TRAINING KOHANIM IN MITZPEH YERICHO

Many men in Litvishe kollelim study the Talmudic order of Kodshim, as the Chafetz Chaim said to do, in preparation for the Geula. Kohanim and Leviim of all sectors become familiar with the practical laws they will need to know for the avoda in the Mikdash. * R’ Yehuda Kroizer, rav of Yishuv Mitzpeh Yericho and who directs the Merkaz L’Limudei HaMikdash, tells Beis Moshiach about the arousal among the people, about preparations for building the Beis HaMikdash and about his dream to set up a training facility, at the center of which will stand a scale model Mizbeiach (altar), which will also serve as a place for Kohanim to train even after Moshiach comes. * Presented for the “Three Weeks” when we learn Hilchos Beis HaBechira, as per the directive of the Rebbe MH”M.

By Zalman Tzorfati

THEY’RE GETTING READY FOR GEULA AT LITVISHE KOLLELIM

It started with individuals who were obsessed with the idea and in recent years it became a phenomenon that traverses all sectors among religious Jews. You can meet them in kollelim, yeshivos, yeshiva high schools, and even talmidim in elementary schools, all of them involved in the halachos of the Beis HaMikdash on a practical level. Halachos like bringing korbanos, menachos, and the avoda in the Mikdash, have left the rarefied world of Talmudic scholarship in recent years. Thousands of people are shaking off the dust from these laws and are delving into them on a daily basis, with the faith and anticipation of the building of the third Beis HaMikdash.

We said it crosses all sector lines. The biggest surprise is from the Litvishe sector. A number of organizations are involved in promoting the learning of these halachos in kollelim and yeshivos. There was a recent announcement that thousands of men in the Yeshivas Mir network of kollelim and about 2500 men in the Ateres Shlomo network of kollelim, of R’ Sholom Ber Sorotzkin, started learning Kodshim.

One of these organizations is called Omar Abaye and it arranges shiurim and visual presentations of the practical laws of service in the Mikdash such as melika, the korban mincha, minchas nesachim, minchas marcheshes, minchas chavitei Kohen gadol, minchas machavas, minchas chinuch, and more, to men and groups of Kohanim who want to learn the practical halachos they need to know.

Another organization that is involved in promoting learning the avoda of the Beis HaMikdash in kollelim and yeshivos is Toras HaKorbanos. In a conversation with Beis Moshiach, R’ Bentzion Shiff, one of the rabbis of the organization, told about the awakening among kollel men to learn the laws of the Mikdash.

“Every week we provide learning material to the kollelim on the practical laws about bringing korbanos. There is a great demand for it. Every month we also publish a beautiful pamphlet for the public called Toras HaKorbanos, which clarifies topics in an interesting way that inspires people to learn these laws.”

R’ Yonatan Stenzel, one of the people who runs Omar Abaye, recently shared similar sentiments in an interview with religious newspapers. “We see a tremendous, unprecedented interest. In the past, they only learned Kodshim in Brisk, but today we see thousands of men who have started learning Kodshim. Maybe this shows that we are on the verge of Moshiach’s coming and it is important that as many Kohanim as possible know what the avoda entails.”

THEY SHOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO

R’ Yehuda Kroizer is a rav in Yishuv Mitzpeh Yericho and head of the yeshiva HaRaayon HaYehudi in Yerushalayim. R’ Kroizer has been involved in teaching about the Mikdash for many years and he runs the Merkaz L’Limudei HaMikdash.

“The idea behind this center for the study of the Mikdash is that the Kohanim, and not just Kohanim, but also Leviim and Yisroelim, can prepare themselves in a practical way for learning about the Mikdash so that when the day arrives and the avoda begins, they will know what to do and what not to do.”

R’ Kroizer’s dream is to build a huge training facility for Kohanim with a Mishkan that almost exactly replicates the original. According to his vision, by the way, the center’s main purpose will be realized after the Beis HaMikdash is built.

“Boruch Hashem, after many years, we procured a big lot in Mitzpeh Yericho for the training center and altar. We have all the building plans and permits from the city council, the municipalities and all the relevant government departments, to build an altar that is nearly to scale, and we are at the stage where we are only waiting for a pioneer to invest so we can start building,” says R’ Kroizer.

R’ Kroizer thinks a place where Kohanim can train is very important.

“It’s not simple serving in the Beis HaMikdash; it’s complicated work which requires a lot of training. It’s not something you can learn solely on an academic level; you also need to learn the practical details. The idea is that even when Moshiach comes and the avoda in the Beis HaMikdash starts up again, the center will continue operating and will be a place where Kohanim will train in the avoda of korbanos and bringing menachos. Then they will go to Yerushalayim to perform the real avoda.”

LOOKING FOR A DONOR FOR AN ALTAR

The cornerstone for the altar was already laid at an impressive ceremony at Mitzpeh Yericho. Journalists from all over the world came to cover the “reconstruction of the ancient Jewish altar.”

“Till today, tourists come every so often and look for the altar,” says R’ Kroizer, “but we are waiting for a donor to make it happen. Maybe something will happen through your publication,” he said with a smile.

Along with the vision, the Merkaz L’Limudei HaMikdash is involved in large-scale activities to advance academic and practical learning about the Mikdash and implanting awareness of the imminent Geula with shiurim, lectures, and training workshops for Kohanim. There are also workshops for the general public.

“We prepared a workshop on the topic of bringing menachos. We originally made it for Kohanim, but it has long expanded beyond that demographic and we take it to schools, yeshivos and kollelim.

“Aside from the shiurim and workshops, we have a lot of material which can be found on two websites. There is a huge amount of material there, classes that were shot on video, summary sheets, and Torah articles for reading and studying. The two websites attract thousands who want to delve into these topics. The number of people who are interested is astounding.”

The first site is the site for the Merkaz L’Limudei HaMikdash, which offers more in-depth material for those who learn. The other site, which is called Shai L’Shai, is a more experiential site which includes a terrific section for children that teaches them about the Mikdash.

There is a tragic story behind the Shai L’Shai site. One rainy day in November of 2007, four members of the yishuv set out in an off-road vehicle. At one of the twisting turns of the Jordan Valley, it collided with a bus and the four young people perished. Among them were two of R’ Kroizer’s sons, Yishai, who was a commander in the Nachal brigade and Shlomo, who was twelve. The Kroizer family decided to start a website in their memories to spread Judaism and knowledge of the Beis HaMikdash in a unique, experiential way.

“Another project is one in which shiurim and high level study material is sent every month to hundreds of rabbanim, rabbis of cities, yishuvim, and communities, on the subject of the Beis HaMikdash.”

PASSING IT ALONG

I understand Kohanim and Leviim, but why do rabbanim also need to train for the Mikdash?

“Sending this material to rabbanim is mainly an educational initiative. One of the problems we have with this subject is that it’s not concrete enough. Everyone believes that Moshiach is coming and the Mikdash will be built, but it seems abstract and something quite distant. People still treat it like a fantasy. They don’t consider that it is something imminent and that instantly it will be halachically relevant.

“Since this is a Torah subject, the way to reach people is through rabbanim. We send it to hundreds of rabbanim, roshei yeshivos, teachers, principals, and lecturers. As soon as they get the material, it connects them to the practical side of the topic. It helps them internalize the point that these are not abstract concepts but actual things that pertain to practical halacha. I personally know of many rabbanim who use our material, including it in their shiurim and lectures. When rabbanim are alert to the issue, they convey that further and draw in their students and congregants, and that is how the broader public is reached.”

You talk about a place that will train Kohanim even after the building of the Beis HaMikdash. Did such a place exist previously? Was there a place where Kohanim could practice the avoda?

“It’s a very interesting question. I don’t have a clear answer, but the Gemara in Taanis says there were twenty-four shifts of Kohanim and of each shift that went up to serve, half went down to Yericho and half went up to the Temple Mount. Those who went to Yericho seem to have been more involved in the material side of things. So maybe we can say—I did not see this, it’s more conjectural—that in Yericho there was some kind of place where Kohanim trained for the avoda of the korbanos, where they did some kind of refresher course to prepare for going up to the Beis HaMikdash. Otherwise, what did they do all week in Yericho?”

PRIESTLY ORDINATION

R’ Kroizer is both a visionary and a practical person. He dreams and tries to make those dreams reality. A project still in its gestational stage is to coordinate students from around the world into an organized learning community that learns about the Mikdash.

“Websites have an enormous advantage in that the information is available and it’s easy to access at any time and from any location, which is why thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of people, women and children, visit the site and learn about the avoda, each on his level. Yet, it lacks the human dimension of contact and interaction with the visitors.

“Our plan is for people to be able to register and create online communities. We’ve spent some years preparing material and now we need to disseminate it to the broader public. The idea is that visitors to the site will receive a curriculum that matches their level of learning. Those who learn can get to know one another and us, and organize groups of Kohanim who are learning, are involved, and training for the Geula.

“There are groups like this already at the Machon HaMikdash and at other organizations. The dream is for them to be able to gain expertise and be tested by a central body, like the chief rabbinate, which will give ordination to Kohanim for the avoda in the Beis HaMikdash.”

IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO PRAY

How did a busy rosh yeshiva and rav of a yishuv, who is involved in paskening the halachos of issur and heter, the laws of Shabbos and eiruv, come to dedicate so much time and resources to the subject?

“The truth is that I’ve always had a great love for everything associated with the Beis HaMikdash. What really got me motivated was what the Chafetz Chaim says in his introduction to Likkutei Halachos. We know that the Chafetz Chaim was very involved in Kodshim. He writes in the introduction to his seifer that we must be involved in this subject since the very involvement hastens the Geula. If we ask for something, we need to be ready for it, to know what to do there. The Chafetz Chaim says that the way to express our sincere desire for the building of the Mikdash is to learn about it.

“The subject is very broad, it’s korbanos, it’s an entire service. It’s not simple. If we really want to be ready for this era, we need to know all these halachos. That is what makes us ready.

“To pray in Shmoneh Esrei, ‘and may our eyes behold’ is good and fine but not enough. It would be like someone who learns about Pesach, learning about the spiritual and esoteric meaning of chametz and matza, or learning abstract ideas about the seder night, but doesn’t know what chametz and matza actually are, and what b’dikas chametz is and how you conduct a seder. This person is not ready for Pesach. Being ready means to be ready on the practical level, to know the practical ins and outs of what to do and how to do it.

“This is precisely what the Chafetz Chaim says. There is even a letter in which he writes to young men to close the Masechtos they are learning and learn Kodshim.

“Boruch Hashem, lately there has been a great interest in learning the laws of Kodshim on a practical level, in so many places. It is slowly penetrating the Torah world. We sense that something is happening here. When you approach the subject in a hands-on way, you discover that there are halachos here too, and disputes, legal questions and decisions, and then it becomes tangible and practical.

“Lots of people think that we will stand with folded arms around the Temple Mount and watch the Beis HaMikdash descend in flames, complete from heaven, but one of the Rebbe’s well-known possible resolutions (of the seemingly conflicting sources) is that the parts of the Mikdash explained in the tractate of Middos will be built by people and only those details which are not explicit and explained will descend from heaven. The building of the Beis HaMikdash is a mitzva, and there is no such thing as a positive mitzva being taken from us. Whoever thinks we won’t have a share in building the Bayis is leaving us with only 612 mitzvos ch”v. It’s important to be ready!”