In this week’s parsha, we learn about the construction of the Mishkan, the first portable holy sanctuary, which accompanied the Jews through their forty-year journey to the Promised Land. It was set up permanently in three respective locations until King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians. After seventy years, the second Holy Temple was rebuilt and destroyed 420 years later by the Romans. The biblical prophets foretold that a third Holy Temple will be built when Moshiach comes which will stand forever.
The fundamental difference between all previous divine sanctuaries and the third Holy Temple is their relationship with the world. While the Holy Temples of the past represented the wholesomeness of Jewish observance and our relationship with G-d, the world they inhabited was far from perfect. War, disease, poverty, and chaos were rampant around the globe, and jealousy, corruption, and hatred plagued all humanity, including the Jewish nation.
The third Holy Temple, however, will inhabit a world of health, prosperity, peace, and tranquility for all. This is the era Moshiach will usher in. Everything humanity can agree to wish for will be fulfilled at that time. This is the meaning of the short prayer recited at the beginning of our morning prayers and after the Amida prayer: “May it be Your will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that the Holy Temple be speedily rebuilt in our days, and grant us our portion in Your Torah.” The third and final Holy Temple and our service in it represents the blessed era of Moshiach we all crave. In addition to reading the weekly Parsha Vayak’hel, this Shabbat every congregation will read an extra portion known as Parshat Parah. One of the hallmarks of the Holy Temple was the necessity for anyone who entered it and all participants to be ritually pure. The laws of ritual purity are complex, but the most severe type of impurity occurs when coming in contact with or being under the same roof as a corpse. In addition to immersing in a Mikva, to be cleansed of the impurity of a corpse one must be sprinkled with spring water mixed with the ashes of the Red Heifer, as described in Parshat Parah. This reading was instituted to remind the Jews living in the times of the Holy Temples to ensure they were ritually pure in preparation for the sacrificial service of the Paschal Lamb which was the centerpiece of the Passover Seder. Although today, in the absence of the Holy Temple, these laws do not apply to observe Passover properly, we continue to read this extra Parsha on schedule because Moshiach may arrive at any moment, perfect the world, rebuild the Holy Temple, and set in motion the original rituals of Passover, including the process of ritual purification. We need to be ready for that. As we read Parshat Parah, consider the fact that we all can influence and expedite the perfection of the world and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. In the words of the twelfth-century sage Maimonides, “Each person must view themselves as though the entire world were held in balance and with a single good deed, spoken word or even thought, they could tip the scales” ushering in the era of redemption.
