So it's well explained by the commentators that when Yitzchak Avinu digs his three wells - Esek, Sitnah and Rechovot - that these three wells represent the three Temples, the reason the first two were destroyed and the last one which will last forever.
Fine.
But then he goes and digs a fourth one called Beer Sheva. Are there going to be four temples?
Navonim - The Ramblings of Garnel Ironheart
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14 comments:
Why not? After all, the third reich (l'havdil) was supposed to last 1,000 years, and only made it about a dozen.
Promises of this nature are awfully hard to keep once you've got facts on the ground, so hedging one's bets is a very good idea. Ya'akov probably just wanted to keep an extra temple in the wings, in case #3 turns out to be a fizzle.
Well "why not?" is easy to answer - all prophecies regarding the Third Temple are unequivocal that it will endure forever because the nature of the yetzer hara will change in its days meaning sin will vanish from the Earth, and so on.
"all prophecies regarding the Third Temple are unequivocal that it will endure forever because the nature of the yetzer hara will change in its days meaning sin will vanish from the Earth"
Still, not a bad idea to hedge one's bets a bit, just in case the Third Temple doesn't quite deliver on the promises. After all, lots of religions have made lots of predictions along these lines. So far, the success rate has been steady... Does the name Bar Kochba mean anything to you?
Oh absolutely. Every time a Lubavitcher assures me about their whole Moshiach meshugas I remember how Rabbi Akiva, otherwise a towering figure in our history, was convinced that Bar Kochba was "the man".
However, reading through the various prophets, it's very clear the circumstances they discuss have not yet happened and that once they do the natural order of the world will change significantly. The Second Temple didn't change anything in terms of people and their natures except for the end of the desire for idolatry but the Third Temple is supposed to be quite different
I don't know, Garnel. It's been 2,000 years. During that time, we've had exile, an inquisition, a host of pogroms, the Holocaust, lots of little massacres here and there, and enough oppression and contempt to last another 2,000 years.
It's like waiting for a date to show up. Yeah, they're frequently a few minutes late. Sometimes, they might be half an hour late. Once in a blue moon, they might be excused for being an hour late without calling. After a while, however, you just suck it up, hand the flowers and candy to a homeless guy. Let her go, man- she ain't coming.
That assumes that God's the tardy one.
To change your example, it's like waiting for a date to show up. The date said you should shower and wear a nice outfit. You show up with greasy hair (flies buzzing around) and in a dirty track suit. The date sees you from across the street, turns and goes the other way.
According to our tradition, we were exiled because of hatred and in-fighting. From reading the news, we still seem to be right at it. Perhaps He's still waiting for us, instead of us waiting for Him.
You know why Moshiach's not here?
IT'S ALL GARNEL'S FAULT!!!!
Technically you could say that the 2 and a half year reign of bar kochba was the third bais hamikdash. They have archaeological proof that he started to rebuild. How far he got they are unsure. SO let's just say bar kochba rebuilt the thrid and the fourth is on the way.
If we go with uncompleted Temples, then during Rabbi Yehoshua bar Chaninah's time there was an official Roman-sanctioned attempt to rebuild the Temple as well. It was abandoned after fire (possible sabotage by early Chrisians) destroyed the site and a new emperor in Rome revoked the permission.
I think we should stick with complete and functional Temples.
How bout we just answer that the well in Beer Sheba was already a new subject and zehu.
"According to our tradition, we were exiled because of hatred and in-fighting."
Yeah, I've heard that one. All the bad stuff is our fault, all the good stuff is (undeserved) munificence from God, whose promises are (apparently) always conditional and who is entitled to any amount of retroactive rationalization when things don't go as promised. I guess it satisfies alot of folks... seems a bit contrived to me.
It's not like we're ever actually tried to call Him on it though.
Garnel
the ramban the main source of this pshat suggests that this beer represents mishkan shiloh 26:32
Midwest
Ah ha! Now that makes perfect sense.
Sh'koyach.
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