Seeking the Shechinah Through Yearning

בפסוק לשכנו תדרשו

On the pasuk "You shall seek out His dwelling place" (Devarim 12:5),

The Sfas Emes opens with the verse commanding Bnei Yisrael to seek out the place where Hashem chooses to rest His presence.

הוא גם על זמן הזה כאשר חכמים הגידו דבעי דרישה

this applies even in this present time of galus, for Chazal have taught that it requires seeking and inquiry.

He establishes that this obligation to "seek" is not limited to the era of the Beis HaMikdash but remains binding even now in galus, since the very wording implies an ongoing avodah of seeking.

וכמו שדרשו חז"ל לא תעשון כן שלא יגרמו עונותיכם לבהמ"ק שיחרב

And as Chazal expounded on "You shall not do so" (Devarim 12:4) — that your sins should not cause the Beis HaMikdash to be destroyed,

He cites the derashah of Chazal that the warning "do not do so" teaches that one's aveiros can bring about the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, linking our conduct directly to its standing.

כמו כן ע"י מעש"ט שדורשין השראת השכינה הוי בכלל מצות בנין בהמ"ק

so too, through good deeds, by which one seeks to draw down the resting of the Shechinah, this is included in the mitzvah of building the Beis HaMikdash.

Conversely, when a person performs good deeds and thereby draws down the resting of the Shechinah, he is fulfilling the mitzvah of building the Beis HaMikdash through his avodah.

ואבותינו הראשונים מרוב התשוקה שהי' להם זכו להמשיך השכינה למטה

Our earliest forefathers, through the great yearning that they possessed, merited to draw the Shechinah down below.

The early generations, out of their intense yearning for closeness to Hashem, were zocheh to actually bring the Shechinah down into this world.

מכ"ש עתה אשר כבר הוציאו הראשונים זאת מכח אל הפועל

All the more so now, when the early ones have already brought this potential out into actuality,

Since the forefathers already converted that spiritual potential into a real, accomplished reality, the path has been opened for us.

בנקל לנו לעורר הראשונות בכח התשוקה:

it is easy for us to awaken those original attainments through the power of yearning.

Therefore it is now within easy reach for us to reawaken those original attainments simply by means of our own yearning and desire.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the mitzvah to "seek out" the dwelling place of Hashem applies even now in galus, for the very wording demands an ongoing avodah of seeking. Just as Chazal teach that our aveiros can cause the Beis HaMikdash to be destroyed, so too our good deeds, which draw down the resting of the Shechinah, are themselves part of the mitzvah of building the Beis HaMikdash. Our earliest forefathers, through their tremendous yearning, were zocheh to draw the Shechinah down into this world and to bring that potential from the realm of possibility into actuality. Because they already accomplished this, the way has been paved for us, and it is now easy to reawaken those original attainments through the simple power of our yearning for Hashem.