Parshat Pekudei, the last Parsha in the Book of Shmot is very
moving. After reading about all of the contributions that B’nai Yisrael made to
the Mishkan (Tabernacle), it is finally completed and ready to be dedicated on
the First of Nisan.
The
Haftarah is exciting as well. The Beit HaMikdash is completed and the
inauguration is on Sukkot. The Aron, the Ark with the Luchot, The Ten
Commandments that Moshe brought down from Mt. Sinai are inside.
How
did B’nai Yisrael feel about going up to the Beit HaMikdash on the Shalosh
Regalim- Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot?
According
to Rav Yisachar Yaakovson, the answer can be found in the book of Tehilim,
including Psalm 84:2-4 where their yearning for the Beit HaMikdash is
described:
How
lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, indeed, it
pines for the courtyards of the Lord: My heart and my flesh pray fervently for
the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for
herself, where she may lay her young. O to be at Your altars…
The
group of Psalms which begin with the words Shir HaMaalot (Tehilim 120-134)- are
interpreted by Radak to be about Aliya- Songs of thanksgiving about immigration
to Israel from the exile.
Although
we don’t have the Beit HaMikdash, in Jerusalem today, we can still get a taste
of how B׳nai
Yisrael felt at the dedication of the Mishkan in the desert and the later the inauguration
of the Beit HaMikdash in Jerusalem. On the Shalosh Regalim, the Kotel is packed
with visitors from all over the world who are yearning for a chance to squeeze
in and pray at the footsteps of our holiest site, Har HaBayit, the Temple
Mount.
On
the morning of Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day which commemorates Israel’s
victories in the Six Day War including Israel’s control over the Temple Mount,
The Kotel and the Old City, there is passion in the air. Religious Zionist
teenagers fill the Kotel plaza reciting Hallel with a blessing, reading the
special Haftara of the day and singing and dancing.
On
Yom Yerushalayim, it is extremely sentimental to be standing in the Old City of
Jerusalem and reciting Psalm 122, Shir HaMaalot L’David Simachtim B’Omrim li
Beit HaShem nelech:
A
Song of the Ascents. Of David. I
rejoiced when they said to me,“We are going to the House of the LORD.” Our feet stood inside your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem built up, a city knit together, to which tribes would make
pilgrimage, the tribes of the LORD, as was enjoined
upon Israelto praise the name of the LORD. There
the thrones of judgment stood, thrones of the house of David. Pray
for the well-being of Jerusalem; “May those who love you be at peace. May there be well-being within your ramparts,peace in your citadels.” For the sake of my brethren and friends, I pray for your well-being; for the sake of the house of
the LORD our God, I will request good for you.
May
we merit to participate in the inauguration of the Third Beit HaMikdash.
