Friday, April 17, 2009

Who will build the third Beis Hamikdash?

Rabbenu Bachai says a most interesting thing on the parsha, in talking about the חזיר - the pig. The pig only has one sign, which is that it has split hooves, but it does not chew its cud. The exile that we are currently in, Galus Edom (Western culture), is represented by the pig. (For a deeper understanding of that, please listen to my parsha podcast.)

Rabbenu Bachai brings a medrash that explains why the pig is called a חזיר, which comes from the root חזר - to return. The first pshat in the medrash is that Hashem will be מחזיר - i.e. bring upon them (Edom) - the attribute of Divine justice.

The second pshat is most interesting. The wording is that in the future they will be מחזיר (return) the crown to its former glory. He explains that this means that whereas the first and second Batei Mikdash were made by Jews, the final one will be made by the people of Edom! Thus, they will return the crown (i.e. the Beis Hamikdash), which they had destroyed, to its former glory.

The third pshat is that they will return in a different way. Whereas until that final stage of history, the people of Edom will oppress and torment the Jewish people for sticking to their spiritual path, when Moshiach finally arrives, they will encourage the Jewish people as they endeavor to come close to Hashem.

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