We are now starting the three weeks of mourning for the destruction of the holy Temple (Beit Hamikdash) in Jerusalem. Of course we know the second Temple was destroyed mainly because of sinat chinam, unwarranted hatred of one another, and we have been in thousands of years of exile because of that. The way to bring Moshiach is through loving our fellow Jew unconditionally.
But another aspect we do not speak about so often is the idea of actually building the third holy Temple. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asked us to learn the laws of building the Beit Hamikdash because through learning it is considered as if we construct it.
Besides the physical structure, we also need to build our own inner tabernacle, and we then make a dwelling place for Hashem within us.
“vasu li Mikdash vshachanti btocham”. this is a mitzvah from the Torah: construct a sanctuary and i will dwell within them…meaning within the heart and soul of every Jew.
What happens when Hashem dwells within us? we find inner peace, joy, tranquility….we look at life and at others with goodness. We develop an expanded consciousness filled with love and kindness.
If we do not make a dwelling place for Hashem within us, we become sad, depressed, anxious, and we do not connect properly to others. We fall into constricted consciousness. We become fearful , worried and fall into dark thoughts.
So how do we build our inner tabernacle? We learn Torah, we shine light like the menorah. We refine ourselves and sacrifice our negative aspects of our animal soul on our inner alter. We build up faith in Hashem knowing He provides all our needs, just like we demonstrate with the show bread on the table in the tabernacle. We make space for Hashem: we push away negative thoughts, impurities, we do not dwell on sinful thoughts, we observe Torah and mitzvot properly. This is how we build our own inner Tabernacle and as we do this, we help to build and bring down the third Beit Hamikdash, very soon with the coming of Moshiach.
We also must make our homes into a miniature sanctuary. Each home has to reflect the Divine Presence. We need to remove any sources of impurity or negativity or secular ideas or anything that contradicts Torah. We need to make our homes beacons of light and modesty and holiness. This is how we prepare for Moshiach on many levels. may we merit the redemption immediately now.