RABBI SHALOM ROSNER
Rav Kehilla, Nofei HaShemesh Maggid Shiur, Daf Yomi, OU.org Senior Ra"M, Kerem B'Yavneh
Location, Location, Location….
A
t least fourteen times in Parshas Re’eh alone, the Torah refers to a location that is not explicitly named. It is clearly referring to the location of the Beit HaMikdash, but it uses the phrase, “makom asher yivchar” – “the place that He will choose.”1 Why is the location of the Beit HaMikdash not made explicit? The Torah could have referred to the location as Har HaMoriah, as it did when Avraham was instructed to journey there to sacrifice his son. The Rambam (Moreh Nevukhim 3:45) offers three explanations as to why the location of the Beit HaMikdash was not explicitly disclosed in the Torah. First, so that the other nations will not 1 Devarim 12:5; 12:11; 12:14; 12:18; 12:21: 14:23; 14:24; 14:25; 16:2; 16:6; 16:7; 16:11; 16:15; 16:16.
רפואה שלמה יהודה מאיר בן יקירה 20
TORAH TIDBITS / RE'EH 5780
know the location of the holiest place on earth and try to prevent Bnei Yisrael from being able to conquer and establish a presence in the vicinity. Isn’t it fascinating, now that its location is known, how prophetic the words of Rambam are, and how so many religions are fighting over the Temple Mount!? It is even counted as one of the three locations in Eretz Yisrael that was purchased and specifically these three locations are among those most contested. The three locations purchased were: Jerusalem (Har HaBayit), Hevron (Me’arat HaMakhpela) and Shekhem (Yosef’s burial site). Second, if the other nations would know the location of the future Temple, the place where Jews would serve their God, they would defile the place. Again, history has proven what the Rambam expressed as a threat. One of the gates leading to the Old City of Jerusalem today is called “Sha’ar HaAshpos” – the Dung Gate in English. Legend has it that in the time of the Byzantines, garbage was thrown from there up until the Temple Mount, to prevent the Jews from praying
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