Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XIX, Parshas Re'eh

"The Altar for the Burnt Offerings of Israel"

After defining the guidelines pertinent to the construction of the Beis HaMikdash as a whole in the first chapter of Hilchos Beis HaBechirah, the Rambam devotes the second chapter to the description of the altar. He begins with two halachos referring to the altar's site:

1. The altar [is to be constructed] in a very precise location; it may never be changed; as it is written,[1] "This is the altar for the burnt offerings of Israel."

   Yitzchak our Patriarch was prepared to be sacrificed on [the future site of the Beis] HaMikdash; as it is written,[2] "Go to the land of Moriah," and it is written in Divrei HaYomim:[3] "And Shlomo began building G-d's house in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where [G-d] appeared to David his father, in the place where David prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite."

2. It is universally accepted that the site on which David and Solomon built the altar on the threshing floor of Ornan, is the location on which Avraham built the altar on which he prepared Yitzchak for sacrifice.

   On this location, Noach built [an altar] when he emerged from the ark. On this location, Cayin and Hevel offered [their] sacrifices. And Adam, the first man, offered a sacrifice on this location after he was created. [Indeed,] he was created from this very spot; as our Sages said,[4] "Adam was created from the place from which he [would be granted] atonement."

The Selection of the Site of the Altar for G-d's Chosen House

The commentaries[5] have raised questions concerning the Rambam's statements, for they seem to imply that the site of the altar was chosen because of the holiness imparted to it by the spiritual devotion of Avraham and Yitzchak and by the sacrifices offered there previously. This is difficult to accept, because the Rambam refers to the Beis HaMikdash as Beis HaBechirah, "[G-d's] Chosen House," and indeed, uses that term as the title for his collection of laws describing that structure.[6]

G-d's choice is utterly free and independent, and therefore, cannot be influenced by any external factors. To explain: In the human realm, when a decision is made because of reasons, those reasons "force," as it were, the person to make his decision. Indeed, the intellectual appreciation of the propriety of a given course of action is a far more powerful source of compulsion than mere physical might.

Similar concepts apply in regard to G-d's choice. It does not come as a response to the virtues possessed by the chosen entity, nor does that entity's lack of virtue obstruct that choice. Instead, G-d's choice is solely a function of His own initiative.

To apply these concepts to the choice of the site of the Beis HaMikdash: G-d's selection of a place for His presence to be manifest cannot come as a result of reasons. To refer to the wording used by the Torah:[7] He "caused His presence to dwell," in a particular location only because, as the verse states previously, "He chose" to do so.

The same concepts apply to the selection of the site of the altar. Indeed, the prooftext employed by the Rambam[8] to demonstrate G-d's choice of the site of the Beis HaMikdash1 - "This is the house of G-d, the L-rd, and this is the altar for the burnt offerings of Israel" - mentions specifically, the choice not only of the site of the Beis HaMikdash as a whole, but also of the site of the altar in particular.[9] And significantly, it is to this verse that the Rambam refers at the beginning of the second chapter of Hilchos Beis HaBechirah when discussing the site of the altar. Therefore, by mentioning the different services which established the holiness of the site of the altar, the Rambam diverts our focus from the fact that it was G-d's choice that established the eternal sanctity of the altar's site.

The connection of the concept of free choice to the selection of the site of the altar is also indicated by our Sages' statement:[10] "Until Jerusalem was chosen, Eretz Yisrael in its entirety was fit for altars to be constructed." This implies that, in essence, there was no particular virtue possessed by Jerusalem in regard to the construction of an altar for G-d.

Sacrifices in Anticipation of the Future

The emphasis on G-d's choice does not, however, represent a contradiction to the Rambam's mention of the historical background of the altar's site. Indeed, the mention of the different sacrifices can be seen as a corroboration of the above concepts.

Why did Avraham,[11] Noach, Cayin and Hevel, and Adam offer sacrifices on the altar's site? Because in their prophetic vision, they knew that G-d would ultimately choose this location as the place for sacrificial worship. Therefore, in anticipation of this choice, they offered their sacrifices in the place where G-d would ultimately accept the offerings of the Jewish people.[12] Thus it was not their worship that caused the site to become holy; the converse was true. Their worship was inspired by the holiness to be conveyed on the site in the future.

Why the Rambam refers to the Sacrifices brought in the Past

One might, however, ask: Why does the Rambam cite these points of history? The Mishneh Torah is a text of halachah, and halachah alone. In contrast to the Talmud which mentions many points of history, theology, mysticism, and ethics, the Rambam includes such concepts in the Mishneh Torah only when they also serve as halachos, directives for our actual conduct.

It can be explained that, in the instance at hand, the Rambam cites these points of history as support for the second point he makes concerning the altar's location, that "it may never be changed." To refer to a related issue: In Hilchos Melachim,[13] the Rambam writes that the crown of royalty was given eternally to King David. This does not, however, preclude the possibility of a prophet appointing a king from another tribe and for that king's sovereignty to be valid according to the Torah. Similarly, it is possible to offer the hypothesis that although Mount Moriah was chosen as the site for the altar, a different site might be chosen in the future.

Indeed, there has been a change of location in regard to the resting place for G-d's presence. For 369 years, the Divine Presence rested in Shiloh and it was referred to as "the place which G-d chose."[14] Afterwards, however, that holiness departed. What prevents us from saying that there could be a similar change in G-d's intent in regard to Jerusalem?

The Rambam replies to this question by citing the examples of the righteous men who offered sacrifices in this place before the Beis HaMikdash was constructed. Were this not to become the ultimate resting place for the Divine Presence, these men would not have sought to build their altars there.

Complementing G-d's Choice through Man's Service

There is a deeper dimension to the Rambam's statements. Just as holiness is not a criterion for the choice of a place for G-d's presence to be manifest, it does not represent a contradiction. On the contrary, the two qualities can be combined and, indeed, doing so produces an advantage.

To explain: Holiness refers to a limited dimension of sanctity which man can impart to an entity through his service. G-d's choice, by contrast, endows the chosen entity with the unlimited sanctity that emanates from Him. Nevertheless, His choice can be complemented by the holiness that man generates through his service. For the sanctity that emanates from G-d's choice does not relate to the entity as it exists within the context of worldly experience. It is - to borrow chassidic terminology - an encompassing light, that elevates the entity from above. Through his service, man generates holiness that permeates even the worldly dimensions of the entity in question.[15]

In these two halachos, the Rambam demonstrates how the site of the altar possesses both of these positive dimensions. In the first halachah, he quotes prooftexts which indicate that this is the site chosen by G-d. In the second halachah, he illustrates how this location was elevated by righteous men through their sacrifices.

The Site of the Beis HaMikdash in the Era of the Redemption

The exact location of the Beis HaMikdash and the altar are significant in the present age; as the Rambam writes:[16] "The sanctity of the [Beis Ha]Mikdash and of Jerusalem emanates from the Divine Presence and the Divine Presence can never be nullified."

Moreover, these locations will become increasingly significant in the near future, for one of the Rambam's stipulations[17] concerning the establishment of the identity of the Mashiach is that he will "build the [Beis Ha]Mikdash on its place." For as mentioned at the outset, "This is the altar for the burnt offerings of Israel," and will be so forever.

May we and the entire Jewish people ascend together to Eretz Yisrael, to Jerusalem, and to the Beis HaMikdash, happily celebrating the ultimate Redemption and offering sacrifices on the altar. And may this take place in the immediate future.

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) II Divrei HaYomim 22:1.

2. (Back to text) Bereishis 22:2.

3. (Back to text) II Divrei HaYomim 3:1.

4. (Back to text) See Bereishis Rabbah 14:8.

5. (Back to text) See the notes of Maasai LeMelech to the Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 2:1-2.

6. (Back to text) In this context, the Maasai LeMelech cites the approach of Sefer HaChinuch (mitzvah 95) which he interprets as indicating that "the site was not chosen because it is uniquely fit for the resting place of the Divine Presence."

7. (Back to text) Devarim 12:11.

8. (Back to text) Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 1:3.

9. (Back to text) In this context, see also the Rambam's statements in his Commentary on the Mishnah, Middos 3:1. There the Rambam explains that the verse from II Divrei HaYomim indicates how "G-d selected the site of the altar."

10. (Back to text) The opening passages of the Mechilta.

11. (Back to text) It can be explained that the Rambam's mention of the binding of Yitzchak in the first halachah of this chapter was intended, not as a reference to the virtues brought about by that sacrifice, but rather as an indication of the altar's place. For Zevachim 62a states that David appreciated the location of the site chosen by G-d for the altar because he had a vision of Yitzchak's ashes, lying in that place.

12. (Back to text) There is, however, a slight difficulty with the Rambam's mention of the fact that Adam was created from the altar's future site. Saying that G-d chose this place for man's creation because this would be the future site of the altar would seemingly impart to it a dimension of eternal holiness. For G-d's knowledge, in contrast man's, brings about an actual change in reality. Were we to say that G-d took earth from this site to create Adam because He knew that ultimately He would choose it for the Beis HaMikdash, that knowledge would establish the holiness of the site as an unalterable fact.

    It is, however, possible to resolve this difficulty by carefully analyzing the wording employed by the Rambam: "Adam was created from the place where he would find atonement." The reference is not to the atonement which all mankind would secure at the altar of the Beis HaMikdash, but to the individual atonement to be attained by Adam himself through his own offerings.

13. (Back to text) 1:7-8.

14. (Back to text) See Sifri commenting on Devarim 12:5. See also above the essay entitled "G-d's Chosen House."

15. (Back to text) We find a parallel to this concept with regard to the altar itself. Our Sages state (Yoma 21b): "Although fire descended from above, it was a mitzvah, [for the priests] to bring ordinary [fire]."

16. (Back to text) Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 6:16.

17. (Back to text) Hilchos Melachim 11:4.