עם ישראל מעולם לא עזב את מקום המקדש! מדרשי תהילים מזמור קט | הרב אלישע וולפסון

Ay, ay, the truth is wonderful. >> Women, listen, women, listen, it will be maximum, maximum. >> Good, my masters and teachers, my beloved followers, we are in Psalm 109. We have studied Psalm 109 in Psalms, and I want to look with you, with Heaven's help, at the Midrashim of our Sages that relate to what we have learned. So it is written in our Psalm. It is written, "In return for my love, they accuse me, but I am all prayer." The Midrash says here about our Psalm: We offer 70 bulls on the festival for the 70 nations, and we pray for them that rains may fall. This, "In return for my love, they accuse me, but I am all prayer"—is evil to be paid in return for good? And should one perhaps put evil in return for good? Therefore, "I am all prayer." There is some, uh, pain, frustration, a cry: How can it be that those we benefit, that our very existence here is the greatest gift to the whole world, and instead of thanking us for it—they hate us? The whole world knows and sees how the people of Israel benefit the world in a completely disproportionate way. Anyone who reads a little, the Nobel Prizes, the inventions in all fields, everyone —the people of Israel is a nation of wonder, a wise and understanding people , this great nation. The entire world lives, lives off the people of Israel in the most practical sense, the most practical. But "In return for my love, they accuse me"—unfortunately, there is apparently some envy, a deep-seated envy from Esau and so on, Ah, yes, Sinai—that hatred descended to the world, may the Name have mercy. But, uh , we are prayer, we are also prayer that, uh, that of course they will not succeed in their wickedness, and even more so a deep prayer that they will discover this love. Therefore, our Sages say: If the nations of the world knew how good the Holy Temple was for them, they would surround it with legions, an army, an army so it would not be destroyed. And may the Name help that everyone will merit to recognize the gift called the people of Israel and the good they bring to the world, and, uh, to cherish the people of Israel. The Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah says here on the verse "Your eyes are like doves," your eyes are the Sanhedrin, for they are the eyes of the congregation. As it is written, "the eyes of the congregation," the eyes of the congregation—this is the Sanhedrin. So the Sanhedrin is called the eyes. How many limbs are there in a person, and they all only go and turn after the eyes. Likewise, Israel cannot do a thing without their Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin, yes, as it is written, "And you shall come to the place that the Lord your God will choose." The Sanhedrin is the eyes of the people of Israel. One really needs to know that when we are here, when we return to the Temple Mount, an essential part of returning to the Temple Mount is the effort to restore the Sanhedrin. Because the place of proper judgment, the place where the people of Israel hear the word of the Lord, where the Sages of Israel hear the word of the Lord, and by His power they have the ability to aim for the truth of Torah, to influence it to all the house of Israel, and through that, to the entire world—it is when they sit here, as the Torah emphasizes: "from that place which the Lord will choose." And we are actually currently in a disconnection, from our eyes, it is...we don't understand this. We are actually, the Torah...that the Sanhedrin is in exile is like some pause, as if the sorrow. The Torah, after all, the Oral Torah, the word of the Lord, this is Halacha, this is a Torah that is always...ah, why is a Sanhedrin needed? True, we have a book, we have the Written Torah, we have the Oral Torah, because life, reality—we certainly see this in our day—changes so much, and new things are born every single moment, and you need a present, contemporary listening to the word of God, and we do not have that right now, and it is a great pain. We must make every effort to restore the Sanhedrin. To have it on Mount Moriah. Yes. Exactly. The Midrash says more, look at what this is. The Midrash says. Doves. What is "Your eyes are doves"? Just as this dove is perfect? So Israel is graceful in their walk when they ascend for the pilgrimage festivals; the beauty of the people of Israel, when is it recognizable? When you see tens of thousands of Israelites ascending, ascending to Mount Moriah. >> Ascending to the Temple. Exactly, the Midrash says: Just as this dove is distinguished, so Israel is distinguished by their haircut, by circumcision, by the tzitzit. Meaning, you see a Jew, you see he is recognizable, recognizable by his clothing, recognizable by...By his hair , yes, by the peyot. By the tzitzit. Just as this dove is modest, so Israel is modest. This dove offers its wing for slaughter. Oh my, may God have mercy! So is Israel, as it is said: " For Your sake we are killed all day." This dove atones for sins, so does Israel. Pay attention, this is very interesting: So Israel atones for the nations. For all those seventy bulls that are sacrificed during the festival against the seventy nations, so that the world might not be wiped out because of them. And I pray, as we saw in the previous Midrash: Just as this dove, from the time it recognizes its mate, it does not exchange it for another—so Israel, from the time they recognized the Holy One, blessed be He, they did not exchange Him for another. Just as this dove enters its nest and recognizes its nest, its coop, its fledglings, its eggs, and its windows, so too are the three rows of Torah scholars when we sit before them, each and every one knows their place, yes, in the Sanhedrin. Just as this dove, even if you take its fledglings from beneath it—listen well—this dove, even if you take its fledglings from beneath it, it never leaves its coop— so Israel, even though the Temple was destroyed, they did not cancel the three pilgrimage festivals each year. >> The Midrash says even though the Temple was destroyed, do not think that the people of Israel said, "Fine, the Temple is destroyed, there is nothing to come for." No. The people of Israel always, always came to the site of the Temple, even in its destruction. And we read here in the past wonderful testimonies from the sages of Israel in the Jerusalem Talmud, from the story of Abraham, brother of the Nasi, that in all generations, in all generations, the people of Israel always made the pilgrimage. There is no such thing as abandoning the site of the Temple. They always ascended to the Temple Mount. They always came to the place of the Divine Presence as far as was possible. When possible from the outside, from the outside; when possible from the inside, from the inside, of course according to the law; that is how it was in all generations, and that is what the Midrash says explicitly; it is truly miraculous. The Midrash says even more. >> Just as the moon renews itself every month, so too does Israel renew itself each month with Torah and good deeds. Like a dove that returns to its nest, so does Israel return to its glory. Even as the generation of the desert went through Egypt, Assyria, and exile, the tribes eventually return to their homes, as the Lord has spoken, though they must occasionally wander and go into exile. Ultimately, the people of Israel return to their glory, return to the Holy Temple, and return to the Land of Israel, just as the bird finds its freedom. And so we are truly privileged to see it fulfilled in our time, that after 2,000 years we have returned to the Land of Israel, returned to Mount Moriah, and with God's help, we will merit to return fully to the Temple site, and may it be rebuilt speedily— may this be His will, and let us say amen. No.