Thousands of years ago the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem. It was the corridor to the upper realms, the place of ultimate goodness and clarity, the national epicenter which formed a place of infinite consciousness in this world.
Then it was destroyed.
Darkness came and replaced the light. Our world became confused and evil increased and spread, bringing a deepening inner trauma to all of humanity.
Despite the seeming impossibility of our situation there is a way out or should I say a way within. All of us are here for a mission predesigned from before our souls descended to this realm. In the seeming emptiness of our exile, we must reveal the goodness trapped within.
What Can We Do?
Every moment there is an opportunity to bring the yearning of our hearts and the deeds of our hands to Hashem, the Creator. The Mishkan, the Tabernacle, the predecessor to the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple was built by the collective individual donations given by each Jew as decided upon from within their hearts.
We may be in exile, without the Holy Temple, but the power to draw holiness into our lives and the world exists within each of us, even now.
Transforming the Individual to the Collective
It is ultimately the Tzadikey HaDor, the righteous leaders of the generation that are tasked with drawing out the good points held within each of us. These leaders take our holy yearnings and actions that exist on an individual level and transform them into a collective Mishkan.
So we may be without our physical Temple, our place of national inner focus, but our ability to draw the Creator’s light into this world of confusion and darkness that all too often seems unforgiving has not dampened despite our predicament. We must look beyond the covering of our world and reveal the goodness held within all. The Temple is held within, waiting to be built by each of us.
Based on Likutey Halachot Hilchot Mincha 7:11-12