05 Aug WHO WILL BUILD THE THIRD TEMPLE? ACTING ON THE MITZVAH VS. WAITING FROM HEAVEN

After the harsh
day of Tisha B’Av,
when we mourn the
destruction of the Beit
HaMikdash and express
our yearning for its rebuilding and for
the Shechinah to return and dwell among
us, it is an appropriate time to reflect on
how the Third Temple will be rebuilt. The
common notion is that the Third Mikdash
will descend from Heaven, fully built.
While it is true that this view is expressed
by Rashi (Sukah 41a) and Tosafot (Shvuot
!5b), what is less well known is that many
disagree with this opinion—and even
those who do agree often interpret it not
literally.
First we will see that the Midrash
Tanchuma appears to support Rashi’s
view (KI Tisa 13): Hashem says: In this
world, you built a Mishkan and Mikdash
surrounded by a physical wall. In the
future, I will build the Beit HaMikdash,
and it will be surrounded by a wall of fire,
as it says: “And I will be for her, says
Hashem, a wall of fire” (Zechariah 2:9).
The Zohar also states (Bereshit 28):
“The pasuk says (Zechariah 2): ‘And I
will be for her, says Hashem, a wall of
fire surrounding her.’ Therefore, on this
mountain the Beit HaMikdash will be
built by Hashem, and it will endure for
all generations. About it, the pasuk says
(Haggai 2): ‘The glory of this latter
House shall be greater than the first.’ For
the first was built by man—but this one
will be built by Hashem. And thus it says
(Tehillim 127): ‘If Hashem does not build
the house, its builders labor in vain.’”
The obvious question on those views
is that there is a clear commandment in
the Torah to build the Bet Mikdash—a
mitzvah that no one disputes or interprets
differently. No one explains this mitzvah
as a divine promise that the Temple
will descend from Heaven on its own.
Therefore, by passively waiting for the
Mikdash to descend from Heaven, we are
failing to fulfill this commandment.
The Rambam writes explicitly: “The
commandment is that we are to build
the chosen House for service, in which
sacrifices will be offered, the fire will
burn continuously, and to which all will
ascend and gather for the pilgrimage
festivals each year. This is as it says: ‘And
they shall make Me a sanctuary.’ And the
language of the Sifrei is: ‘Three mitzvot

were commanded to Israel upon entering
the Land—to appoint a king, to build
the Bet HaBechirah (Bet Mikdash), and
to wipe out the descendants of Amalek.’
It is thus clear that building the Bet
HaBechirah is an independent mitzvah in
its own right.”
Indeed the Talmud Yerushalmi states
(Megilah 1, 11) that in the future, the
nation of Israel will rise and build the Beit
HaMikdash. In line with this, the Meiri
writes (Sukah 41a) that the Mikdash will
be built by human hands. The Rambam
is even more specific, stating that it will
be the Mashiach who builds it (Ashe’
20): “The King Mashiach is destined to
arise and restore the kingdom of David
to its former sovereignty. He will build
the Mikdash and gather in the exiles of
Israel. In his days, all the laws will be
reinstated as they were before: sacrifices
will be offered, and the laws of Shemittah
and Yovel will be observed in accordance
with all their Torah requirements.”
We clearly see a difference of opinion
among Chazal: the Midrash Tanchuma
states that Hashem will bring down
the Mikdash from Heaven, while the
Yerushalmi teaches that the people will
build it themselves. How can these two
views be reconciled?
Some have written that the two views do
not actually contradict one another but
refer to different scenarios. The Maharam
Shik (Yoreh De’ah 213) explains that
each source is addressing a different
possibility for the redemption. If the
Jewish people are redeemed simply
because the appointed time has arrived—
without merit through their deeds—then
the Beit HaMikdash will be built by
human hands, as such a redemption is of
a lesser spiritual quality, and so too the
construction of the Mikdash. However,
if the nation of Israel repents and reaches
a high spiritual level, then Hashem will
hasten the redemption, and the Mikdash
will descend from Heaven.
The Mahari”l Diskin offers an original
approach to resolve both opinions. He
brings (see Aruch LaNer note 362) that
most of the Beit HaMikdash will indeed
descend from Heaven, as described by
Midrash Tanchuma, but the doors of the
Mikdash will be built by human hands,
which is the scenario referred to by the
Yerushalmi.
Rabbi Yaakov Ettlinger (In Aruch LaNer)

offers his own explanation of what will
happen and says that the nation will build
the physical structure, and then Hashem
will infuse it with the spiritual Mikdash,
where His Shechinah dwells. He writes:
“Therefore, it appears to me, that the
future Beit HaMikdash will indeed be a
physical structure built by human hands.
And what is stated, ‘Mikdash Hashem,
Your hands have established,’ which
the Midrash Tanchuma interprets as the
Mikdash descending from above, refers to
a spiritual Temple that will enter into the
physical structure—like a soul entering a
body. Just as in the Mishkan and the First
Temple, the heavenly fire descended and
merged with the earthly fire.”

This explanation seeks to clarify the well-
known idea that there is a Beit HaMikdash

above (in the spiritual world), waiting to
descend. However, it will not come down
until the people take action to build the
Mikdash and bring it down through their
efforts. Accordingly, we can understand
that it is our responsibility to begin the
process.
This is the meaning behind the pasuk,
“If Hashem does not build the house,
its builders labor in vain.” There may
be builders constructing the Beit
HaMikdash, but without Hashem placing
His Shechinah within it, the structure
remains empty—built in vain.
This idea of a combined effort—
where the nation builds the physical
structure and Hashem brings down the
Shechinah—was already present in the
earlier Temples. After the Mishkan was
completed in the desert, Moshe Rabenu
instructed Aharon to bring a sacrifice.
However, when Aharon attempted to do
so, the divine fire did not descend—an
indication that Hashem’s presence had
not yet rested upon their work. Only when
Moshe joined him were they together able
to draw down the heavenly fire (Vayikra
9, 23). This demonstrates that the physical
building alone—just stone and wood—
is meaningless without the presence of
the Shechinah. Simply constructing the
structure does not accomplish anything
on its own.
Another example was during the time
of the inauguration of the First Beit
HaMikdash. When king Shlomo built
the Temple and sought to bring the
Aron (Ark) into the Holy of Holies, the
gates clung tightly together and would

not open. Shlomo recited twenty-four
different songs of supplication, but he
was not answered. He then said, “Lift up
your heads, O gates,” yet still received
no response. He repeated, “Lift up your
heads, O gates, and let the King of Glory
enter. Who is this King of Glory?” but
again was not answered. Only when he
said, “Hashem, do not turn away the
face of Your anointed one; remember the
kindnesses of David Your servant,” did
the gates open, the Aron entered, and fire
descended from Heaven.
That is why, when Titus burned the
Temple, a voice came down from Heaven
saying, “You have burned a burnt house,
you have destroyed a destroyed house.”
The meaning is that without Hashem’s
presence, it is merely wood and stone.
What gives the place its sanctity is the
presence of Hashem.
But this raises the question: how can we
begin building if we are not permitted to
enter the site of the Mikdash due to our
state of impurity? The answer is that
when the time comes, a red heifer (Para
Adumah) will be found, and the Kohanim
will use its ashes to purify the nation,
enabling them to begin the construction
of the Temple. According to the Rambam,
however, it is the Mashiach who will
build the Beit HaMikdash. Consequently,
he also explains that the Mashiach will be
the one to perform the red heifer ritual as
part of that process.
However, as explained, others hold that
the entire process will be carried out
by us before the arrival of Mashiach.
That is why the Midrash says that when
Mashiach comes, he will stand on the
roof of the Beit HaMikdash—indicating
that the Mikdash will have already been
built by then.
Let us pray that we merit to witness the
rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash very
soon.