Temple Time Zones
The commandment to build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, was not only in order to construct a temporary Temple for worship on the journey from Egypt to Israel. Rather, our Sages explain, it was also a commandment to construct a figurative temple, within the heart of every Jew, in every generation.
Thus, the sages and mystics set out to explain the inner meaning of the temple and its vessels, they expanded the symbolism of its materials and colors, they showed how every detail of these commandments can be applied to the spiritual life of every Jew.
The Mishkan, the portable temple, had three sections. There was a courtyard in which there was an altar for the animal offerings, and where the Israelites would stand when they would come to the temple. Within the courtyard stood the actual Mishkan, the tent of meeting, which was divided into two rooms. The larger outer room, the “holy”, contained the “vessels”: the Menorah, the table with the showbread, as well as the inner gold altar for incense. The inner room of the tent of meeting, “the holy of holies”, contained nothing but the ark with the tablets. It was the holiest part of the temple, only the high priest, on the holiest day of the year, would enter the holy of holies.
How are these three sections of the temple - the courtyard, the holy, and the holy of holies - relevant to our lives today?
Our spiritual life is about constructing a figurative temple that contains all three sections. We then move between the courtyard, the holy and the holy of holies. We experience each room with its unique environment and atmosphere. Life is about navigating these rooms.
One way to look at the three areas of the temple, is to view then as three dimensions within time. The courtyard, the most mundane place in the temple, represents the six days of the work week, during which time we are primarily involved with the material world, struggling to make a living, to produce and to achieve material success.
The courtyard was somewhat of a chaotic place. There were people and animals moving about, the priests would wash their hands and feet with the water from the basin, they would offer the animal offerings, slaughtering the animals, cleaning them and burning some of the animal parts on the altar. Other parts of the offerings were cooked and eaten by the priests and the Israelites. All this activity represents life during the weekdays, the noise created by the tension between the material and the spiritual. The activity in the courtyard, the offering of a physical animal as an offering to G-d, represents the struggle to be in the world, to achieve material success, yet at the same time to sanctify the material and the animal within man, to connect the mundane to a higher purpose and calling. Most of our week is spent in the figurative courtyard.
And then, the Shabbat arrives.
On Shabbat we retreat from our work, we embrace our family, and we rest. We dedicate time to nourish our soul. On Shabbat we enter the holy, the outer chamber of the tent of meeting, we experience its peace and tranquility. Everything on the Shabbat, including the Shabbat meals, is holy. It is a commandment to derive pleasure from food and drink on Shabbat, because the food of Shabbat is itself considered holy. The outer chamber, the holy, contained the light of the Menorah and the pleasurable smell of the incense, representing the pleasure we experience from spiritual activities.
And then, once a year, we enter the holy of holies. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, we become spiritual beings. On Yom Kippur we don’t eat or drink. On Yom Kippur we connect to our essence, to our soul that is completely spiritual and has no need for food or drink.
Each of these steps - the challenge of the material world, the sanctification of the material on Shabbat, and transcending the material and being completely spiritual on Yom Kippur - is a critical part of our mission to make a dwelling place for the Divine on this earth. We must move between the varying degrees of holiness of Yom Kippur, Shabbat and the weekdays. Each of these experiences must influence the others. The person we are on Yom Kippur must influence the person we are on a simple Wednesday afternoon.
We each have a body and soul, a material side and a spiritual side. To fulfill the purpose of creation we must live, not in one dimension, but rather we must move between the different levels of holiness. We must make time for each of the three stages of being.
We must experience each of the three sections of our own temple. While we do spend most of our time in the courtyard, we must remember that while we need to be in the courtyard to fulfill the Divine will, our core, our essence, our soul, is at home only in the holy of holies. [1]
[1] Inspired by the teachings of the Rebbe, Reshimas Hamenora.
Jill Yolen wrote...