One who smashes a single stone of the Altar or the Temple or the Temple
courtyard in a destructive manner [violates a biblical prohibition] as it
written (Deuteronomy 12:4): "[You shall smash their altars...] You shall not do the same to the L-rd
your G-d."
Mishneh Torah, Laws of the Holy Temple 1:17
"G-d's way is not like the way of flesh and blood," the Midrash
assures us. "The way of flesh and blood is that he instructs others to do, but
does not do so himself; G-d, however, what He Himself does, that is what He
tells Israel to do and observe" (Midrash Rabbah, Shemot 30:6).
The laws which He decreed to govern our lives also delineate His own
"conduct" in relating to His creation.
But each year, on the ninth day of the month of Av, we mourn an act of G-d that
was not only tragic but seemingly illegal as well-- a Divine act which, at first
glance, seems to violate laws He set down in His Torah.
On that day, in the year 3338 from creation (423 bce), the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem was destroyed. (The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans on
the very same date, 490 years later.)
The actual burning of the Temple was done by the armies of the Babylonian emperor
Nebuchadnezzar, but G-d takes full responsibility for the deed. In the years
before the destruction, the Almighty had warned: "Behold, I shall dispatch the
nations of the north... and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, My servant, and I
shall bring them upon this land and its inhabitants..." "I shall deliver
this city into the hands of the king of Babylonia..." "I shall do to the House
upon which My name is called... what I have done to Shiloh" (Jeremiah 25:9,
32:3 and 7:14).
G-d's destruction of the Holy Temple seems a violation of two halachic
prohibitions. The first is Lo Tashchit (also Bal Tashchit) the
prohibition to destroy anything of value. The source of this law is
Deuteronomy 20:19, where the Torah prohibits the cutting down of a fruit tree in
the course of war; Halachah interprets this as a prohibition against all wanton
destruction:
One who breaks vessels, tears clothes, demolishes a building, stops a
spring or disposes of food in a ruinous manner, transgresses the prohibition of Lo
Tashchit.1
Regarding the Holy Temple, there is an additional law that would seem to
proscribe G-d's devastation of His home. In Deuteronomy 12:3-4 we read:
Destroy all the places in which the nations [of Canaan] served their
gods... Tear down their altars, break their monuments, burn their asheirah
trees and smash their idols... You shall not do the same to the L-rd your G-d.
From this, the halachic codifiers derive that it is a biblical prohibition to
"smash a single stone of the Altar or the Temple or the Temple courtyard in a
destructive manner... as it says, 'You shall not do so to the L-rd your
G-d'" (Mishneh Torah, Laws of the Holy Temple 1:17).
How, then, could G-d destroy the Holy Temple without transgressing laws
which He had commanded and committed Himself to?
Constructive Mayhem
The legality of G-d's action, at least in regard to the Lo Tashchit
law, can be explained on the basis of another law, this from the laws of
Shabbat.
There are 39 categories of "work" forbidden on Shabbat. A basic legal
requisite for an action to be considered "work" is that it be constructive.
Thus, while the list of 39 forbidden labors includes categories such as
"demolishing" and "tearing," these are strictly of the constructive
sort, such as breaking down a wall in order to renovate a building or tearing a
seam in order to make alterations to a garment: one who destructively rips or
demolishes has not violated the prohibition to do work on Shabbat.
Nevertheless, the law is that "one who tears something apart out of rage, or
[grief] over the death [of a loved one], violates the Shabbat, for he is soothed
by this and his temper is relaxed. Since his rage is abated by this [act], it is
considered a constructive deed" (Ibid., Laws of Shabbat 1:17, 10:10).
The same could be said of G-d's destruction of the Holy Temple. Noting that
Psalm 79 -- which describes how "alien nations have entered Your estate, they
have defiled Your Holy Temple, they have laid Jerusalem in ruins" -- carries
the caption "A song to Asaf," the Midrash asks:
Should not the verse have said "A weeping to Asaf," "A wail to Asaf,"
"A lament to Asaf"? Why does it say "A song to Asaf"?
But this is analogous to a king who built a nuptial home for his son, and
had it beautifully plastered, inlaid and decorated. Then this son strayed off to
an evil life. So the king came to the nuptial canopy, tore down the tapestries
and broke the rails. Upon which the prince's tutor took a flute and began to
play. Those who saw him asked: "The king is overturning the nuptial canopy of
his son, and you sit and sing?" Said he to them: "I am singing because the
king overturned his son's nuptial canopy, and did not vent his wrath upon his
son."
So, too, was asked of Asaf: "G-d destroyed the Temple and Sanctuary, and
you sit and sing?" Replied he: "I am singing because G-d vented His wrath upon
wood and stone, and did not vent his wrath upon Israel"
(Midrash Rabbah on Lamentations 4:15).
The destruction of the Temple, then, was a constructive deed. Our sins had
threatened our relationship with the Almighty; by "venting His wrath" upon
the wood and stone of the Temple, G-d deflected the damage to the physical
"nuptial home" of the relationship, preserving the integrity of the
relationship itself. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, "G-d has spent His wrath, He
poured out His fury; He set fire to Zion and consumed its foundations."
This, however, still does not explains why G-d's destruction of the Temple
did not violate the specific prohibition to destroy "even a single stone" of
the Holy Temple. The fact that the Temple's destruction is a means toward a
worthy end would not mitigate this prohibition, which specifically
forbids inflicting damage on the Temple, even if one has a constructive purpose
in mind.
Unless the destruction of the Temple were to somehow be constructive to the
Temple itself. As quoted above from Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, the prohibition
is to demolish any part of the Temple "in a destructive manner"; "to
demolish in order to improve," explain the commentaries, "is obviously
permitted." Indeed, the Talmud relates how the sages advised and encouraged
Herod to demolish the Holy Temple in order to rebuild it in greater splendor.
In other words, while it is forbidden to demolish any part of the Holy Temple
even for a constructive purpose, it is permitted to do so for the Temple's
betterment.
This distinction can also be seen in the manner in which this law is applied
to the "minor sanctuary" of today, the synagogue, which has assumed the Temple's
role of housing the Jew's service of his Creator. It is forbidden
to demolish a synagogue, or any part thereof, even for a most positive and G-dly
purpose -- unless the purpose is to rebuild or improve the synagogue itself, in
which case "the demolition is itself an act of building" (Mordechai on
Talmud, Megillah, section 826; Shulchan Aruch and Ramah, Orach Chaim
152; Tzemach Tzeddek Responsa, Orach Chaim, Responsa 20; Torat Chessed
Responsa, Orach Chaim, Responsa 4.)
And so it was with G-d's destruction of the Temple -- the demolition was
itself an act of building. The first two Temples, says the Zohar, were edifices built by human
hands, and thus subject to the mortality of everything human.
G-d came to dwell in the work of man; but the work of man can be corrupted by
the deeds of man, driving the Divine presence from its earthly abode.
The two mortal Temples were destroyed in order that the eternal Third Temple
may be built.2
Indeed, the Temple was originally designed to be a Divinely-constructed
edifice -- Moses described it as "The base for Your dwelling that You, G-d,
have made; the Sanctuary, O L-rd, that Your hands have established" (Exodus 15:17).
If this was preceded by the Temples built by Solomon and Ezra, these were but
stages in the construction of the Third Temple, the Divine edifice which shall
descend from heaven with the advent of Moshiach, speedily in our day.
Sighting The End
The law that allows tearing down a house of worship in order to rebuild it is
most stringent: the new building must be superior (in size, beauty, etc.) to the
one being torn down;3
if the circumstances are such that the old building must be demolished before
the new one is built, the new building's construction must begin immediately
and must be pursued "day and night, lest difficulties arise that will cause it
to remain desolate -- even for a time."
The Talmud relates that when the deteriorating synagogue in Matta Mechasia had
to be torn down, Rav Ashi "moved his bed" into the construction site and did
not leave the site "until the gutter-pipes were affixed."
(Shulchan Aruch and Taz commentary, Orach Chaim 152. Talmud, Bava Batra 3b)
In keeping with this law, G-d began His reconstruction of the Temple
immediately upon its destruction. As the Talmud relates:
On the day that the Holy Temple was destroyed, a Jew was plowing his field
when his cow suddenly called out. An Arab was passing by and heard the low of
the cow. Said the Arab to the Jew: "Son of Judah! Unyoke
your cow, free the stake of your plow, for your Holy Temple has now been
destroyed."
The cow then lowed a second time. Said the Arab to the Jew:
"Son of Judah! Yoke your cow, reset the stake of your plow, for the
Redeemer has now been born..."
Said Rabbi Bon: "Do we need to learn this from an Arab? The
Torah itself says so. The verse (Isaiah 10:34) predicts, "And the cedar of
Lebanon4
shall be felled by the mighty one." And what is written in the very next verse?
"There shall come forth a shoot out of the stem of Yishai" (Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 2:4)
As the Temple ruins lay smoldering, the process of rebuilding was already
underway. Moshiach, the Divine emissary empowered to bring redemption to the
world and the eternal Sanctuary to Jerusalem, was born on the Ninth of Av.
[This is in keeping with the teachings of our sages that,
"In every generation is born a descendent of Judah who is worthy to
become Israel's Moshiach" (Bartinoro on Ruth); "When the time will come, G-d
will reveal Himself to him and send him, and then the spirit of Moshiach,
which is hidden and secreted on high, will be revealed in him" (Chattam Sofer).]
This explains a curious phenomenon in the history of our exile: many of our
sages (including such prodigious figures as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Rabbi
Saadiah Gaon, Maimonides, Nachmanides, Rabbeinu BeChaye and Rabbi Schneur
Zalman of Liadi) predicted various dates for the revelation of Moshiach and the
rebuilding of the Holy Temple, despite the Talmud's admonishment of those who
"calculate deadlines" for the Redemption.5
For these great visionaries had a view of history that penetrated beyond the
surface mayhem of the Destruction. They understood that G-d could not have
destroyed the Temple if the very moment of the destruction was not also the
moment which commenced its reconstruction in its greater, eternal form. They
understood that galut is not a "void" or "hiatus" in G-d's
presence in our world, but an integral part of the process of redemption. To
them, the Ninth of Av was, above all, the birthday of Moshiach.
They saw, beneath the veneer of galut, the eternal abode of G-d
rising from the rubble. They saw the opportunity, which has existed from the day
of the Temple's destruction, growing more realizable with each passing
generation. Seize the moment, they urged us, the climax of history is in ready
reach.
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