On Monday morning, September 2 (Labor Day), the community gathered at Congregation Nachlas Yitzchok to hear a shiur by the rav of the shul, Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum shlita, on rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash.
Rav Oelbaum began by sharing that Hashem Himself had to tell us what really was the problem that brought the Churban. Hashem says, “They abandoned My Torah.”
They didn’t say Birkas HaTorah.
Why was not reciting Birkas HaTorah so bad that it brought the Churban?
The halachah is that after we recite Birkas HaTorah, we have to learn Torah right away.
Rav Oelbaum shared a big y’sod that Rav Raphael Hamburger of Minsk taught that when we say Birkas HaTorah, we are making a special request. In this blessing, we ask that we should merit that our children and our grandchildren will learn Torah.
Rav Oelbaum explained that when they weren’t saying Birkas HaTorah, they omitted the request to merit to transmit Torah to the next generation. So, that is abandoning Torah. The fact that they didn’t pray on behalf of their children to succeed in learning Torah was what brought the Churban.
If we are not praying to have children learn Torah, then that is bitul Torah. We have to be sure to build the next generation.
The evil King Ach’av made sure that the shuls were closed, and he didn’t let the children in. If you don’t allow children to learn Torah, then when they grow up, there won’t be adults learning Torah. Ach’av tried to block Torah learning for the next generation.
In contrast, amazingly, his son, King Chizkiyahu, was the greatest marbitz Torah. He didn’t sit in a government cabinet. Instead, he became a rosh yeshivah.
The Gemara teaches that the world exists only in the merit of the Torah of young children. Adult Torah learning is not as pure as the learning of young children.
Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l shared the question: Why does the world exist because of children’s learning when they are not obligated in the mitzvah of learning Torah? He answered that it isn’t from the mitzvah of learning Torah but rather the learning of Torah that upholds the world. That is how powerful Torah learning is.
Rav Oelbaum then shared that we daven every day for the Beis HaMikdash to be rebuilt. Hashem commanded us to build the Mishkan so that His Sh’chinah could rest in it. “The Sh’chinah should reside in every Jew. The purpose of the Mishkan is so each Yid should become his own Beis HaMikdash.”
The Chasam Sofer taught that since we can push away Shabbos if a Yid is sick, we see that a Yid has more k’dushah than the Beis HaMikdash. We see this because we must refrain from building the Beis HaMikdash on Shabbos.
Rav Oelbaum emphasized that we see that even though we don’t have the Beis HaMikdash, every Jew is still a Beis HaMikdash. So, what is our avodah in our own Beis HaMikdash?
He shared how, when Yosef met Binyamin, he fell on his brother’s neck. Commentaries say he was crying because he foresaw the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. What is the remez (hint) to the Beis HaMikdash here? Rav Oelbaum explained that the neck connects the head to the body. The head, according to the Chasam Sofer, houses the neshamah.
The neck connects the neshamah to the guf. A Yid is never totally gashmiyus. He shared the idea that we eat and they eat. The Shulchan Aruch teaches us to be mindful when we eat, drink, talk, sleep, and walk. Whatever we do, it should be with the focus of being able to serve Hashem.
Every d’var gashmiyus should be connected to ruchniyus. There is always tension between the moach, which is the seat of the neshamah, and the heart, which is the seat of desire. He explained with an analogy: The neshamah should be in the driver’s seat and the guf should be a passenger. On Earth, we are supposed to be heavenly. The Beis HaMikdash was the neck connecting Heaven to Earth. Our goals should always be lifted upward to Heaven. This is where our focus should be.
“We become a Beis HaMikdash when we bring Heaven and Earth together in our lives.” He emphasized that gashmiyus and ruchniyus always have to go together in our lives. We should never have gashmiyus for the sake of gashmiyus. Olam HaZeh has to always be connected to Olam HaBa. He shared that in your Beis HaMikdash you have to have the Torah to connect the guf to the neshamah.
Hashem chose to give us the Torah. The Bach teaches that the purpose of Torah is not just to accept the mitzvos. Hashem’s Torah is all ruchniyus.
Ruchniyus should be dominant in our lives. When we recite Birkas HaTorah, we should have the kavanah that no matter what we do, it should connect Heaven to Earth.
He pointed out that when we finish Sh’moneh Esrei, we turn to the left and then to the right. This symbolizes that when you want to make shalom, you have to be flexible.
The community is grateful for this wonderful shiur and all that the Rav does for our community and for klal Yisrael.
By Susie Garber
