Meaning of the Ark of the Covenant, with Q&A (West Texas Holy Temple Conference)

thank you so much it's impossible to follow my son's act so I might as well just give up what a star yeah you like that boy it's amazing another hand so in deference to the hour also first of all I again it's been such a wonderful and amazing experience to be with you for these days it's life-changing to see your dedication and and it's been so so special each of you I'm so thankful for you to be here and again I'm other ly amazed by the tremendous effort that was made by those who did all the preparation and all the logistics and all the details to make this happen no words could express our thanks and again my personal goal in this conference has been to to make the subject of the temple as real as possible because there's a tendency that a lot of people have to mystify everything to make it seem like something that's totally from another world and something that's not doable is something that is just a dream indeed as many of you are aware there's an opinion that is popular amongst many Jewish people that the third temple is going to descend from heaven already made building our belief is that this itself is mythological that this is foreign influence that's crept into Jewish consciousness over the years that it's a pitiable manifestation of a diaspora mentality that it is an excuse basically not to have to do anything if you're saying that God will do it himself and of course there's no parallel anywhere in Torah thought to a building of millions of tons coming down from heaven it's just not Jewish because the Jewish idea is doing his action so in a way the goal of the conference is to bring the temple down from heaven to make it into something real and to me that has to do again with the why of everything what is the reason for this why does God command us to do this and why is it so important so I want to talk a little bit about the center of the temple which is the subject that seems to be the most fascinating to people and the most compelling and indeed it would seem the reason for the temple being built in the first place which is the Ark of the Covenant which is the center of everything the center of our consciousness and I'd like to demystify it a little bit it's something that font people find to be so compelling you know everybody knows about the movie everybody knows about Indiana Jones everybody knows that it's off and it creates some we're in Washington so for those that want me to cut to the chase first of all if you've been following our work if you if you heard us before you know very well that we we do know exactly where the Ark of the Covenant is and that's no secret we expect it to be returned when the time comes and everybody always wants to talk about that you know where is it and how do you know and and did you guys see it and and again I'd like to know why why is it so exciting to people thank you so much to know what the Ark of the Covenant is all about so I'd like to start reading a little bit from from Exodus chapter 25 where we have the first recording of the commandments that I shall gave to build the temple they're reading from verse 1 and in Exodus chapter 25 and Hashem spoke to Moses saying speak speak to the children of Israel and have them take from me an offering from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity you shall take my offering and this is the offering that you shall take from them gold silver and copper blue purple crimson wool linen and goat here Rams skins dyed red Tucker skins and acacia wood oil for the lighting spices for the anointing oil and for the incense show him stones and filling stones for the a throat and for the ocean and they shall make me a sanctuary and I would dwell in their midst according to all that I show you the pattern of the Mishkan and the pattern of all its vessels and so shall you do and of course we could speak forever about these verses how amazing it is that these people these this this tribe of Israelites that wandered into the desert from from Egyptian bondage had all these things with them you know that all these rare materials that they had with them and how they were called upon to give generously and fresh well they weren't even theirs they were taken from Egypt and they were they were payment for the Egyptian bondage and so now a sham is saying I gave that to you to give back to me like everything else in this world and they shall make me a sanctuary I would dwell in their midst and then we have this amazing verse verse number nine which I don't think we understand what this is telling us according to all that I show you the pattern of the Mishkan and the pattern of all its vessels and so shall you do I think Rena mentioned this morning the whole concept of the oral torah we were talking about how the explanation of all of them it's filled was given simultaneously at Mount Sinai and the the Torah itself is kind of like a code the written Torah and in order to infuse the process of studying Torah with life through other generations God simultaneously gave a companion to the written Torah which is the altar which is not man-made which is not a rabbinic but which was in the highest wisdom of God decreed in order to keep the Torah viable in every generation and it's impossible to understand Tora without this tradition which was given overrun in an unbroken manner from Mount Sinai to Moshe to Joshua to the elders to the prophets all throughout the generations till finally was committed to writing in the time of the Roman persecution because the sages who possess this knowledge were being systematically killed so we have this verse that tells us according to all that I show you the pattern of the Mishkan and the pattern of all its verses and so shall you do where do we find any recording in the written Torah of Hashem showing what these things are so obviously in mount saw at Mount Sinai God gave Moshe some sort of showing and showed him everything and that means that every detail of every vessel that has to be created is coming from God himself and God gave him the pattern of how everything is supposed to look so when it comes to something like the menorah or something like the table of the showbread or something like the Ark of the Covenant this is actually a shames will that it look exactly in this manner and then in verse 10 we come to they shall make an ark of acacia wood two-and-a-half cubits this length of cubit and a half its width and a cubit and a half its height you shall overlay it with pure gold from inside and from the outside you shall overlay it you shall make upon earth a golden crown all around and you shall cast four golden rings up for it and you should place them upon his four corners two wings on one side two rings on the other side you should make poles of a case see whether you shall overlay them with gold and you shall bring the poles into the rings on the sides of the Ark to carry the Ark with them the poles of the ark shall be in the Rings that shall not be removed from it and you shall place into the Ark of the testimony which I will give you and you shall make an ark cover of pure gold two-and-a-half cubits this length and a cubit and a half its width and you shall make two golden cherubim you shall make them of hammered work from the two ends of the our cover and continues describing the cherubim and you shall place the ark cover on the ark from above and into the Ark you should place the testimony which I will give you I will arrange my meetings with you there and I will speak with you from atop the ark cover from between the two cherubim that are upon the Ark of the testimony all that I will command you and to the children of Israel so we have the description of this vessel and there of course we have the the heart of the mystery of why it's so important to us to understand because this was the place from where God spoke to Moshe so there is an opinion expressed by the sages that the Ark is so important that is the whole reason why the temple was built in the first place and what do we really know about this vessel first of all it's a box and a box is for the thing contained the word our own is always used in Torah to denote a permanent receptacle like the aroan there was the coffin of Yosef into which his bones were placed so the purpose of the Ark of the Covenant is to hold something the tablets of the law that Moshe received at Mount Sinai and the Ark of the Covenant is and actually Hillel did me a service because in his presentation he showed you one of the depictions created by the temple Institute of the ark the Ark of the Covenant is the first vessel that was commanded we just read it here in verse number 10 before anything else the Ark of the Covenant was commanded but it is the exception to many rules and I don't know if your if you noticed that when you study Exodus chapter 25 but it is the only vessel besides the fact that it is the first vessel that was commanded it's the only vessel which is commanded in the plural so there's two is two verses in the plural the first one twenty-five eight and you shall make for me a sanctuary which is in the plural to the whole nation and the commandment of creating the Ark which is to the entire nation every other aspect of the temple all of the furnishings all of the vessels are in the singular which means that it was the job of the men that had been appointed in those of generous heart to create but the Ark of the Covenant represents the entire nation there was a commandment of the entire nation to create so that's something very very jumps out at us right away the fact that it's in the plural and then there are many other issues that jump out at us when we consider this vessel to name a few every other vessel the let's say the major vessels that are in the sanctuary of course the menorah the tail the showbread a service an aspect of the Divine Service is accomplished with them is commanded with them there's nothing that's done with the Ark of the Covenant there's no aspect of the divine service that takes place with it it's a container it's a receptacle it's a box except for the fact that the high priest does enter into the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement but there's no service that's done with it and by the way I keep calling it a box it's actually as we read here three boxes that's the idea here that it is you shall overlay it with pure gold from inside and from outside you shall overlay it and you shall make upon the golden crown all around the inside and outside overlay means what is it it is a golden box placed into a wooden box placed into another golden box why what is the significance of the gold in a wood and every we we just read that God showed moshe a pattern in every detail of every vessel in every aspect of the temple has tremendous meaning just as i was trying to impart regarding the the offerings a huge amount of symbolism that is to affect a person on a deep level with every animal in every aspect of the temple service how it has to be a jarring experience how it has to affect a person to motivate that person towards wanting to come closer to Hashem and the center of this whole drama of the temple is the Ark of the Covenant now in addition to the fact that it's a container which is the only vessel that's actually used for such a thing it contains the tablets of the law and was pre designated before the tablets of the law were given for this purpose and no services performed there it's also the only vessel and the temple which is placed to its width and not to its length the reasons place to its width is to enable the poles the staves that come out to just barely touch the curtain of the Holy of Holies so that they're just protruding very very slightly it enables the Kohen Gadol the high priests to be able to come in between the staves and these staves these poles are very unusual the poles of the Arwen and there's a thought that i've shared before there is a commandment for these poles to be perpetually placed in the rings they're never to come out and ostensibly as the verse says it's for carrying and in the days of the desert wanderings of the tabernacle the ark was carried but once the temple was established and once the ark was placed within the holy of holies the the ark still stood there inside the holy of holies with the poles and they were never to be removed what is the significance the crown that's placed all around the top the whole concept of the covering of the Ark and the crew vim of course the this type of Angel the crew VM the cherubim we are familiar with because they are the guardians of the way to the Tree of Life in the Holy of Holies so there's obviously something going on here in the deepest way and they are attraction to the Ark based on the fact that this is the place of of meeting the place of Shems communication with moshe perhaps we can start by understanding that the word aroan the Aruna Brits the Ark the box of the covenants or as is called more properly the Ark of the testimony of the adieu it's the word aroan is spelled alla fresh of noon my energy level is a low a little bit lower I would write a few like the other cool people that did all sorts of writing that my wife for example it's not what does that sound like to you Aleph raysh love known what is the root of that word ten points the right the the root of the word is lights so it's a light box it's a box of lights and there is light emanating from the box there's a number of other of other seemingly miraculous details that are related to us by our sages regarding the ark one which is truly remarkable is that basically make a long story short it's it's above time in space it is some sort of black hole or light filled hole or what do they call it in science fiction it is a a time vortex something because the the Ark of the Covenant measures the exact same measurement as the room itself and together with the wingspan of the crew via it was impossible physically for the Ark of the Covenant to sit within the Holy of Holies and therefore our sages tell us that it is first of all something that is referred to mystically as something very very small that holds something very very large but it also is an example of a phenomena took place in the temple which can also be demonstrated by the fact that everyone would come to the temple and feel very very very crowded when they were standing still when they were standing together but when it came time to bow down for full prostration there was room so it was some sort of expansion there was all the sudden room for everyone so the Ark of the Covenant seems to be in that same category and furthermore there's another amazing idea which is extremely important and that is that the Ark of the Covenant was not carried it carried those who carried it and this is extremely important that those who carry the Ark of the Covenant they didn't have to carry it they held on and it bore them it bore those who carried it so what does all of this mean it's it's totally remarkable and so some of some of these things refer to a process that's going on in the temple that we've already spoken about a process of constant rectification and tikkun the arc which comes from the word or which comes from the word lights is really the source of light for the world it's the source of the hidden light in the temple and in that way it differs from the from the essence of all of the other vessels because the arc itself represents a tikkun rectification of of the crit of the error of atom how is shown or the first man with the Tree of Knowledge and thus we see right away the connection of the crew via those same crew vim that guard the way to the Tree of Knowledge that's why they are here again because something about the arc is is evolving for us and is representing our ability to latch on to tikkun to fixing and and to run with that I think it was mrs. Richmond that mentioned was it today everything is a blur to me the the rebellion of the of the creation when Hashem commanded the trees to bring forth fruit so the wood of the trees was supposed to taste like the fruit itself and that's that didn't happen the the wooden poles inside the Ark actually represents a tycoon of that as of that as well when the taste of the wood was separated from the taste of the of the fruit because the moto the staves that are that are to be kept continuously in the ark represent this this fixing as well the wood I mentioned it's it's a golden box inside a wooden box inside a golden box the wood the acacia wood the cedar cedar wood actually is organic and it represents renewal it represents growth it represents the ability of the people of Israel to constantly go forward the gold the metal it represent something more protective it's like dividing between the positive Commandments and the negative Commandments on one side we have a safeguard on the other side we are constantly moving forward but again I digress the secret of the content of the container for the thing contained and the reason why this is the is the center of our attention in the holy temple and the reason why this is the place to where Moshe came to receive the the Serena and the reason for the crew vim and everything that's described to us about about the Ark of the Covenant how when Israel was finding favor in the eyes of God the two angels which by the way according to Rashi they are they are in the shape of birds with the faces of children a boy and a girl this is a secret of the Song of Songs again representing the highest level of intimacy that of man and wife between man and God that's why the holy rabbi akiva said if the whole Torah is holy the song of songs is the Holy of Holies and most people think that what rebbi akiva meant was well don't think that the song of songs is some dirty love song that Solomon wrote to his wives because actually it is a metaphor for the type of feeling that we should have for God and for which God has for us and this is true the song songs is the deepest lesson in the world and every word there has tremendous significance it's it's breathtaking for us to see but what America was really saying was that if the whole Torah is on the level of the holy the holy part of the - of the temple then the song of songs corresponds to the holy of holies and that's why the great capitalists tell us and again this is all metaphor and something that we must be spiritually mature to understand the great kabbalist refer to the holy of holies as the bedroom because what it really intimates is that it's impossible for us to understand how much God loves us and how much God desires our service and how close he wants to be with us until we understand until a man understands the love of a woman because that's how God created us in order for us to be able to to understand what our relationship really is all about so when Israel found favor in the eyes of Hashem the two crew vien were facing each other when Israel was out of favor with Hashem then the two crew of him were back to back so this was a barometer but the the greatest mystery of all of the nature of the Ark of the Covenant and the mystery of the poles that extend from the ark the greatest example of that at all we can find not actually in the book of Exodus but in the book of Joshua and this is also a very remarkable thing that's recorded for us here and it's when the ark was leading the way and they were going to cross the Jordan it's in the beginning of chapter 3 of the book of Joshua was at the end of three days that the Marshall circulated in the midst of the camp that commanded the people saying when you see the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem your God and the Kohen and the Levites carrying it then you shall move forward from your place and follow the ark went before the people Joshua said to the people prepare yourselves for tomorrow Hashem will do wonders in your midst Joshua then spoke to the Kohanim saying carry the Ark of the Covenant and pass before the people so they carry the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people now this is I think one of the most amazing and and unappreciated verses in the Tanakh and and I wrote about this recently it was it was published in an anthology Hashem said to Joshua this day I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel that they may know that just as I was with Moshe so will I be with you you shall command the co name bearers of the Ark of the Covenant saying when you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan you shall stand in the Jordan and then Joshua said to the children of Israel come here and hear the words of Hashem your God this is like the most amazing verse most important thing I ever told you this is the moment this is it you said come here and hear the words of Hashem your God Joshua said through this you will know that the Living God is in your midst and he will surely drive away but from before you the Canaanites and the hittite and he fights in the prison again I should the American Jew and then he goes on to say behold the Ark of the Covenant of Allah with his passing before you and in the Jordan something happened here that escapes our attention he said come here and hear the words of Hashem your God and then he's through this you will know that the Living God is in your midst what through what so this is what our sages teach us he said come here and then is it through this you will know that the Living God is in your midst and the sages tell us what happened here was that Joshua gathered the entire nation in between the poles of the ark and that's what he meant by come here so he took what was it six hundred thousand people or more some say many more including the women and children took the entire nation and they all stood between the poles of the ark of course this is impossible and he said now you know that the Living God is in your midst so all of these details they they they what was the Ark of the Covenant was it some quota sort of teleporter was it a transponder was it a time vortex you know when I was growing up in the 70s I also grew up in the you know the fifties and the sixties but in seventies there was a book that was written that some of you might remember by a pop pop researcher who is actually a German UF ologist and conspiracy buff named Erich von däniken and the book was called the Chariots of the Gods Chariots of the Gods question mark and in that book he purported this theory that's the whole idea of God is actually extraterrestrial an alien that visited the earth and then he wrote a couple more more books he made whatever money he made and he you know I guess a was an amateur conspirator and he pointed out cave drawings of different ancients the Mayans maybe the Aztecs and all sorts of things that show that purported to show space travel and different things and one of the things that he wrote in that book that disturbed me very much was he said that if you take the instructions that are given in the book of Exodus and you create the Ark of the Covenant you will find that you have created a very powerful radio transmitter and that that was how Moshe receives the instruction is set to etc and there's a lot of people actually today also who believe similar notions and I and I think that it's part of the desire that people have to throw off the yoke of heaven to be to be independent maybe to be God themselves as soon as you believe that God is an alien you basically are not responsible for the upkeep of humanity gender identification or anything else like that so maybe he was one of the pioneers of that but what is what does all of this mean that Joshua gathered the entire people one of the greatest miracles as described in the Torah just a little bit kind of in in between the lines and he and they had he had them stand in between the poles the secret of the Ark of the Covenant is the secret of every person in this room and that's what's really so beautiful about all of this because all of this power and all of this this transcendence it comes from the Torah itself that's why the Ark of the Covenant is a receptacle that's why the temple is built around the Lakota Brits the tablets of the law that's why the Holy of Holies is so holy and represents the highest level of our relationship with Hashem because it's all based on our love of the Torah and of our walk with the Torah and that's really the message of the Ark of the Covenant and when I first learned this about this tremendous miracle that took place with Joshua and I really began to explore it my conclusion was well the lesson here is that despite the fact that we're only people and that generation two were only people and they created this article that God commanded them according to his instructions yet somehow it became something transcendent and and it became a facilitator for for this tremendous spiritual level and my conclusion was Wow God is telling us that he so cherishes our service that even though we are only limited people we created something physical that transcends time and space but now I realize that that's not that's not the idea the idea is the reason that we were able to do that is because of the Torah in its myths that's really the message here the Ark of the Covenant shines forth with this tremendous potential and yes we did create it and and ourselves but it's but but this is you know when we learn about these things again we had to have the skill set to understand the descriptions that our sages are giving us and the poetic vehicle that they're using to describe everything here we have to know what what's literal what's not literal what is meant to have a tremendous impact on our souls to get us to think for ourselves and understand something what does it mean that the Ark of the Covenant bore those who bore it's what does it mean that that they have to carry it it carried them it means that it's the Torah that's carrying us it's the Torah that lifts us up it's the Torah that gives us the the the power to propel ourselves to the generations it's such a beautiful idea that they're conveying did it actually lift them up above the above the ground and walk with him I don't know maybe it did but that doesn't even matter to me because the message that it's really conveying to us is the power of the Torah and the power of the transformative nature the transcendental nature of what it is that can happen for us as regular people when we put our faith in Hashem and when we are ready to make that that commitment and so no wonder it's it's in the Holy of Holies no wonder it represents the highest level of intimacy you wonder the whole temple is built around the Ark of the Covenant because what we're striving for is that level of commitment and relationship with it with the Torah and in my introductory remarks when we began the conference I mentioned that one for whom a miracle was performed doesn't always recognize it so I don't know if everyone in this room really deeply appreciates the miracle of their own life the fact that we're all here together the fact that each of us in our respective walk is trying to move closer to Hashem and what what what this is basically we're being lifted up right now Hashem is carrying us we are like the Ark of the Covenant that we are being carried and I think that's what this is really all about and the fact that we have been able to come here and show this tremendous desire to know more about the temple to be more involved and to show Hashem that it means something to us is makes a tremendous impact on the cosmos so I think our blessing to each other should be that we should really merit to to see this come to its fruition and to be part of the unfolding adventure of getting closer and closer to Hashem you know when we planned this this event a lot went into it and there's one thing that I didn't mention and I don't know why just like didn't mention it we just didn't mention it at all and the amazing thing is tonight is the 23rd day of the month of cash phone of Marcus Vaughn and this is the month following Tishrei which is very very anticlimactic and very drab because all of the High Holy Days and the joyous time of Sukkot and Simchat Torah also plays and Tishrei and there are no holidays in this month so you may have heard the beautiful teaching that we've shared for many years that the month of cash bond bitter cash bond and even though it features no major celebrations at this time we have an amazing tradition that our sages teach us that God promised that this month in the future is going to be the time of the dedication of the third temple and I actually forgot all about that when we planned this conference and it makes such perfect sense that we're here now because this is like the dedication ceremony of a third temple you know we look at that whimsical Midrash and we wondering and we wonder what does that mean it's a whole chronology that the sages give about how Kevin was owed something because because the tabernacle was completed during that month but God commanded that that the dedication be postponed and the month of clash Vaughn was embarrassed and so God said don't worry in the future I'm going to mollify you by your hosting the dedication of the third temple and I have all sorts of ways of understanding that but now I think I have a completely new way of understanding which is that this is it right now so I think we really made history here and there are there are really no words that could that could be uttered to express our appreciation those of us who came from Israel and especially again to the families that worked so hard literally night and day to make this happen I have no words of appreciation other than a Shem will reward you double and troop and triple and quadruple for all of your great efforts so I really thank you from the bottom of my heart but I would like to do is take this opportunity for those that have the stamina to stay with us a little bit to try and address any questions that anyone might have so rabbi you had mentioned you know where the ark is I haven't heard the answer yet if we can have it after everything that I told you about the Torah lifting us up you still want to know exactly where it is physical person that's a beautiful answer that's a good that's a real answer we have learned and Maimonides codifies as law although there are differing opinions as there always will be would you wish people we have learned that when King Solomon built the first temple he established in the subterranean caverns underneath the Temple Mount a system of mazes and chambers one particular chamber was built especially to hide the Ark of the Covenant and some years before the first destruction in the time of Josiah King of Israel when it was clear that the temple was going to be destroyed he commanded that certain items be hidden in that chamber the original menorah the original breastplate of judgment of the high priest and the Ark of the Covenant and the other items that were in the Holy of Holies the staff of Aaron that blossomed in the jar of anointing oil in the jar of manna all those things were placed in that chamber underneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where they remain to this day thank you what I would like to know is what does it need to happen for the temple to reveal that does it help that the US consulate moves to Tel Aviv how politically what politically has to happen in Israel that we in United States can help to move those processes you know what here's a United States okay to to help that to happen earlier today a small group of us we're talking I think time is a blur to me I'm like the Ark of the Covenant I'm like above time and space at this point and and I think we mentioned in that sitting that instead someone asked me very directly what what the problem is there are no religious obstacles to building the Holy Temple in other words as far as Torah law is concerned and this and the status of the Jewish people and everything that has to be done because and I say this because some use this as an excuse saying that things are not proper that things are not in their correct situation or status everything is is ready the only obstacle is political so that is a very good question but I don't really believe that any relief will come from America I don't I don't believe that America that American put America politically has a role in the building of the temple I'm not waiting for the President of the United States to tell us that we have permission to build the temple when I say that the obstacle is political it's it's the Israeli political mindset that indeed in turn is so dependent on American pressure and so and so reactive to American pressure so so it's a very valid point but what has to happen is is what's happening now and the increase of awareness and concern and dedication and where we in Israel that are working towards this goal for so many years are very gratified to see that there is such a change over the years in the in the fabric of society in Israel and Israeli consciousness across all spectrum of society religious not religious secular towards the reality of underst how important it is for the Jewish people obviously it doesn't help that Israel feels so hampered and and hamstrung by American pressure in terms of many things in terms of our inability to build homes for our own children our inability to expand communities because of this pagan kind of Golden Calf idea of peace which is a false peace that's that's literally being foisted upon us and is worshipped by so many and it really is an illusion because everything that undermines the sovereignty of the Jewish people no in the Land of Israel is going to take us further from true peace not closer I'm not really answering your question I'm filibustering I've never been to Israel but I am curious how many people there are as Israeli actually want a third temple to be built is it like in America where our focus is on more worldly things or are they still very traditional to serve it as trying to fulfill the Torah the short answer is that Israel is a secular country the religious community is a minority it's a growing minority and it has a lot of influence but even the secular Israelis I believe are deeply religious they may not admit it but they are the most are very very committed as Jews in their own way but recent surveys that that actually addressed a very broad spectrum maybe it's not maybe you remember the numbers we discussed this very recently if you want to add something to this but recent surveys were extremely positive about the public support of the building of the temple a very recent survey came out I think a week ago among the Jewish population of Israel the questions were whether Jews should be allowed to pray in a Temple Mount and whether Israel should maintain sovereignty in a Temple Mount and for both answers for both questions the answer was positive 70 72 percent or something of the population which of course we would like it to be a hundred percent but this is a vast increase from what it would have been a couple years ago and a couple of years ago the question of Jewish prayer in a temple mount wasn't even asked people either were completely ignorant of the fact that Jews and non-jews and non-muslims any non-muslims were not allowed to pray in a Temple Mount and if they were aware they thought well it's only a couple of crazies that want to anyway so what does it matter but because of the increasing number of Jews going up to the Temple Mount they can't be just dismissed as crazies anymore and the message has gone out to you the yaksa the media is actually taken up the cause in a way and is spreading this message and people are shaking their heads and saying well why can't you pray in the temple mat and I think that's the first the first step toward even answering the other question you know what has to change in Israel is freedom of worship on the Temple Mount because the House of Prayer for All Nations is one of the definitions of what the temple of what the holy temple is and once we accomplish that we've accomplished a great great step toward the completion of the holy temple in other words the the first step of the building of the temple is our ability to go there and pray so it's extremely important and extremely positive and indicative of a trend that more people are under understanding the necessity of allowing our people to be able to pray there at our holiest spot we can't possibly consider building it if we can't be there and if we can't open our mouths there so this is really the whole battle for the rights for us to pray there is that is in a way again another aspect of the beginning of the building of the temple itself you said that the the direction that the cherubs faced on the top of the ark was an indication of the spiritual condition of the people at the time if though the Holy of Holies was only entered who was this turning four who was it who is to see the Esser what was the turning four it wasn't necessarily for anyone to see it was just a fact it was just a shames expression of our status someone else the Corbin note many of them are eaten and it's described that you can cook them in any manner some of them and eat them but it has to be eaten by certain people and many of them most of them on the Temple Mount so I just never I don't know that I've heard anything about did they have like this massive kitchen on Temple Mount they must correct no it's a it's a very small amount that's actually eaten symbolically some are eaten by the people who bring them the corn pesto for example is eaten at home there's a certain portion that's eaten by the Kohanim in the temple those of the of higher sanctity are to be in the temple itself then there are those that can be eaten within the walled city of Jerusalem but I don't think I don't think it was it was on the level that you're that you're describing I don't think it was a small kitchen this questions for mrs. Richmond would you share with us going back to your teaching of the challah how you correlate the ingredients when you say your your personal prayer how you incorporate your kids with including the ingredients and and for life and everything so we actually did not discuss it when we were having our class on challah and it's certainly not holic but the time in which we are preparing the challah is an amazing time of prayer and an amazing opportunity to really get within ourselves so what some women like to do including myself is when we go through the different ingredients each ingredient has a very deep meaning so if we talk about the flower itself as we did discuss in our class symbolizing the earth in which mankind was created from so when we we think about when I put the flower in I my prayer is that you know the material needs of my family or whatever is in need at the time should be met and when we add the water the water is symbolic of Torah of course and that those in need or a family member should be infused with Torr and of course water also binds all the ingredients together keeping in mind unity that you want for a particular person in need and the oil of course oil shines and oil is a reminiscent of anointing oil and we try to keep in mind as we are praying and the more you put in the better the holiday spoke so worth it so the oil it could be for like shining eyes and health it could be for a child or a beloved one or dear friend to be elevated and the sweetness of course which is for sugar we we want we're trying to infuse sweetness into the life of the person that we're praying for and salt which is preserves that that our children our loved ones should be preserved spiritually physically through a particular trial they're going through and of course the this is not you know prayer of course we have organized prayer and that's extremely important and historic and many many reasons for that and the organized prayer really does include so much because the sages were tremendously insightful psychologically about the human condition but individual prayer is very very critical very very essential and and this is just an example when you are really immersing yourself in an action for Hashem and realizing that the most material of actions you know dealing with the bread and making the challah just like we said when Hashem us as humanity is the challah of the world like he created this beautiful dough this beautiful batter called the universe and he pulled up a piece and a knee raised at a sham and this would be mankind who would be infested with a spiritual potential unlike anything else in his creation and you know there's a notion we should live up to it so that at that moment at that kind of juncture we God willing we we use it wisely and so this prayer is certainly just the personal prayer so anyone could be creative in prayer and this is just one way to be creative in prayer while we are preparing a challah so rabbi earlier today several of us were sitting around with you it did you spoke about this this problem that is a resident the last few years of these masses of people that believe that the temple bout is not the little but rather the City of David and the the problems it's causing could you dress this how how best to respond to it well there is a phenomena of people that propone alternative locations to the Temple Mount it's become very popular there's a video that has how many views over a million views it's not altogether new but it's gaining steam now the these various authors who who write popular books that that basically their basic claim is that the Jewish people are misguided and mistaken and that we lost the place of the temple but they found it so they're so they're saying like and I get many many letters constantly begging us to open our eyes and realize that we're mistaken because the temple is not on the Temple Mount as easy as you saw but it's somewhere else every person who writes these books has an agenda sometimes the agenda is political sometimes the agenda is religious most times the agenda is financial but the the phenomena is outrageous because it is implying that the Jewish people are not informed about a subject that is so Jewish that is so our topic so to write a book based on half-truths and misinformation and speculation and all sorts of things without consulting a Jew is very opportunity opportunistic and frankly is a type of replacement theology and it's a bit anti-semitic to imply that the Jewish people are basically there's a veil over their eyes because they don't know the place of their own temple one of the agendas that many people have in writing this is to is assuming that well if it's not there we don't have to bother any of the existing structures and the Muslims won't be annoyed about then week and build it somewhere else or maybe there but not close to the Muslim edifice and therefore that will facilitate their particular a psychological scenario to come about faster and I call that doormat theology because they're basically using the Jewish people as a doormat to get to their own particular visit vision of how things should be so it's very very upsetting to me also because I think is a tremendous tremendous dishonor to Hashem's plan I can't I can't imagine especially after we saw some of such basic information which is the most basic information that was presented here about the centrality of Mount Moriah in not only in Jewish tradition but in the reality of the situation it is it's somewhat insidious this this attack on on Mount Moriah is identity but yet for some reason it's gaining a tremendous amount of popularity in certain quarters but it's absolutely like I say outrageous and and and and has no place in any serious discussion about the Holy Temple hello thank you for your presentations we all enjoyed them very much I have two questions are your slides published in any form some are published some aren't somebody took without permission so please no flash photography will they be published in the future well the Temple Mount sifting project okay just a little bit of a clarification the temple incepting project is no longer sifting material they've gone through over 70% of the material that they got their hands on and now they're about four or five years left of material that can be sifted but currently they are focusing on publication they have 13 almost 13 years of backed up artifacts which are waiting to be published I myself am part of this I'm writing the chapter on iron age pottery and hopefully it will be resumed in the future the site the sifting site is currently sifting archaeological artifacts from all the Oliver Jerusalem and also some artifacts from outside Jerusalem such as fish once a year we also sift material from a fish ever since this method was utilized the wet sifting that I showed you other archaeologists started realizing the that this method can can yield artifacts that would have never been found without without using this method and started using this method as well for instance the seal impression of King Hezekiah which I showed you Thursday night was found in the sifting site and actually I identified it thanks to my father that's a long story but uh ever since they started utilizing this the the sifting method the amount of small artifacts went up in hundreds of percentages compared with other with earlier years so now the site the sifting site is focusing on sifting proper archaeological excavations and extracting as much as many small artifacts as possible I digress what was a question and then the last question is the park that looked like was that you said Eastern Jerusalem is that correct what's that the park that you mentioned then is it this the bus where is it located yes it's located on the foot of Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives where the Mount of Olives it means meets Mount Scopus so it's in the valley to the foot of those two mountains so it's very close to the Temple Mount minds for rabbi Richmond earlier today we were saying the the morning prayers and it was substituted Adonai meaning Lord in place in the prayer for Hashem and I was wondering if you could enlighten us a little bit as to when to use when it's proper to use each one so as you know the Jewish people reverentially refer to God as Hashem which literally means the name because we don't utter the name unless we are actually praying actually the truth is it can also be it can also be uttered in Torah study if one is reciting an entire verse but we had a discussion here in the center of the congregation and the prayer was written as hashem because originally I believe it was historically that's how that's how we began doing it and then there was a desire amongst the people to be able to say the name and there was a question that was raised if they if they could or should use the name itself in prayer because they felt very strongly that they wanted to have that experience and and so we we changed it because it's prayer it still it's totally within the realm of Halawa and certainly may be used in prayer reverentially so that's that was the history of why that change was made because it was there was a concern voiced by the congregation that they wanted to be able to use the name thank you I I know my daughter pearl he also has a burning question whether you're familiar at all with the science fiction of transportation to vehicle known as the TARDIS which is larger on the inside than it is on the outside no had no idea large on the inside so it's loosely it's loosely based on the Ark of the Covenant I guess [Music] I was just wondering if the the tiles that Hillel found on the Herodian temple the pattern in that is that will the pattern be reused in the new temple or we do have other patterns of tile did you plan to you sir or what the the floor tile is it was not mandated by divine command at all it was many many aspects of the architecture of the temple were clearly Roman influence and had to do also with the necessity to placate Rome to allow the temple to be able to stand so no it that's not necessarily the case at all I I think it's it's riveting to be able to see that we were able to reconstruct it and have a good idea how it looked the tremendous amount of research that the Frankie Snider did but no there's no there's no obligation to follow a detail like that because there are aspects of the temple that are fixed and there are aspects that are changeable in every generation ever I have a question when the political situation hopefully changes quickly for the Temple Mount to be rebuilt what it would be the process of the rebuilding would be time of archaeological digs for locations or whatever done first or would there be immediately preparation to get the services going and because there's a lot of archaeological finds and things to be done restoration or building let's say if the situation immediately changed this year what would be that process and how long would it take to get those services started I really don't know how to answer I don't know what the process would be because I don't know who who the decision is going to be dependent on from clearly from a Torah standpoint the most important thing would be to begin the service of the temple because every day that the mitzvot are not fulfilled is is we're missing something in any event there there's a process of restarts and purification that has to be done first and that might involve the subterranean level as well so that it might be that that would be done as far as time is concerned a timeline I really I really couldn't say as far as the beginning the service we've already created the majority of everything that's necessary to be able to do that in these decades of of the research and development of the temple Institute so there shouldn't be any any real lag in terms of being able to begin the service and due haste I was really surprised to learn that in the sifting project they found modern military ballistic debris were there was these weapons fired from within that region and just part of the debris the ayahuasca throughout or were they with in the temple great outside temple area they just got picked up as the debris was moved many many tons of debris were removed from the temple and it's elephant they were many hockey paying forces that march through Jerusalem I believe in in addition to the more recent things that were mentioned munitions from the first world war and from the 1967 war there were other occupying forces who's whose weapons were also found there but that was from the Temple Mount itself we're gonna be seeing 5g networks come the internet-of-things sensors everywhere is that their temple gonna be technology free or would it be connected connected to the Internet yes that's all I need I know we have some blueprints that are on the wall for people to enjoy a part of a program that's ongoing and some of them show a computer stations elevators and underground parking some of these blueprints that we brought this is based on an important idea that I just referenced very briefly that there's a there's an idea that there are aspects of the temple that are permanent and that must be included in order for the temple to be to be considered to correct and there are aspects that are that are changeable this is a very ancient concept that it comes all the way from something a part of the oral tradition that's known as the scroll of the temple which the sages tell us was actually presented at Mount Sinai as part of the Torah and it includes principles of what aspects of the temple can be changed so as far as air conditioning as far as heated floors as far as things that will that will be matters of tremendous convenience I see no reason why they would not be present I don't know but the internet that might be a distraction right I have a question what will be the password Michael Gail are you in the room as Michael gale in the room could you stand up no he's not okay because I know what his password is of his Wi-Fi at home I thought he thought he might share it with us because I can't say what it is but we've hit the ten o'clock mark so I think we should wrap this up I think we could go on for an hour or so or longer but as much as I hate to I must call this conference to a close and we're just so glad that you've all got to come and be here and I think this is something we'll remember for many years to come and my Michelle bring the temples to us soon [Applause]

Channel: The Temple Institute

Views: 7,026

Rating: 4.8036809 out of 5

Keywords: Temple Institute, korbanot, High Priest, Moses, Moshe, Aaron, Aharon, Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, HaMikdash, Tabernacle, Mishkan, Mikdash, Bible, Rabbi Chaim Richman, Parsha, Parshat, Hashavua, teaching, bible, Eretz, Israel, religion, educational, politics, inspirational, Temple, Ark, Para Aduma, Torah, תורה, ישראל, ירושלים, Genesis, Avraham, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Offerings, Korbanot, Temple Denial, Challah, Channah, Altar, Mizbeach, Sacred Space, Makom, Ark of the Covenant, Aron haBrit, מזבח, ארון הברית, חלה, חנה, המקום

Id: rWk8PSaYA8Y

Length: 64min 42sec (3882 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 13 2018