Hallelukah 2-2

בונה ירושלים ה', נדחי ישראל יכנס

The Builder of Jerusalem is Hashem, the outcast of Israel He will gather in.

*****

The S’fas Emes asks how it can be that our generation or a later one will merit the rebuilding of Yerushalayim and the arrival of Mashiach, when so many greater generations in the past did not merit the ultimate salvation. He answers that when Mashiach comes and Yerushalayim is rebuilt, it will be as a result of all the many generations’ cumulative tefilos and mitzvos. It will not merely be the merit of the generation living at that time.

He points out – as do others – that “בונה–Bonei” is in present tense. Hashem is constantly building the final Beis HaMikdash, brick by brick. Every tefilah, every word of Torah, every mitzvah, every word that we want to say but don’t because it’s hurtful or it’s lashon ha’ra, is adding bricks to the Beis HaMikdash.

Imagine if Mashiach would come to our home and ask us to donate to the Beis HaMikdash. Everyone would certainly run to donate what we could. The reality is that we have that opportunity at any given moment.

What would our tefilos look like if we truly believed with every fiber of our being that this tefilah will add bricks to the Beis HaMikdash and we will have a plaque “dedicated by…”? How enthusiastic and energetic would we be in learning Torah and performing our mitzvos if we were able to see the bricks being added, heading towards completion?

The end of this pasuk should be a comforting consolation for us. Why does the pasuk begin in present tense but conclude with future tense (The word “Bonei” is present tense, while the word “יכנס–y’chaneis” is future tense)? With all of the national, communal, and individual struggles and pain we endure, our hope and longing for Hashem’s salvation may dim and fade. We may wonder: How can the bright light of Mashiach and our return to Yerushalayim come from the bleak darkness we are in? However, here David HaMelech is telling us that, in fact, Hashem is continuing to build the final Beis HaMikdash right now in the present, placing more and more bricks as a result of all we are enduring and as a result of all our maasim tovim, despite such difficult circumstances. We cannot explain all of our pain and suffering, but here we are being told that there is a direct correlation between our pain and suffering and Hashem continuing to build the final Beis HaMikdash, ultimately culminating in the return of the “nidchei Yisrael” (the exiled/dispersed Jewish people) into Yerushalayim and the final Beis HaMikdash. [Siach Yitzchak]

Perhaps, we can add a connection between the first pasuk we learned in the previous segment and this pasuk. When we sing to Hashem Elokeinu, recognizing that He is our G-d Who is watching over us with hashgachah pratis, Divine Providence, and that all He does is deserving of praise, then we will be adding bricks to the building of the Beis HaMikdash and merit to return to Yerushalayim, may it be speedily in our days.