel that it is here. Why? Because we have not paid the expenses, so we cannot go to Jerusalem. There could be a situation in which the Beis Hamikdash is built, but because we did not build it, we remain outside. We are not allowed to enter Jerusalem. This is the meaning of “Hashem builds Jerusalem.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu builds Jerusalem. What should happen is that we build Jerusalem, that we rectify our sins and Jerusalem becomes ours. But here it is “Hashem builds Jerusalem”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself sees that the Jewish people are not doing it, so He goes and builds Jerusalem. But the Jewish people cannot enter. So this is what the Midrash is saying. The Midrash speaks in praise of the Jewish people: Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not insist on the law. It says that although “Hashem builds Jerusalem”—although Hakadosh Boruch Hu built Jerusalem, built the Beis Hamikdash—He did not wait for our payment

17:27 and, according to the law, according to Torah, we do not deserve to enter Jerusalem. We still have to pay the expenses. This is Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kindness: although “Hashem builds Jerusalem,” nevertheless “He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu will allow the Jewish people to come to Jerusalem even in this way. Then we will do our work, with all the revelations of Moshiach already present, and we will be able to be inside Jerusalem. So this is the point the Rebbe made then in a few words: although the proper order is for us to do our work, Hakadosh Boruch Hu certainly will not wait for us. He will bring Moshiach and the Beis Hamikdash, and even though we do not deserve it, He will even let us enter into the revelations of Moshiach. But at least then we will pay our expenses. The Rebbe said: What a shame and disgrace it would be for that to be the situation. Therefore, each and every person must try not to wait until it comes to that, but to do as much of his own work as he can, so that he has fear of Heaven through his own avodah. Then he, too, will be a fitting vessel for the true and complete Geulah. Now, there are another two minutes; I will mention one more point. This, then, is another explanation from the Rebbe of the verse “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel.” In addition, there is a maamar of the Rebbe, “Hashem Builds Jerusalem,” from 5728, and a maamar of the Rebbe Maharash, “Hashem Builds Jerusalem,” from 5628. There he explains that the letters yud-hei and vav-hei correspond to the two Batei Mikdash. It says that the Beis Hamikdash in general corresponds to the letter hei of the name Havayah. The difference between

19:27 The First Beis Hamikdash and the Second Beis Hamikdash: the First corresponds to the higher hei, and the Second to the lower hei. That is the difference between them. The First Beis Hamikdash corresponded to the higher hei, which is binah. Therefore, there was a much higher revelation of G-dliness then. There was ruach hakodesh, and there were also five things corresponding to that hei, the higher hei—five things present in the First Beis Hamikdash that were not present in the Second. The Tablets, the Ark, the Urim VeTumim, and so on—these matters are connected with the higher hei of Hashem’s Name. At that time there was the union of yud and hei, chochmah with binah. That is why there were higher revelations of G-dliness then. In the Second Beis Hamikdash, there was no longer such a lofty union. Its level was the lower hei, malchus, so the revelation of G-dliness was on a lower level. On the other hand, there is an advantage of vav over yud: vav reaches lower, further into this world. Therefore, in terms of duration, the Second Beis Hamikdash lasted longer than the First. In terms of revelation, the First Beis Hamikdash had a higher revelation. It was yud-hei, so its light was higher. But the First Beis Hamikdash stood for only 410 years, and the building itself was lower. By contrast, although the Second Beis Hamikdash was on a lower level of revelation, and a number of things were missing—the Ark was not there, the Urim VeTumim were not there, and other things were absent—in terms of its place in the world, it was more deeply integrated. That is why it lasted longer, and its building was also

21:10 taller. “The glory of this latter House will be greater than that of the former.” So the First was the union of yud-hei, and the Second was the union of vav-hei. The destruction of the First and Second Beis Hamikdash—the destruction of both Houses—means that both the union of yud-hei and the union of vav-hei are lacking. That is the destruction: “She has suffered doubly.” “Comfort, comfort”—she has suffered doubly. The “doubly” refers to the two heis: the lack in both yud-hei and vav-hei. And the Third Beis Hamikdash, which will be built in our days, in the days of our righteous Moshiach—this is the meaning of “Hashem builds Jerusalem.” It will have both advantages together. The Third Beis Hamikdash will have both yud-hei and vav-hei. On the one hand, its revelation of G-dliness will be loftier, with the advantage of yud-hei. And in the time to come, it will also be internalized: it will have the advantage of permeating the world permanently. It will be an eternal House, a House after which there will be no destruction and no exile—yud-hei and vav-hei together. The Rebbe explains one more point, and with this we will finish. How does the verse continue? “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” After “Hashem builds Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel,” we are already speaking about the revelation of the Third Beis Hamikdash, the revelation of Hashem’s Name, the union of yud-hei and vav-hei, and all these advantages. So how does “He heals the brokenhearted” fit in? Who are the brokenhearted? Earlier we said that this refers to the suffering of His people. But the Rebbe says something remarkable. The Rebbe explains that “He heals the brokenhearted” means that after Moshiach is revealed, the sheer greatness of the revelation when he comes will bring about brokenheartedness. The Jewish people will experience a breaking of the heart.

22:58 When a person sees such a great revelation, it brings about a breaking of the heart. It is like what is written about Rabbi Akiva, when [unclear] of the wealthy was revealed [unclear]. He experienced a breaking of the heart from seeing such a great revelation. Or, as it says in the Siddur, choleh, “sick,” has the numerical value of 49. A person has the 49 gates of holiness, and he sees the fiftieth gate and wants to become a vessel for it. So it is precisely the breaking of the heart that makes him a vessel for the fiftieth gate as well. That feeling of being sick, of being brokenhearted, is itself the vessel through which the fiftieth gate is revealed to him. Similarly, in the time to come, this brokenheartedness will be like the teaching, “The secrets of the Torah are entrusted only to one whose heart is troubled within him.” It is precisely a troubled heart that is a vessel for the secrets of the Torah. So too here: when Moshiach comes and “Hashem builds Jerusalem,” there will be a breaking of the heart from the desire to reach the revelation of the fiftieth gate. That itself will be the vessel for the revelation of the fiftieth gate—the revelations of the time to come, the revelations of “A new Torah will go forth from Me.” May Hashem help us merit to see this down here, within ten handbreadths. And it says, “A new Torah will go forth from Me,” [unclear] King Moshiach.