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Tisha Be'Av
Rambam in Bet Habechira (BH) chap 1 halacha one,
states categorically: It is a positive commandment to make a
"house" for Hashem. It will stand ready for sacrifices, and the
people will assemble there three times a year, and this directive is
reflected in the verse (shmot25:8) "and they will make for me a Temple
(Tabernacle).Note: The verse is specifically about the Tabernacle but applies
also to the building of the Temple. In halacha 6, Rambam
continues: There are vessels in
the Temple. First amongst them is the altar for the burnt offering and the
other sacrifices. It seems that the altar is a function of the
"house". Build a
house for Hashem and it will contain an altar.
Note. I do
not refer here to the dispute about what was made first the "house"or
the "vessels", which comes to the fore at the end of the book of
Shmot. I am only mentioning the
order as presented in the Rambam. The
"house" has a specific verse while the altar does not;
the Rambam's opinion is that they go together. Halacha 3. When
the Temple was built in Yerushalayim, all the other places became forbidden.
You could not build a house anywhere else, nor could you sacrifice anywhere
else. The house that would last forever (the place certainly), was in
Yerushalyim and the place of sacrifice was on Mount Moriah. There is ultimately a connection between the
"house" and the altar. Once
the house has been built, the
sacrifices can not be given anywhere else.
This in spite of the fact that before the "house" was built
in Yerusalayim, the sacrifices
were given in any place that in which an altar was built. There was no
necessary connection between the "house" and the sacrifices until
the "house" was established. Rambam in chapter 2, halacha 2 adds a historical point. There is a well known tradition that the place that the
altar was established by the kings David and Shlomo was the very place that
Avraham built the altar to sacrifice his son Yizhaq. And that in turn, was
the place that Noach built his altar when he came out of the ark. And that
is the very altar that Kayyin and Hevel were using when they sacrificed to
Hashem. In fact (Rambam adds)
it was the very place that Adam the first man sacrificed, and he was created
from that place (The sacrifice
given by Adam is not mentioned in the Torah, but is clearly stated by chazal).
The chachamim have pointed out the following insight (yerushalmi
nazir 7:2): Man was created (the dust of creation came ) from the place of
his atonement (the place where in the future sacrifices would be given).
The dust was from the place of the altar which was an ongoing source
of kapara. Sacrifice is the result of a human need.
Either the need to thank heaven in a tangible way,
or the need to seek some sort of accommodation with heaven.
The connections while not obvious certainly exist.
The altar is the building which takes into account man's needs and
his weaknesses. At first man
could sacrifice in any place; again and again he chose to sacrifice in a
special place, Mount Moriah. There
was always the sense that there was a right place, a place which would make
the sacrifice more effective. The place from which the dust of creation was
collected was understood to be that place.
We know of this place because we are directed to use that knowledge
in an effective way. This
place was known to the people in their memory but they were not able to
actualize this memory, until the "house" was actually built. For
Adam, Noach, and Avraham there were no impediments.
They could go to the place and sacrifice to Hashem.
For the people, when entering the land it became clear that they
would not gain access to Moriah till the "house" had been built. A new relationship had been established; the
"house" was demanded. Following
the building of the "house" there
was a new altar which was built by man but fixed in the place of Hashem. The
altar was built on Moriah, but Moriah had now become the place of Hashem and
the "house" His house.
This altar could not be replaced by a similar structure that would
exist outside the house. When
the house was destroyed it was
clear to all that the altar could be rebuilt unless and untill the house
would be rebuilt with it. The destruction of the "house" devastated the
people because they could not return to the state of Adam and Avraham who
had an altar whenever they desired to sacrifice.
The building of the "house" demanded new levels of
responsibility. This
responsibility was not fulfilled and the temple was destroyed. An easy fast In England: Well
over the fast
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