From the seventeenth of Tammuz until the ninth of Av it is customary to mourn over the destruction of the Holy Temple. There in fact were several temples. Orthodox Judaism tends to emphasize the one that was built by Herod the Great which was destroyed 3828 anno mundi (Jewish count) or according to secular historians, 70 BC. Its destruction is associated with our current exile. This one replaced the temple that was built by Ezra the prophet, when the Jews returned from exile in Babylon. Although it is not referred to as such the first temple was the Tabernacle built by Moshe rebenu after the exodus from Egypt. It was replaced by the temple built by King Solomon.
In the Chumash there are many accounts of Moshe receiving prophecies in the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle. Solomon's Temple itself is not specifically associated with prophecy although it stood during the time of many great prophets. Prophecy ended with the death of Ezra. There are legends about open miracles in the Second Temple but they were not as great as the miracles performed by the prophets. Also it is not clear whether these stories are recording actual events or are only allegories.
The central idea of the Temple was that this was the place where the presence of G-d was strongly felt. For this reason it was called the House of G-d, even though G-d is to be found everywhere. The Temple was the greatest place where a person could celebrate for the gifts heaven bestowed upon him, express his devotion to Hakodesh Baruch Hu, confess his sins and regrets, and generally pour out his heart in prayer.
The Temple was also the place that the Sanhedrin sat. The Sanhedrin was basically a legal system with legislative powers. Once established by the prophet, it was a self-sustaining body. New members, when needed, were admitted by its existing members. The king was the executive ruler and was appointed by the prophet by the command of G-d. The will of the people was considered very important but the system envisioned by the Chumash had few if any formal democratic mechanisms.
Information in the Tanakh is sparse about how a person became a prophet, who was the recipient of messages from Hashem. For some it was a spontaneous reaction that they learned how to access at will. Others were specifically schooled in the proper techniques. In any event Hashem had to agree to communicate with the prophet. Sometimes the path was wide open other times it was closed.
There are speculations about what these techniques were, but nobody knows for sure. Kabalistic texts such as the Sefer Yetzira and Sha’arey Kedusha bring meditative techniques to bring enlightenment. It basically is a variant of reciting the alphabet for many hours. This knowledge was greatly suppressed for centuries and even today it is generally discouraged. The idea was to put a person into a dream state by which the imaginative facilities of the mind would receive enlightenment from heaven or even hear the voice of G-d. There is an incident in the books of the prophets of music being used. There are other things too and the topic can be lengthy. These things are generally viewed with horror, except for a small number of people who thrive on them.
The prophets were portrayed as men of high character but often despised by a corrupt society. The story of the murder of Zechariah ben Jehoiada in the Temple is brought in Gemara Gittin and regularly studied in connection with the fast of Tisha b’Av. Sadly he was not the only one to suffer this fate.
Judaism today is a system of ethics and practices based largely on the Gemara, Mishna Brura, and the Chazzon Esh with some nexus to the Five Books of Moses. Its adherents see themselves as humble servants of the word of G-d and arbiters of His will. Setting aside the false modesty, this is generally viewed as a perfect system that has always been here and will continue forever. It is much different from the vision of the Tanakh. Nevertheless its destruction is ostensibly what we are mourning over.
It was said by the prophet Amos that a time is coming when there will be a famine, but not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, rather for hearing the words of the LORD. Gloomily he adds men shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it. Amos said this after he was told to shut up and go because he was prophesying imminent disaster due to social decay. Disaster did come and others followed that were much worse. It seems though that the virgin of Israel will some day abandon the pin headed myth of absolute self reliance and eventually yearn for the love of the husband of her youth. And we get a glimpse of that during the three weeks between the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
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