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143) One day, a sage from the nations came to Rabbi Eliezer and said to him, “Old man, old man, three questions I would like to ask you: One: You say that another Temple will be built for you, but there can only be building twice, a first Temple and a second Temple are written. You do not find a third Temple in the Torah. That which was for you to build had already been built, and there is never more in it, for the writing called them ‘The two houses of Israel.’ Also, it is written about the Second Temple, ‘The glory of that last house will be greater than the first.’
144) “Also, You say that you are closer to the high king than all other nations. One who is close to the king is always happy, without sorrow, fear, or troubles. But you are always afflicted, in trouble, and in more grief than all the people of the world. We, however, no affliction, trouble, or grief come upon us at all. Thus, we are close to the high king and you are far from him, and this is why you have sorrow, troubles, mourning, and grief, which we do not.
145) “And also, you do not eat carcass or none kosher so that you will be healthy and your body will be healthy. We eat whatever we want and we are robust in strength and in health, and all our organs exist. You, who do not eat, are all weak from bad illnesses and are more fatigued than all the other nations. You are a people whom the Creator hates through and through. Old man, old man, tell me nothing for I will not hear you or receive from you.” Rabbi Eliezer raised his eyes, looked at him, and turned him into a pile of bones.
146) When his anger subsided, he turned his head and wept. He said, “O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth.” How strong is the power of the strong and holy name in all the earth, and how lovely are the words of Torah. There is not even a small thing that you will not find in the Torah, and there is not even a small thing that comes in the Torah but did not come from the mouth of the Creator. These words that the wicked asked him, I asked Elijah one day, and he said that in the seminary of the firmament, the words were laid out before the Creator, and so they are.
147) When Israel went out of Egypt, the Creator wanted to make them in the earth such as the holy angels above. He wanted to build for them a holy house and bring it down from the high heaven, and plant Israel in the earth as a holy plant, such as the form of above, as it is written, “You bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance.” In what place? In that same place where You, the Lord, has worked, and in none other, as it is written, “The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling.”
“The place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling” is the First Temple. “The Temple of the Lord, Your hands have established” is the Second Temple. And both are the work of the Creator.
148) When they angered Him in the desert, they died, and the Creator brought their children to the land, and the Temple was built by man, and therefore did not persist, for it must be the work of the Creator.
Solomon knew that it would not persist because it is the work of man. This is why he said, “If the Lord does not build a house, they who built it labored in vain,” for it is unsustainable.
In the days of Ezra, the sin caused, and they had to build the Temple, hence it was unsustainable. And until now, the Creator’s First Temple has not existed in the world. It is written about the future, “The Lord builds Jerusalem.” He will build it and none other. This is the building we are waiting for, and not to a manmade building, which is completely unsustainable.
149) The Creator will bring down the First Temple and the Second Temple from above at once. The First Temple corresponds to Bina, and will be covered. The Second Temple corresponds to Malchut, and will be revealed, so that the craftsmanship of the Creator will be shown to the whole world. And then will be complete joy and the will of the heart in full.
150) The First Temple, which is covered, goes up, atop the Second Temple, which is revealed. The whole world will see clouds of glory surrounding that revealed Temple, and within those clouds will be the First Temple in concealed action, rising up to the height of the glory of heaven, Bina. This is the building we are waiting for.
151) Until now this has not been in the world because even the city of Jerusalem will not be man’s craftsmanship, for it is written, “And I, says the Lord, will be to it a wall of fire round about.” If this is written about the city, it is even more so with the Temple, which is His tabernacle. This work of the Creator should have been seen at first, when Israel went out of Egypt, but was detained until the end of days, in the last redemption.
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