The Secret of the Temple of Fire and the Power of the Tzaddik of the Generation

Lesson No. 538 | Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh, 3rd of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, 18 Tishrei 5768 - Yahrzeit of our Holy Rebbe

When the Second Temple was built, the elders who remembered the glory of the First Temple wept bitterly at the sight of the simple structure. However, in every generation there is a tzaddik capable of seeing and bringing down the Third Temple, built of fire, and bringing the complete Geulah (Redemption) to the Nation of Israel.

When the Second Temple was built, there were elders who remembered the First Temple. One who was twenty then, had already reached the age of ninety; one who was ten, reached the age of eighty; and even one who was three, an age at which a person already remembers everything, was now seventy-three. Those elders who saw the First Temple wept bitterly.

"What is this? Is this a Temple? Is this what they made for us? Is this what they built for us?" they cried out. The scripture describes how the sound of weeping overcame the sound of joyous shouting. Those who rejoiced and danced tried to overcome the sound of weeping, but did not succeed. They danced, blew trumpets, shofars, and all kinds of musical instruments, but the sounds of shouting and joy could not overcome the terrible sounds of weeping.

The Gap Between the First and Second Temple

Why did they weep? Because that generation of the Nation of Israel still remembered and saw the First Temple, which was built by King Solomon and was entirely plated with gold. In contrast, what did they have now? They took a few boards, a few pieces of "plywood," and made a Temple out of them.

In the building of the Second Temple, they took curtains and built partitions. They made curtains on the outside and curtains on the inside, so that people would not enter in a state of impurity. The structure consisted of partitions of curtains and a few simple boards. The gap between the glory of the First Temple and the simplicity of the Second Temple was incomprehensible, and therefore the weeping was so terrible, as described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, that the voice of the singers and gatekeepers could not overcome the sound of weeping.

A Temple of Fire

However, the truth is that in every generation there are tzaddikim who can see the true Temple. The author of the Sefer Me'irat Einayim (the Sema) says that regarding the Third Temple it is said:

"The place for Your dwelling which You, Hashem, have made; the Sanctuary, my Lord, which Your hands have established" (Exodus 15:17).

The intention is to a Temple of precious stones, a Temple of fire that will descend from heaven.

This is exactly what the "Saba d'Vei Atuna" (the elder sages of Athens) asked the Tanna Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah. They wanted to test if he was indeed the tzaddik of the generation who could build the Temple, and they asked him: "Can you build a 'Beita b'Avira' (a house in the air)? Can you bring down a Temple of fire?".

The Power of the Tzaddik of the Generation

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah was the tzaddik of the generation. He faced sixty or seventy elders of Athens, who were the greatest heretics of their generation. He defeated them all and brought them before the Roman Emperor. Just as our Holy Rebbe drew close the three heretics and brought them back in teshuvah (repentance), so too Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah took the greatest heretics in the world and completely subdued them.

When they challenged him to show them that spiritual Temple, he uttered a Holy Name and suspended a house in the air. He actually showed them a Temple of fire, and said to them: "If you want to be Jews, convert now, here I am showing you a Temple of fire!".

From here we learn that the tzaddik of the generation can see the Temple of fire in every generation, and he has the power to bring the Geulah (Redemption) to the Nation of Israel. Now, as we are in the days of Simchat Torah, in the sefirah of Netzach, in the attribute of "Chesed sheb'Netzach," we reach the supernal unification of Zeir Anpin and Rachel (Yaakov and Rachel). Through this unification, may we merit that the Temple be built speedily in our days, in the blink of an eye, Amen.

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