What we need to become the mikdash of G-d

The best-known pasuk in our parasha, Terumah, is this: “And they shall make Me a sanctuary (mikdash) and I will dwell in their midst.” It is followed by many verses that specify every possible detail of the constitutive elements of the Mishkan. Yet, as the Mechilta d’Rabbi Yishmael notes, the very act of constructing a mikdash for Hashem is problematic. After all, was it not already said, “Behold I fill the heavens and the earth?” (As such, how can any dwelling contain Hashem?)

The great Lithuanian Torah sage, Rav Chaim of Volozhin was acutely aware of the conceptual challenges posed by the mitzvah to build a mikdash for Hashem. He addressed them by emphasizing the later part of our pasuk, “and I will dwell in their midst,” and suggests this revolutionary interpretation: “Behold, there is no doubt whatsoever, that the very idea of the holy (hakodesh), the sanctuary (hamikdash) and the in-dwelling (shriyat shechinato) of the Holy One blessed be He refers to man, himself. [This is the case,] for if he sanctifies himself in the proper manner through the fulfillment of all the mitzvot … then he, himself, will be the sanctuary of Hashem (hu atzmo hamikdash mammash) and within him will be Hashem, may His Name be blessed.” (Nefesh HaChaim, I:4)

At this juncture, it seems the physical structure of the Mikdash, or even of the Beit HaMikdash, is well-nigh superfluous, as it is superseded by the Jewish people, themselves. A careful reading of Rav Chaim’s next words seem to support precisely this approach: “In addition, according to our manner of explanation, one should not think that the essential purpose of My [G-d’s] intention [regarding the commandment to construct the Mikdash] is the creation of the physical Mikdash itself (hamikdash hachitzoni).”

What, then, is the rationale inherent in the construction of the Mikdash?

For Rav Chaim, it is nothing less than the creation of the greatest teaching device the world has ever known:

But you should know that My [Hashem’s] overarching purpose and desire regarding the Mikdash’s construction and all its vessels, is solely to indicate to you [the Jewish people individually, and as a people,] that you should model yourselves after these physical entities and reconstruct yourselves and all of your actions, so that they will be as proper to Me as the building of the Mikdash and all its [sanctified] vessels.

[For in truth,] all of you are holy, fitting, and prepared (kedoshim, re’uyim u’muchanim) for My holy presence to literally dwell within you (lehashrot shechinati b’tochchachem mammash). This, then, is the true meaning of, “And they shall make Me a sanctuary (mikdash) and I will dwell in their midst.”

Rav Chaim’s message is unbelievably inspiring: We, the Jewish people, are holy and fitting for the Schechinah to dwell amongst us, for in truth, we are His mikdash.

With Hashem’s help, may we rededicate ourselves to His holy Torah and the fulfillment of His mitzvot, and become His mikdash soon and in our days. V’chane yihi ratzon.