Seeking Out Hashem's Menuchah

בפסוק לשכנו תדרשו אחז"ל דרוש ע"פ נביא דרוש ותמצא ואח"כ יאמר לך נביא כמ"ש בדהע"ה עד אמצא מקום לה' כו' ע"ש בספרי

On the verse "You shall seek out His dwelling place" (Devarim 12:5), Chazal expounded: "Seek through a prophet." Could the verse mean "seek and you shall find," and only afterward a prophet will tell you? As it is written regarding Dovid HaMelech, "Until I find a place for Hashem" (Tehillim 132:5) — see this in the Sifri.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Sifri's question on the mitzvah to seek out Hashem's dwelling place: does one find the site through one's own seeking, or only through a prophet's word? He brings Dovid HaMelech's striving "until I find a place for Hashem" as the model.

דהנה כתי' אשר יבחר ה' ולא גילה להם המקום מיד רק שיהי' בכח דרישת בנ"י כי א"י ובהמ"ק תלוי' בעבודת בנ"י וז"ש חז"ל דבעי' דרישה

For behold, it is written, "the place that Hashem shall choose" (Devarim 12:5), yet He did not reveal the place to them immediately; rather, it was to come about through the power of the seeking of Bnei Yisrael, for Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash depend upon the avodah of Bnei Yisrael. This is what Chazal meant — that it requires seeking.

The Torah deliberately withheld the exact location of the Beis HaMikdash so that it would emerge through the seeking of Bnei Yisrael, because the holiness of Eretz Yisrael and the Mikdash is drawn down by their avodah.

וכמו שכ' באאע"ה לך לך כו' אשר אראך ולא גילה לו מיד כמו כן פרטות מקום המקדש היו צריכין בנ"י לדרוש

And just as it is written regarding Avraham Avinu, "Go for yourself... to the land that I will show you" (Bereishis 12:1), where He did not reveal it to him immediately, so too with the precise location of the Beis HaMikdash, Bnei Yisrael needed to seek it out.

He draws a parallel to Avraham Avinu, whom Hashem sent to an unrevealed land that he had to seek out — teaching that the site of the Mikdash, too, was meant to be discovered through Bnei Yisrael's effort.

ומקודם כתי' אבד תאבדון כו' לנקות א"י מכל פסולת ואח"כ לשכנו תדרשו כי הנה במקדש כ' מנוחה ונחלה דכמו דיש בשבת מנוחה שהיא הקדושה המתגלה בזמן ומתעברין מיני' כל חשכות הזמן לכן נק' מנוחה

And beforehand it is written, "You shall surely destroy [all the places]" (Devarim 12:2), to cleanse Eretz Yisrael of all impurity, and only afterward, "You shall seek out His dwelling place." For behold, concerning the Beis HaMikdash it is written "resting place and inheritance" (Devarim 12:9); just as there is "rest" (menuchah) on Shabbos — which is the kedushah that becomes revealed within time, and from it all the darkness of time passes away — therefore it is called menuchah.

He notes that the Torah first commands destroying idolatry to cleanse the land, and only then to seek the dwelling place. He explains that the Mikdash is called menuchah, like the rest of Shabbos — a revealed kedushah that drives out the darkness of time.

כמו כן יש בעולם מקום בהמ"ק דהוא מנוחה שסט"א אין לה שליטה בשם

So too there is in the world the place of the Beis HaMikdash, which is menuchah, for the sitra achra has no dominion there.

Just as Shabbos is menuchah in time, the Beis HaMikdash is menuchah in place, a spot where the sitra achra holds no power.

וכמו כן בנפשות רוה"ק נק' מנוחה כמ"ש גבי ברוך ומנוחה לא מצאתי ע"ש

And likewise within souls, ruach hakodesh is called menuchah, as it is written regarding Baruch, "and rest I have not found" (Yirmiyahu 45:3) — see there.

And within souls as well, ruach hakodesh is itself a kind of menuchah, as Yirmiyahu told Baruch that without it "rest I have not found."

והאדם צריך לדרוש לאותן המקומות והזמנים והנפשות שהקדושה מתגלה בהם וזה לשכנו תדרשו

And a person must seek out those places, those times, and those souls in which the kedushah becomes revealed, and this is the meaning of "You shall seek out His dwelling place."

A person's task is to seek out the holy places, holy times, and holy souls where kedushah is revealed — this is the inner meaning of "You shall seek out His dwelling place."

ובאמת כל זו המצוה שייך בכל אדם שצריכין מקודם לעקור מנפשו כל הסט"א

And in truth, this entire mitzvah applies to every person, for one must first uproot from his soul all of the sitra achra,

The mitzvah is not only national but personal: every individual must first uproot the sitra achra from within himself.

ואחר כך לשכנו תדרשו

and only afterward, "You shall seek out His dwelling place."

Only after that inner cleansing can a person truly "seek out His dwelling place."

מכ"ש בכלל ישראל לדרוש ולבקש להתחנן להקב"ה שיחזיר לנו הנבואה ורוה"ק ישרה בינינו כימי קדם:

How much more so does this apply to Klal Yisrael as a whole — to seek and to beseech, to plead before the Holy One, Blessed is He, that He restore to us the gift of prophecy, and that ruach hakodesh should rest among us as in the days of old.

All the more so must Klal Yisrael as a whole seek and plead before the Holy One, Blessed is He, to restore prophecy and to rest His ruach hakodesh among us as in earlier generations.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why the Torah commands Bnei Yisrael to "seek out His dwelling place" rather than simply revealing the site of the Beis HaMikdash outright. Just as with Avraham Avinu's unrevealed land, the location was meant to emerge through the seeking and avodah of Bnei Yisrael, since the kedushah of Eretz Yisrael and the Mikdash is drawn down by their effort. The Mikdash is called menuchah — a revealed kedushah that banishes darkness — paralleling the menuchah of Shabbos in time and the menuchah of ruach hakodesh within the soul, both of which are places where the sitra achra holds no dominion. The avodah of every person, therefore, is first to uproot the sitra achra from within himself and only then to seek out the holy times, places, and souls where kedushah becomes revealed. All the more so must Klal Yisrael as a whole plead before the Holy One, Blessed is He, to restore prophecy and ruach hakodesh among us as in the days of old.