Why I Suddenly Longed for the Temple | The Land of Israel Fellowship

My friends, I I've I've been through a lot of my life. You know, I've served in war October 7th, but I want to tell you that nothing nothing prepared me for the feeling of my own son choking on my lap life. And truth be told, I'm still recovering. If you'd seen me the rest of that day and even since, you would have thought that something was wrong with me. I'm like shuttering out of nowhere, like uh tearing up in the middle of ordinary moments. Just my body kept reliving it long after my mind knew he was fine. And and as I drove to morning prayers just an hour or so later, I was alone in the car replaying the whole thing and I started to pray. It wasn't quiet um prayer, you know, under my breath. I was screaming. Tears were streaming down my face. Thank you, Hashem. Thank you, Hashem. Thank you. Thank you. Over and over again. Right? And and here's the part that I I really want to to share with you. Because something happened in the car It was actually on the way back from prayers that I really did not expect. And that said, it wasn't enough. Right? The screaming, the crying, the words, it just didn't feel like enough. My gratitude was bigger than anything I had available to express it with. It was like trying to pour a flood through a drinking straw. Right? And when the dust finally settled, I found myself with a burning and I mean burning desire for the Beis Hamikdash. For the Holy Temple. Because I knew exactly what I wanted to do, what I needed to do. I wanted to take a korban todah, a thanksgiving offering, and walk it up to Jerusalem with my own two hands and offer it before God who gave me my son back. And anything short of that felt insufficient. It felt like a like a like a whisper when my soul needed to to roar. You know, and that that gratitude just hasn't left me and I hope it never does. You're hearing this right now and you know, first of all, just imagine this happened in the near future when please God there will be a temple. You know, I arrive in Jerusalem with an unblemished sheep and baskets holding 40 loaves of bread. Four different types, 10 of each loaves. One of each of those four different types goes to the to the to the priest in the temple. You know, and after the temple service, the choicest portions were offered on the altar, given to the priest, the rest was taken as a festive meal because everything had to be eaten before the next morning. That's what's unique about the Thanksgiving offering. You know, and I invite a large circle of family, friends, neighbors, the fellow pilgrims, the fellowship, right? And as we eat the sacred meal together, I recount how God has rescued my son, turning a personal experience of deliverance into a communal act of gratitude and praise in the in the temple of the God of Israel. You know, and and and and I know that some of you may have questions about the whole temple subject and and maybe some of you could be thinking, you know, are we have a temple in our hearts, you know, do we really need a building for gratitude? And listen, any questions that you may have are beautiful and welcome and legitimate. You know, there are no questions that you could ever ask me that are are barred or outside of the realm of acceptable. I know your hearts. You love me. I love you. You can ask me anything. This is that place where we can really be have truth with each other, right? And so these questions are beautiful and legitimate and and there's a whole intellectual conversation we could have about that. But friends, I'm not making an intellectual argument with you right now. This isn't coming from my head. It's it's spiritual. It's emotional. It's It's a hole I felt in my own chest on Rosh Chodesh Av. It just the ache of like a simple Jew who had something enormous to give to God and nowhere that felt big enough to bring it. And that my friend is why I'm telling you the story tonight of all nights because this Shabbat we read Parshat Devarim. Right? And this coming Wednesday night we sit on the floor for Tisha B'Av for the 9th of Av and we mourn. And you know, I used to think that Tisha B'Av was about mourning a building. And um and this week on Rosh Chodesh Av and I really believe Hashem did it right then on the 1st of the month of Av when we're going into those 9 days of sadness, so there wouldn't be any room for confusion or coincidence or whatever. I believe that it was for a reason and this week I really felt like I understood more deeply in my body and in my soul that it's it's not a building that we're mourning for. We're not mourning stones. We're mourning the closeness that those stones made possible. Right? We're mourning 2,000 years of Jewish gratitude, of Jewish longing, of Jewish love and nowhere big enough to bring it. And not just Jewish love, it's a house of prayer for all nations. The entire world was able to express love and gratitude and light there. Right? But But But for the first time in my life I didn't I I didn't have to work to mourn the Temple at all. I just had to remember. I just had to remember Wednesday morning. >> My name is Ari and I live here on the edge of the Judean frontier. And just as the prophets foretold, the mountains of Judah are coming to life. The in-gathering of the exile is taking place right before our eyes. And the final prophecy is manifesting as the righteous of the nations are coming together with humble hearts here in the land of Israel fellowship. And now I'm inviting you to join us along with hundreds of Jewish and Christian families from all around the world to experience the beauty and the holiness and the magnificence of our fellowship. So click below so you can taste the beauty and the holiness that is happening on this mountain. >> [music]