However, Passover was not meant to be this way. The entire Jewish People was supposed to leave their homes and come to Jerusalem. How could everbody fit in Jerusalem? This is one of the miracles that G-d did for our forefathers: "...nor did anyone say to his friend,'The place is too crowded that I should lodge overnight in Jerusalem'(Avot 5:5)." The mountains surrounding Jerusalem would be white from the multitude of sheep being brought as sacrifices. Each chavurah(group) would bring their korban pesach(paschal sacrifice) to the Temple. Afterwards the entire Jewish People would hold their seder in Jerusalem. The sacrifice would be eaten. The sound of people saying the Hallel would reverberate throughout the city.
At the end of the seder we sing "Leshannah haba'ah birushalayim habenuyah.(Next in in a rebuilt Jerusalem.)" Jerusalem today, with all of its neighborhoods, with the hundreds of thousands of Jews that live here, with all of its beauty and grace is still in a state of destruction. As long as the heart and soul of Jerusalem, the Temple is in ruins, the entire city is in ruins. "On Mt. Zion which is desolate, foxes walk upon it(Lamentaions 5:18)." Unless a miracle happens and the Temple is speedily rebuilt, our Pesach won't really be Pesach. Let's not forget that.
May we all merit to see the Beit HaMikdash(Temple) rebuilt speedily in or days.
4 comments:
Wow, amen as well!
I had no clue where you were going with this at the beginning...wow...must admit, I never thought of it that way. The Seder did NOT take place at home. They were all off in Yerushalayim together...Wow. Excellent post.
Although, could you include Baltimore in the list of "lehavdil" towns getting ready for Pesach? We may not be New Square or Crown Heights or Boro Park (and I doubt that most bloggers are, altho there are exceptions), but we DO keep Pesach... ;)
Like the candle that stays strong, no matter how many others it lights, Jerusalem can hold all of the Jews who come "l'regel."
We are gathering in Shiloh of the mishkan.
Jerusalem might be in less ruins if we had a mayor who cared about actually revitalizing it instead of building Shabbas clocks. As to the Temple ... well, I hold by Rambam that we won't need sacrifices anymore
Shalom AmEchad:
As far as cleanliness goes, I think Jerusalem has improved since the present mayor took office.
With regards to the Temple, the Rambam's opinion, halacha lema'aseh, is expressed in the Laws of Kings and Their Wars 11:1. There the Rambam writes, among other things, that the Mashiach will build the Temple and sacrifices will be offered.
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