The Parsha starts off with the מצוה to donate the various materials needed to build the משכן, following of which Hashem says:
ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם
The purpose of the משכן, and, subsequently, the בית המקדש, is for Hashem to dwell in it. Why, though, is there a need for a בית המקדש? After all, Hashem’s presence, his שכינה, is everywhere?
The ספר הכוזרי explains, that prior to the creation of the world, Hashem desired a place which He can benefit, by placing His שכינה there. Hashem, the all-encompassing and all giving creator, created the world for the purpose of benefiting and being מטיב with all the creators that dwell in it. And the specific place in the world that He dwells in contains the power, of life and blessings for the entire world.
This can be compared to a Powerhouse that provides electricity to a city. The power flows from the Powerhouse to all the houses within the town. And the houses, in turn, use the electricity flowing through their walls to power the various devices in each one. But the source of everything is the actual Powerhouse. So too, in this world, the place where Hashem dwells is the Powerhouse from which all the inhabitants of the world receive life and blessings. When it says
ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם
Hashem’s intent is for us to build that Powerhouse where He will dwell, and from which the entire world will draw its life. So, while Hashem’s presence is indeed everywhere, the place where He chooses to dwell in has the unique power in that it contains the source of ברכה to the entire world.
Indeed, when the משכן was in its glory, during the period of דור המדבר. Klal Yisrael lived a supernatural life as they had the great power of the שכינה dwelling in their midst. Later, during the period of בית ראשון, the משנה lists 10 constant ניסים that accured each and every day, resulting from the השראת השכינה there.
Unfortunately, we don’t currently merit having a בית המקדש to provide power to the whole world. Nonetheless, there are still ways to connect to the source of power, Hashem Himself, and through that, to merit His presence and protection. One such example is a Shul, which is referred to by חז”ל as a מקדש מעט, a miniature בית המקדש. By utilizing our Shuls in the proper way, we can indeed merit השראת השכינה in them. And at all times, even when not in Shul, we only need to set our hearts towards ירושלים, and we too will merit bringing Hashem into us, as חז”ל say about someone Davening on the road:
יכוון את לבו כנגד בית קדשי הקדשים
Turn your heart and mind towards the proverbial בית המקדש, and that will be a merit for your תפלות to be answered.
We’ll conclude with a story that highlights this point, told over by Malkiel Ben- Yosef, an Israeli soldier who fought in Gaza last year. ” In one of our days fighting, we stopped for a break. It was already almost sunset, and I realized that I have a chance to Daven Mincha right now. I quickly moved away from my comrades and stood facing in the direction of ירושלים, about to beging Davening. Suddenly, I noticed some movement in the open field I was facing. I metal trap door was opened, and out climbed a terrorist, carrying an RPG. Not noticing me, he started walking towards another group of soldiers in the vicinity. I immediately called to my comrades, and together we took the terrorist out, before he had the chance to fire. Had I not set out to Daven in that direction, I never would have spotted the terrorist.”
Hashem’s presence is everywhere, as long as we turn out hearts to Him.
Weekly Parsha Shiur 