Temple in Exile — The Master's House and the Third Temple

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, explains that the sanctuaries of exile are part of the Third Temple, which will first be revealed at his synagogue, 770. According to Kabbalah, 770 equals “Beis Moshiach” in numerical value and will join the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach שליט"א of Lubavitch, issued a written discourse addressed to the public, in which he explains the unique significance of his synagogue — 770 in Brooklyn.

Presented below is a summary of that discourse.

TEMPLE IN EXILE

There is a remarkable teaching in the Talmud: "Wherever they were exiled, the Divine Presence is with them."

Jerusalem was destroyed, our Temple was burned to the ground, and our people were sent into exile. But the Divine Presence continues to dwell among us — even in the darkest moments. And where the Divine Presence dwells, the Holy Temple stands. Indeed, just as in Jerusalem the Divine Presence had a home — a physical structure that housed it — so too, in exile, the Divine Presence has a home. In the words of Ezekiel, "I have been for them a Small Temple in the lands where they arrived."

But the lands "where they arrived" are vast; where within them does this Divine abode, this Small Temple exist?

"Since the day the Holy Temple was destroyed," declares the Talmud, "G-d has no [place] in His world but the four cubits [where] Torah law [is studied]." In particular, this refers to "the fixed place from which [Torah] instruction issues forth to the people of the city."

Some degree of Torah instruction issues forth from every synagogue and study hall; hence, the Divine Presence abides in all of them. There is, however, one unique place where the revelation of the Divine Presence surpasses all others, making it the primary divine abode in exile. This is the Master's House [Beit Rabbeinu], the holy sanctuary of the Nasi Hador — the foremost Torah sage and spiritual leader of the generation.

LINKING THE SANCTUARIES

We are taught that at the time of Redemption "the revelation of the Divine Presence will return to Jerusalem; it will not remain in the places where the Children of Israel had been exiled." Thus, the synagogues and study halls of exile, which house the Divine Presence, will relocate to Jerusalem, where "they will be attached to the Holy Temple," and become an actual part of it. More specifically, special synagogues and study halls, such as the Master's House, will be closest to the Temple, actually touching its walls. Sanctuaries ranking just below the Master's House will be attached to the Master's House, and so on in an orderly progression leading from the Holy Temple to the very last synagogues and study halls. In a sense, then, the synagogues and study halls that exist today, and that have existed throughout the course of the exile, are part of the Holy Temple — the Third Holy Temple.

INITIAL REVELATION

It is popularly thought that the Third Temple will descend from the Heavens straight upon Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. In fact, however, the Third Temple will make its debut in the lands of the exile, at the Master's House, for at the moment of Redemption, the Divine Presence will be fully revealed at the Master's House, and it is from there that it will proceed to Jerusalem together with the Children of Israel. In the words of the Talmud, "G-d will return from exile together with them."

ON ACCOUNT OF THE JEWS

"In every house of ten [Jews], the Divine Presence resides," says the Talmud. Commenting on this, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi says the following:

I heard from my masters that if there were an angel standing in the presence of a gathering of ten Jews, even if there are no words of Torah between them, an unlimited and infinite fear and awe would befall it from the Divine Presence that dwells over them, to the extent that it would become totally nullified.

In other words, the Divine Presence dwells in a given place primarily on account of the presence of Jews there — the more Jews, the greater the manifestation of the Divine Presence. In the Master's House then, which is the spiritual center of the Leader of the generation, the Divine Presence is surely revealed in its entirety — something akin to its revelation in the Holy Temple. For we are taught that the Leader of the generation includes within his soul the souls of all of Israel. Where the Leader is, there also the people of Israel are. The entire nation, then, is present in the Master's House. The Master's House is thus the place where the entire Jewish People "come[s] to see the face of G-d, your L-rd." Like the Holy Temple, then, the Master's House is the structure from which the Divine Presence issues forth to all the other synagogues and study halls.

LAND OF THE FREE

For thousands of years, we prepared the world for its elevation. Then the time came to carry out the elevation. But to raise an entire structure, the lowest part of the structure must be elevated. As such, the Divine Hand brought us — the final generation of exile and the first of Redemption — to America. Located in the Lower Hemisphere, America did not experience the revelation at Sinai, which is in the Upper Hemisphere, in an overt manner. Thus, by elevating America, we succeed in elevating the entire world and transforming it into the divine dwelling it was meant to be.

IT'S ALL IN THE NAME

It is no coincidence that "Seven Seventy," the name of the Master's House in America, alludes to the elevation of the entire world through the dissemination of the Chassidic wellsprings. 770 has the same numerical value as the word 'paratzta' [burst forth], a word that alludes to both the Redeemer and to the sublimating light emanating from the Master's House to the entire world. Moreover, according to the Kabbalah, the number 770 represents the refined state of the number seven, a number alluding to the existence of the world and to the Redemption of the Jewish people from the seven primary lands of exile. To further underscore this, 770 also has the numerical value of "Beit Moshiach," [Messiah's House].

REMODELING

In order to accommodate the ever-growing numbers of Jews flocking to the Master's House of America, it is essential that 770 be enlarged and expanded. This should be done in a manner that bursts all limitation — "paratzta." Indeed, it should be renovated to the extent that it will appear as a new building. Moreover, since 770 is the place where the Holy Temple traveled and settled, and it is the place where the Third Temple will debut, every Jewish man and woman should consider it his/her honor and obligation to participate bodily and financially in its remaking.

In the merit of our good resolutions regarding the remaking of 770, "may the pleasantness of G-d, our L-rd, be upon us…and establish for us our handiwork," and may we merit the imminent arrival of the time when "many people will go and say, 'Come let us go to the mountain of G-d, to the Temple of the G-d of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.'"

Translated by Rabbi Alexander Zushe Kohn. Special thanks to Adam Leventhal for inspiring this work.