Sunday, February 9, 2014
The Completion of the Second Beit Hamikdash
Imagine yourself living in Eretz Yisrael at the time of the completion of the Second Beit Hamikdash. Write a one paragraph letter to a cousin of yours still living in the Persian Empire at the time describing your feelings at being at the dedication of the Mikdash. Include the obstacles, challenges, hopes and disappointments that you went through as well as the prophecies of Chaggai and Zechariah and how they relate to the completion of the Mikdash.
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Dearest cousins in the Persian Empire,
ReplyDeleteI am writing now to let you know that we have finally finished building the Beit Hamikdash here! There is an incredible energy amongst the people here; none of us ever expected to be able to come back to the land and rebuild G-d’s house, let alone give Korbanot again or celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem. Of course, none of this would be possible if we didn’t have leaders that pushed us. Aside from Zerubavel, the political leader, and Yehoshua, the spiritual leader, I get my strength from the prophecies of Chaggai and Zechariah. Chaggai reminded us that G-d is still there and that, if G-d is to help us, we must take the first step towards returning to Him. Talk about empowerment: we have to take the first steps! With their help and constant guidance, I feel that we have taken those steps. Zechariah reminded us that, in order to have a relationship with G-d, we also have to pay attention to our relationships with other people. If we put these two elements together, then we will be able to succeed in our homeland once more. Zechariah also prophesied about the demise of our enemies, G-d’s constant presence and aid, and the strength of our leadership. These prophecies give me a lot of faith that the future will be much brighter than the past was. I hope this turns out to be true. At the same time, other nations have had us halt the building several times and can be genuinely intimidating. Daryavesh has ordered them to stop, but that means that they won’t torment us. So I’m scared of them. I’m also scared of what might happen if the people don’t hold up their end of the deal with G-d -- we have to follow G-d and act morally with each other in order to restore our relationship with Him. Am Yisrael has ignored the warnings in the past, and I don’t want the destruction to happen again because we couldn’t act properly. I’m also disappointed that this Beit Hamikdash isn’t quite as grand as the first Beit Hamikdash or that the return to Israel hasn’t been unanimous. It’s pretty clear to me that this dedication is the beginning of a new era in our homeland, and I’m curious, hopeful, and apprehensive about what the future might bring.
To my Cousin Henny,
ReplyDeleteI miss you dearly. I hope that everything is well with you and your family in persia. I haven't written to you in a while and lots of things have happened here in Israel. We have completed the building of the Beit Hamikdash. Im sure you already heard but it was nothing like the way they described it in the papers. It was much more glorious. It was something i have never experienced and probably will never again. I saw the the Kohanim bring a korban to Hashem. The leviim where singing. Everyone was crying. The unity of the jewish people was strong and you can feel it in the air. I saw the prophecies of Chaggi and Zechariah come true. We started building the temple and God did help us make sure that we can go threw with it. I knew that God was there for us as we were building the temple. Even though the people from across the river tried to stop us from building we continued. No one gave up and therefore we succeeded. I now realize that if i am nice to other people and think about others God will think about us. I shouldn't be afraid of the other nation because i'm doing the right thing. In those minutes of the dedication of the temple I felt the strongest connection to God. I know that soon you along with all the other jews will come to jerusalem and live here with me. Everyone will once again be happy.
I miss and love you,
Hudis
Dearest cousin Bob (living in the Persian empire),
ReplyDeleteGuess what? You're not gonna believe it.. but, we've completed the construction of the BHMK. It's pretty crazy - everyone is ecstatic. Who would've ever thought this could happen?! Honestly even after I returned I still didn't think that it was going to happen. We had incredible leaders though. Like Zerubavel and Yehoshua. Zerubavel's the political leader and Yehoshua is the spiritual one. They really pushes us to get this done and IT HAPPENED! Of course the Nevuot from Chaggai and Zechariah were definitely helpful as well. Chaggai ensured us that G-d is still with us and that we have to take steps towards the return and then He will help us. It's kind of like that idea of man-initiated redemption we spoke about when I was last in the Persian Empire. Zechariah focused on our relationship with each other - man to man - and that we must have a relationship with one another to be close to Hashem. Both of these נביאים really empowered and reassured us. Everyone has so much hope for the future after all of this.
Also - remember last time I was telling you about those mean, annoying צרי יהודה?! Yeah, well דריוש came and told them to stop. Can you believe it?? Still, we're all a bit afraid.. just because someone tells them not to doesn't necessarily mean they won't do it. Hopefully if we're all careful in how we act and treat others and focus on our relationship with G-d, we can keep this BHMK!! Who knows if we Jews will step out of line again, but I'm hoping that we won't this time!
Most of all - you and everyone you know should get here ASAP!
Missing you here in ירושלים,
Jamie
Dear Rivkah,
ReplyDeleteYou should have been there, you really should have. I can't really describe to you what it was like to see the Beit Hamigdash get dedicated... It was unlike anything I have experienced in my life. We've been through so many hard times and faced so many obstacles leading up to this event. There was a time when I was like you and never believed that this day would ever come. I'm so glad I decided to go against my better judgement and be part of the return to Jerusalem, because even though we've had tremendous suffering, it has all paid off in the end. Seeing the Beit Hamigdash dedicated gives me renewed faith in the prophecies of Chaggai and Zechariah. They said that we had to take the first step, and that Hashem would be with us, and they were right. I am now ever more committed to the work and worship of this new Beit Hamigdash. And, thanks to Zechariah, I am reminded of how important it is to care for my fellow person. It's weird to think that we may not have been able to rebuild this Temple because we were too busy abusing each other. How could we have forgotten how important it is to do mitzvoth ben adam lechavero? I wish you could be here, my cousin and friend, so we could practice these mitzvoth together. We would always talk about our skepticism and doubt about the prospects of a new Temple- but now it's here! So come! Nobody blames you for waiting until after the building- I certainly don't- it's never too late to join in. Yes, this one isn't as great as the ones before us described the first one, but I think it's wonderful. I think the potential for the future is tremendous, and I think that as time goes on, this Temple will become gorgeous. We need people like you to come back and help make it even greater than the first. The enemies are gone, and we're back on top. Hashem is with us, and we are with each other. The achdut among the Jewish people is palpable- you have to be here to believe it!
So come home, where you belong. I'll be waiting!
Miss you and love you always,
Racheli
Dear Cousin,
ReplyDeleteWe finally finished building today! It's such a shame that you couldn't have been there to celebrate with us. There were so many problems on the way that's why it's so relieving to finally have it finished. At first we were commanded to stop, then our enemies kept us away from building. Can you imagine that? How rude! Then when we were able to return, no one even wanted to anymore. They kept calling the Neviim crazy and they wouldn't listen to them. Then they would constantly remind us that G-d is still here with us and G-d will always be with us no matter what. But the whole prophecy wasn't being fulfilled so people were in doubt. That's when they had to remind us that G-d is still here and will always be. I wish that you could've been there with us to this great completion. It's not exactly like the first which is a little disappointing, but it's so beautiful. I hope that you can get here soon to come see it and so we can worship G-d in the holiest of places.
Hope to see you soon,
Racheli B.
Dear Leah,
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what to say. I was so worried this day would never some. After the last destruction and all the pain and suffering that followed, I did not even believe that a second Beit Hamikdash would be rebuilt--but now it's finished! It's magnificent. I wish you could see it. The fact that its rebuilt gives me a new sense of faith in G-d and it strengthens my relationship with Him. After all of the obstacles we had to go through to build this, it's really a blessing I am able to see it being finished. Our enemies tried to stop us and they would have succeeded if Chaggai had not come to our rescue. His prophesies really pushed us to continue rebuilding. He told us that we could not just wait for some big miracle--we had to take the first step. G-d didn't need it to be perfect. For example, our enemies tried to stop us by preventing us from getting cedar wood from Lebanon but Chaggai told us that we don't need to use the cedar wood. G-d wants us to build the Beit Hamikdash, even if its not completely perfect. He will still accept it. Zecharia then came and helped us to become better people. He reminded us that it's not good enough to fast and bring sacrifices--we need to treat our fellow man properly. We must treat each person with Tzedeck and Mishpat if we want to be the best Jews we can be. With both of their help (and prophesies) as well as with the help of our political leader, Zerubavel and our religious leader, Yehoshua, we have finally completed the holy task of building the Beit Hamikdash.
I know you are comfortable in your life in Bavel but this is really something you need to see. It is absolutely beautiful, and you can feel the spirituality surrounding it. When you walk in, you know that G-d's Shchina is there and it makes you want to connect with Him even more. Please come visit-you won't regret it.
Love,
Alyssa
Dear Favorite Cousin,
ReplyDeleteI am writing to you to inform you that we have finished the building of the Temple. It was a hard time and journey, filled with bumps in the road, but we got it done! When we returned to the land, we were told to start building immediately, but then were stopped by the great king, Artachshasta. After we got permission to start building again, we got lazy, and used to the easy life. Our leaders told us that we needed to get off our lazy tushies and start building again, for Hashem. So, we did. Now we come to the time when we are ready to dedicate the complete Second Temple, and boy does it feel amazing. It feels that we are finally back in our home, but there are still a couple if things missing. First and foremost, no one really feels that Hashem's presence is there, in the Temple anymore. And second, not everyone, including you, are back from galut which makes it hard to have a happy celebration. I hope you and Hashem's schniah truly return to the land soon. Until then, hope you are having a good life in Persia.
Love Always,
Sophie
He creado una página para que juntos aprendamos sobre el Templo según la descripción del profeta Ezequiel. Te invito a unirte: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Constructores-del-gran-templo-de-Jerusalem/1406410259620548?ref=hl
ReplyDeleteTo my beloved cousin and best friend,
ReplyDeleteWe have recently finished dedicating the new Beis Hamikdash here in Israel- a new one to take the place of the one that was so cruelly destroyed less than a century ago. It has been such an emotionally overwhelming experience; I only wish you had been here to share in the moment with me. It gives me such strength and hope to see what we have accomplished. Though there have been several sizeable bumps in the road along the way (not least interference by the "natives" here, the Tzarei Yehuda, in our attempts to rebuild, such as delaying shipments of supplies, trying to intimidate us and scare us into stopping, and even going so far as to send a letter to the King trying to get him to force us to stop the building), we made it through. We succeeded.
This is, of course, in no small part to the efforts of the prophets Chaggai and Zecharia. Chaggai encouraged us, among other things, to keep resisting the interference of the Tzarei Yehuda. He told us that WE had to take the first step; we couldn't just sit around and wait for G-d to do everything. The new Beis Hamikdashis much smaller and much less ornate than the previous one, but Chaggai assured us that it would still be acceptable. We just had to do it. Zecharia came after and reminded us that we had to keep our interpersonal relationships in mind, as well as the spiritual relationships with G-d himself. He reminded us that we had to think of others instead of thinking it was enough to follow the mitzvot. Unfortunately, we had thought ourselves so religious, when really, we were not. We were taking great care to follow all the rituals and be "exemplary Jews", yet the entire time, we had been neglecting people in our nation.
With the help of these prophets, we have made it to where we are today. I know that if you come, you'll love it! Please say you will! Just being here is an experience you will never forget!
Much love,
Mirel Nechama
My dearest cousin,
ReplyDeleteHow are you? How are things in the Persian Empire? I am writing to tell you about my experience returning to Israel. We have finally completed the Second Temple! I wish you were here to rejoice with me. It was challenging and difficult. There were many obstacles that made it seem like the temple would never be completed. Our enemies were relentless and carried out countless attempts to stop the building of our temple. They tried tricking and deceiving the king. They tried to physically attack us, but despite all of this, we finished what we set out to do. We could not have done it without the brilliant leadership of Yehoshuah and Zerubavel. Their tireless efforts got us throughout all the difficult times and led us to the finish line. The temple is not quite as large and fancy as the first, but it is incredible nonetheless. Hopefully this is the start of all the Jews returning together to Israel. I encourage you to get here as soon as you can, so you can see what I mean. It’s time for everyone to reunite.
Much love,
Hannah