Building the Mikdash in every heart

במדרש אני ישנה כו' קול דודי דופק מרתיק עלי כו' עד מתי אתהלך בחוץ כו'.

In the Midrash: "I am asleep… the voice of my Beloved knocks" — He raps upon me, [saying] "how long shall I walk about outside?" (Shir HaShirim 5:2).

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash on Shir HaShirim, where Hashem is portrayed as the Beloved knocking on the door of a slumbering Bnei Yisrael, yearning to be let in.

הענין הוא כי הקב"ה כל מתנות שנתן לבני ישראל הם לדורי דורות.

The matter is that all the gifts the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to Bnei Yisrael are for all generations.

Every spiritual gift Hashem bestowed on Yisrael was given permanently, never withdrawn from later generations.

והכלל משמיא מיהבי יהבי קבולי לא מקבלי כו'.

And the principle is: from Heaven they give but they do not take back.

Whatever Heaven grants, it never reclaims; divine gifts are irrevocable.

ולכן אפילו אחר שחטאנו מ"מ האורות המיוחדים לנו קיימים לעד.

Therefore, even after we have sinned, nevertheless the oros (lights) designated for us endure forever.

Even our aveiros cannot revoke the spiritual lights uniquely set aside for Bnei Yisrael; they remain intact eternally.

וכביכול מצפה השי"ת להיותינו מוכנים לקבל אלה ההארות.

And, as it were, Hashem waits for us to be ready to receive these illuminations.

The gifts stand ready; Hashem only awaits our preparing ourselves to receive them.

וכתיב כאשר ירד הגשם וכו' כן כו' דברי אשר יצא מפי לא ישוב כו'.

And it is written: "As the rain comes down… so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth — it shall not return [empty]" (Yeshayahu 55:10-11).

Like rain that always accomplishes its purpose, Hashem's word never returns void; what He has spoken will be realized.

א"כ כשאמר הקב"ה אנכי ה' אלקיך שע"ז כתיב ואשים דברי בפיך כו' זה קול דודי דופק בלב בנ"י לעורר אותם תמיד לשוב אליו ית'.

If so, when Hashem said "I am Hashem your God," concerning which it is written "and I have placed My words in your mouth" — this is the "voice of my Beloved knocking" in the heart of Bnei Yisrael, to awaken them always to return to Him, may He be blessed.

The word of Sinai was planted permanently within Yisrael, and it continues to knock from within their hearts, perpetually rousing them to teshuvah.

ובדורות הראשונים הי' בהתגלות.

And in the earlier generations it was in open revelation.

In former times this awakening was manifest and visible.

ואמר למרע"ה ויקחו לי תרומה כי' ועשו לי מקדש כו'.

And He said to Moshe Rabbeinu, "Let them take for Me a terumah… and make Me a Mikdash."

Hashem instructed Moshe to have Yisrael donate and build a Mikdash, the open dwelling place for the Shechinah.

ומ"מ הוא מצוה לדורות שמצווין לבנות בית הבחירה.

And nevertheless it is a mitzvah for all generations, that we are commanded to build the Bais HaBechirah (the chosen House).

The command to build a dwelling for Hashem is not limited to that era but binds every generation.

ולכן אמרו חז"ל דור שאין ביהמ"ק נבנה בימיו כאלו נחרב.

Therefore Chazal said: a generation in whose days the Bais HaMikdash is not built, it is as though it was destroyed in their days.

Since the obligation is ongoing, any generation that fails to bring about its rebuilding bears responsibility as if it caused the churban.

והטעם כי בכל עת שיתנדבו בנ"י בלב שלם להשתוקק לבנות לו בית יכולין למצוא מבוקשם.

And the reason is that whenever Bnei Yisrael volunteer wholeheartedly, yearning to build Him a House, they are able to find what they seek.

The potential is always present: sincere, longing-filled devotion could draw down the rebuilding at any time.

ומ"ש וכן תעשו לדורות הרמז על כל הפרשה שבכל עת יכולין להרים זאת התרומה ולעשות מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם.

And that which it says "and so shall you do" — for the generations — hints regarding the whole parshah that at every time one can lift up this terumah and make a Mikdash, and "I will dwell within them."

The phrase "so shall you do" extends the entire portion across history: the offering and the building can be enacted in every era, drawing the Shechinah to dwell within.

וכן הוא בכלל וגם בפרט כל איש ישראל לפי עבודתו יוכל לזכות לרוח הקודש.

And so it is both collectively and individually: every Jew, according to his avodah, can merit ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration).

The building of a dwelling for Hashem applies not only to the nation but to each person, who through his own avodah can make himself a sanctuary worthy of divine inspiration.

ורמזו חז"ל באדר משמיעין על השקלים היינו שמעוררין כל איש ישראל משמים.

And Chazal hinted: in Adar we announce concerning the shekalim — that is, every Jew is awakened from Heaven.

The announcement of the shekalim in Adar represents a heavenly arousal calling each individual to contribute to and build the inner Mikdash.

קול דודי דופק.

"The voice of my Beloved knocks."

This awakening is the Beloved's knock — Hashem rousing each heart from within.

פתחי לי.

"Open for Me."

Hashem asks only that we open the smallest opening toward Him.

אמרו חז"ל כחודה של מחט ואפתח לכם כפתחו של היכל ואולם.

Chazal said: open for Me an opening like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you an opening like that of the Heichal and the Ulam.

The slightest sincere opening of the heart prompts Hashem to fling wide a vast gateway of closeness in return.

כי פתח ביהמ"ק הי' פתיחת שער מקדש העליון כדאיתא משכן של מעלה מכוון נגד של מטה וכל זה זכו על ידי פתיחת הלב בזאת התרומה שהיא נקודה א' כחודה של מחט שנק' ראשית:

For the opening of the Bais HaMikdash was the opening of the gate of the supernal Mikdash, as it is taught that the heavenly Mishkan stands aligned opposite the one below — and all this they merited through the opening of the heart in this terumah, which is a single point, like the eye of a needle, that is called "reishis" (the first/beginning).

The earthly sanctuary mirrors and unlocks the heavenly one, and the key to both is the heart's small inner opening — that single nekudah (point), the "reishis," the beginning-point of devotion that draws everything else in its wake.

Summary: The spiritual gifts Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael are eternal and never revoked, even after sin; Hashem waits, knocking like the Beloved in Shir HaShirim, for us to ready ourselves to receive them. The command to build a Mikdash is for all generations and applies to each individual, who through his avodah can become a dwelling for the Shechinah and merit ruach hakodesh. The whole matter turns on the heart's smallest opening — a single inner point, the "reishis," like the eye of a needle — to which Hashem responds by flinging open the great gates of closeness, both below and in the supernal Mikdash above.