By: Rabbi Rory Meyerson
Avodas Hashem Needs a Place
Among a small crowd in one of the convention rooms at an Agudah Convention, I listened to a Shul Rav share, “What he wishes he could tell his Kehilla.” The message he shared has relevance to this week’s parsha.
In the beginning of this week’s parsha, the תורה warns against שחוטי חוץ, bringing קרבנות outside the בית המקדש. Immediately afterward, the pasuk (Vayikra 17:7) states:
וְלֹא־יִזְבְּחוּ עוֹד אֶת־זִבְחֵיהֶם לַשְּׂעִירִם אֲשֶׁר הֵם זֹנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם,
a prohibition against offering sacrifices to שעירים, a form of עבודה זרה.
From the juxtaposition of these פסוקים, we see a striking connection between שחוטי חוץ and עבודה זרה. This raises the obvious question: how is bringing a קרבן in the wrong place so severe? So much so, it is akin to serving עבודה זרה!?
To understand this, let us look at the מדרש תנחומא. The מדרש tells us of a wealthy nobleman who had no wife or home. When people came to him, or brought him gifts, he would have to send them away since he had no home. Then he took for himself a wife and thus had a home. Now, he told his visitors to stay and bring the gifts up to his home.
The מדרש explains that this is a משל for our relationship with ה'. Before the construction of the בית המקדש there was no fixed place for השראת השכינה. Once הקב״ה commanded (Shemos 25:8),
וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם,
a permanent מקום for connection was established.
Having a permanent place to dwell is not a foreign concept; we all have houses, which are places of consistency and permanence. A house is a place we come to feel at home. The word home carries both a literal meaning and a figurative one.
Perhaps this answers why bringing קרבנות outside the בית המקדש is so severe. After ה' established a Home for our relationship with Him, שחוטי חוץ became the ultimate gesture of dismissal. To offer a קרבן elsewhere is saying, “No, thanks” to our relationship with ה'.
Let’s look at how this applies to us today. The בית המקדש serves as a model for עבודת ה׳. Yiddishkeit demands of us קביעות and קיום — consistency and continuity. This is reflected in the language used regarding בלעם. The pasuk (Bamidbar 23:4) states,
וַיִּקָּר אֱלֹקִים אֶל־בִּלְעָם,
which Rashi explains is a לשון עראי, a chance encounter that reflects a relationship lacking permanence and intention.
The רמב״ם (הלכות בית הבחירה א:א) writes:
מצות עשה לעשות בית לה׳ מוכן להיות מקריבים בו הקרבנות.
The mitzvah is not only to bring קרבנות, but to create a בית for הקב״ה. Even without a בית המקדש, this idea lives on in our בתי כנסיות and בתי מדרשות. They are our מעט מקדש.
Many of us have multiple shuls. We all have the Shul we daven at for this or that type of minyan, or the Shul we daven when we feel such and such. Many Jews suffer from an illness called “Shul-hopping” or “catching” the next minyan.
So what would the Rabbi wish he could tell you?
“Try to find a shul that can become your main מקום for tefillah. Daven there consistently when you are able, at the same time and in the same spot. Not because there is anything wrong with different minyanim or flexibility, but because consistency can help build a stronger relationship with tefillah and with Hashem.
The goal is to build a מקום קבוע in your עבודת ה׳. When tefillah has a steady place, it becomes more rooted and meaningful. Instead of constantly moving from place to place, try to establish a מקום — and in that מקום you may be זוכה to a greater sense of השראת השכינה.”
Taken from the Kollel Avreichim Hollywood
