Don't Destroy the Temple!!!

"Don't do that to Hashem, your God!," says Rabbi Yishmael, exhorting people to mend their errant ways. In an eye-opening interpretation that seems to come out of thin air, Rabbi Yishmael interprets a verse in the Torah portion of Re'eh in a way that puts a personal onus on each and every one of us to mend our ways, improve our actions and bring about the rebuilding - and not destruction - of the Beit Hamikdash. 

The verse upon which Rabbi Yishmael bases himself on comes after a series of instructions about how the Jewish people should uproot idolatry in the land of Israel. You should shatter the altars of the idol-worshippers, burning and destroying any vestige of paganism in the land. And then, the following verse (Deuteronomy 12:4) states: "To Hashem, your God, do not do that!" 

In the various opinions that Rashi cites, most prominent among them is Rabbi Yishmael. "Would a Jew ever, with his own hands, destroy the altar of the holy temple? No! So what function does this verse serve? A Jew should not act like the non-Jewish populace, and by virtue of his sins, cause the Temple of his fathers to be destroyed!" 

This interpretation is awe-inspiring, because it puts an obligation on each and every one of us to not act in a way that would hamper the rebuilding of our holy temple, the Beit Hamikdash. Our sages teach that it was no more and no less than baseless hatred (Yoma 9) that caused the destruction of our holy temple. The aim of the Beit Hamikdash, for non-Jews and Jews alike was to be a beacon of light that emanated goodness to the world, giving clarity to each and every person about God's purpose in the world. Love of one's fellow man, harmony, goodness, caring, a belief in every person as part of a greater humanity that cared about each other and every individual was rooted in one place alone, which is the source of the halacha that every Jew has to pray to exactly the same place, to bring out the best in each other even in the face of the temple's current destruction. It is something we are meant to live on a daily basis, but not in a negative light, but rather, the infusion of the belief that every deed can expedite a return of that goodness that can inspire and instill hope, and God-forbid, not destroy. 

Rabbi Yishmael is thus teaching us that it's not a communal obligation, but rather an individual one, that each and every person needs to seek out acts of kindness, and see what his or her unique abilities are to create greater harmony in the land, greater love, greater joy for others in need. And if you do that, you have brought about the change, and planted the seeds that can be tantamount to a revival of the spirit of our nation that will reveal itself in God's presence in the world, ending wars, fostering love and helping all those in need, creating the humanity that once was and will be rebuilt. 

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