The Beis HaMikdash, true to its name, is a house of kedushah. When it stood in its place, it served as the unique and enduring makom for the manifestation of kedushah in this world. Every aspect of the avodah performed within it was directed toward the Shechinah HaKedoshah. Since its destruction, b’avonoseinu, we no longer possess a fixed makom for the Shechinah in this world. Nevertheless, it remains possible for us to construct within our own lives something akin to a mikdash me’at. To do so, however, requires us to ask a fundamental question: How does one create a place for kedushah?
The Concept of a Makom for Kedushah
We repeatedly encounter in Scripture and in the words of Chazal the requirement of a makom for kedushah, as it is written: “To the place which Hashem your G‑d will choose from all your tribes to place His Name there” (Devarim 12:5). Kedushah, it is clear, requires a makom—but what precisely constitutes that indispensable makom?
The Nefesh HaChaim (Sha’ar 3, “Mekomo shel Olam”) explains that makom functions as a kind of background and preparation for kedushah. For kedushah to dwell in the world in a fixed and enduring manner, a suitable reka—background—must first be prepared. Rav Chaim of Volozhin wrote (Sha’ar 1:4) that this reka is fashioned through a person’s middos and the inner forces of his nefesh, which shape and prepare the possibility for the dwelling of kedushah. When these are aligned with the ratzon of the Borei, they create the groundwork upon which the edifice of kedushah may be erected. If, chalilah, they are directed toward base desires, the reka becomes obscured, and there no longer remains a makom for kedushah; the Shechinah is then driven, rachmana litzlan, into galus from its proper place.
The Primacy of Thought and Inner Orientation
A person’s thoughts and the inclinations of his nefesh reveal where he truly belongs. For inner kedushah to have a makom, the kochos hanefesh—the forces of the nefesh—themselves must be oriented toward kedushah. It is not enough to perform proper actions; the inner inclinations and thoughts must likewise be directed toward the ratzon Hashem. This is why alien thoughts and inclinations are graver than actions—because they damage something far more fundamental, and they reveal about a person where he is shayach and what his makom is. They disclose that the entire inner landscape stands in opposition to a building of kedushah, as the Nefesh HaChaim explains (ibid.).
Even in our own era, a person can be shayach to the Beis HaMikdash to the degree that his thoughts and the kochos hanefesh are directed toward it. Conversely, one might stand physically in the Kodesh HaKodashim itself, yet if his thoughts are impure and foreign, he is reckoned among those who destroy the Mikdash, for he is not shayach there—and there is no makom in his life for kedushah to rest. So Rav Yerucham of Mir powerfully describes in his ma’amarim (Parshas Chayei Sarah).
Building the Reka Through Avodah
When a person seeks to build a Beis HaMikdash within his own life, it is not sufficient merely to perform mitzvos and good deeds. He must examine where his thoughts reside and toward what his kochos hanefesh incline. Only through this avodah can he prepare a reka and a makom upon which kedushah may come to rest in his life.
The days of Shovavim are an especially auspicious time for this avodah. The entire process of yetzias Mitzrayim represents a gradual ascent in creating a makom for kedushah in the world: first detaching from the constrictions of tumah, then, step by step, redirecting all the kochos hanefesh so that they form the proper reka for the indwelling of kedushah.
Practical Direction for Our Lives
If we truly wish to be shayach to kedushah and to build a beis mikdash me’at within our lives, we must first prepare a fitting reka for kedushah so that it can dwell in our lives. This requires us to identify our personal constraints—those inner forces that deepen our galus and seek to sever us from kedushah, rachmana litzlan—and to redirect them with all our strength toward kedushah.
We must examine even our finest deeds with unflinching honesty: Do they truly flow from pure spiritual forces and inclinations, or might even a seemingly good act be driven by motives that are not aligned with kedushah? For example, what drives us to learn Torah? Is it an overwhelming desire to know Hashem and to live a life immersed in Torah, or is it perhaps an invalid, competitive impulse whose real aim is merely to outshine others?
To the extent that we deepen our thought and realign our kochos hanefesh toward the ratzon Hashem, we prepare and establish a reka of genuine shayachus to kedushah. In this way, each of us—through our own unique and personal avodah—may merit to build a true makom for a mikdash me’at in our lives.