When we pray "renew our days as of old", we must turn our gaze forward, toward a Temple that will be different from anything we have known until now; we should not look backward to attempt to reconstruct the past.
HaRav Ginsburgh provides us with a glimpse of the future Temple, in which the center of the Temple service becomes the musical service of the Levites, which in our present reality is secondary to the service of the priests. The final paragraphs speak of a trend toward equality between the entire people of Israel when all three divisions, Priests, Levites, and Israelites are included in the Israelites.
Note that this was originally a tweet written by Rav Ginsburgh. We have brought it here in its original form, with very light editing, while retaining the Rav’s wording. We have added headings and source references.
A Service that Includes All Services
In reference to the future Temple, Ezekiel describes the Priests serving in it as, "the priests [who are], the Levites."[1] The Arizal explains[2] that this reference means that in the future, the Levites will become the priests (see Tanya, ch. 50). One might think that the Levites will replace the priests in the service of the sacrifices, etc. But apparently the correct interpretation is that the service of the Levites will remain, as it was in the past, to express the inner sense of the soul through song. The Zohar describes their service of song as, "raising the voice,"[3] which is the mystery of the phrase, "and the Levite, he shall serve" (וְעָבַד הַלֵּוִי הוּא). It is specifically through song that one can reach the level of Godliness known as "he," (הוּא), a level described in the Zohar as “the most hidden of all hidden” (סַתִּימָא דְּכָל סְתִימִין). This is the innermost dimension of Atik, the higher part of the crown or superconscious faculties, that when revealed does so specifically through the inner dimension of Imma, the mother principle[4] (which is higher than the level described as, "the inner dimension of Abba—the father principle—is the inner dimension of Atik"[5]). This principal encapsulates the superiority of the future Temple over the Temples of the past. In the past, the main thing was to see (the father principle) with one’s physical eyes, but the future Temple will be centered on hearing (the mother principle), specifically, the song of the Levites.
The service of song (song with the mouth and song-music with instruments[6]) is termed in the Torah "the service of service [עֲבוֹדַת עֲבוֹדָה],"[7] which means that it is an act of service conducted for the sake of another act of service. In this world, in our present reality, before the Coming of Mashiach, the principal service conducted in the Temple is the service of the sacrifices carried out by the priests, while the service of the Levites is meant to accompany the priests. The Levites enliven, with holy fire, the service of the priests. The priests’ service is conducted in what the Sages describe as, "with silence and with the will of the heart."[8] In this world, the priest is the mystery of oil—representing the secrets of secrets of the Torah—while the Levite is the mystery of wine, representing the secrets of the Torah,[9] also known as, "the wine of Torah."[10] We learn this from the fact that the priests were anointed with "the holy anointing oil,"[11] while at the same time, they are forbidden from entering the Temple after having drunk wine[12] (which was the cause of the death of Nadav and Avihu,[13] the sons of Aharon). But in the future, the roles will be reversed, and the principal inner service of the Temple will be the mystery of "the wine preserved in its grapes from the Six Days of Creation."[14] Following the Kabbalistic correspondence introduced above, wine is considered the root of the inner dimension of Imma—the mother principle—the inner dimension of Atik, which is higher than the root of the inner dimension of Abba—the father principle—corresponding to oil.
In the future, the principal service in the Temple will be the song, as above, and accordingly the interpretation of "the service of service" (עֲבוֹדַת עֲבוֹדָה) will no longer be a service that is a means to another form of service, as it was in the First and Second Temples. Rather, this phrase will be interpreted much as we understand the phrases, “the Holy of Holies” (קֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים) and “the Song of Songs” (שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים); meaning, “the service of all services,” i.e., the service that is higher and includes all the other forms of services, up to the point that all the other services (including the sacrifices) will be entirely subsumed within the songs sung by the Levites.
The principal sacrifice, and hence the principal song (שִׁיר), is the song of the ox (שׁוֹר) described as, "an ox, a bull"[15] (שׁוֹר פָּר) whose essence sings the verse, “I shall sing to Havayah, for He is highly exalted,"[16] according to “the Song of Creation”[17] (Perek Shirah). In fact, every sacrifice of our present reality will be represented by its unique song corresponding to the song of the root of the animal’s soul.[18]
The Vision of the Temple — "Seeing the Sounds"
According to this, the principal "vision [chazon]" of the future Temple is not necessarily a vision in the sense of sight, which grasps the physical, but principally in the sense of hearing, which grasps the spiritual, as explained in Chasidut[19] regarding the superiority of inner hearing over vision. Following this idea, the phrase, “To behold the pleasantness of Havayah”[20] refers to seeing (beholding), as it were, the pleasant voice of God, akin to the pleasantness of King David, about whom it says, "See your house, David"[21] (the song of the Levites is from the pleasant melodies of David in the book of Psalms[22]). Seeing a voice is the description used to describe the Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, when "and all the people saw the sounds."[23]
Well known is the parable originating with Rebbe Hillel of Paritch, that a person, all his life, searches and yearns to hear the melody of the root of his soul.[24] About this melody it is said, "and I shall dwell within them,"[25] within the interior point of the heart of each and every one of Israel[26]—the revelation of the "inner voice that is unutterable"[27] in the heart of each and every one of Israel.
The continuation of the verse beginning with, “To behold the pleasantness of Havayah”[28] is "And to visit His sanctuary." Following our explanation, the sanctuary referred to is the supernal chamber of music (הֵיכַל הַנְּגִינָה) referred to in Kabbalah and Chasidut where each and every individual is able to discern—another meaning of the verb “to visit” (לְבַקֵּר)—his own niggun/melody. This ability to recognize one’s essential melody is the deep meaning of the verse, “the ear considers words”[29] (אֹזֶן מִלִּין תִּבְחָן), whose initials spell “truth” (אֱמֶת) and whose final letters are three nun’s (ן ן ן), whose value is 50, establishing that the ability to discern truth through hearing is a revelation of the fiftieth Gate of Understanding, of inner hearing, which is the very source of joy — "and you shall rejoice before Havayah your God"[30] in the future Temple; indeed, the mystery of "the future to come," and the building of the Third Temple is also the mystery of the supernal mother principle, as explained by the Arizal[31] that it is the inner dimension of the sense of hearing specifically.
Initially, the Torah itself was referred to as a song, as in the verse, “Write for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites; place it in their mouths,”[32] which serves as the introduction to the Song of Ha’azinu, and the Song of Ha’azinu is known to include the entire Torah in it. The introductory verse specifically alludes to the future teachings of the Mashiach referring to them as a song, for to “listen” (הַאֲזָנָה) in Hebrew is cognate with “balance” (אִזּוּן),[33] which is the mystery of the the “balance” (as in a scale, the matkela), the essential feature of the world of Rectification where the male and female, "gaze at one another, face to face."[34] Meaning that, in the World of Rectification, the coupling of the partzufim occurs in a balanced way. Indeed, teaching the song dimension of the Torah—its inner dimension—to the Jewish people in a manner that will place it in their mouths refers to the Mashiach’s ability to reveal the reasons and the “taste” of the Torah (טַעֲמֵי תּוֹרָה).[35] These are encapsulated in the current song dimension of the Torah—the cantillation marks used to guide the melody of the Torah’s reading in public. One of the most profound examples of a “reason” or “rationale” of a mitzvah being revealed is when God says to Moses that only to him is He revealing the mystery of Red Heifer (which includes a well-known paradoxical principle).[36] This alludes to the cantillation mark known as the “heifer’s horns” or karnei parah, which melodically also carries two opposite melodies.[37]
The Hebrew word for “vision” (חָזוֹן) is cognate with the word for a “cantor” (חַזָּן), a word that also refers to the teacher of young children[38] who instructs them regarding the singing of the cantillation marks and the melody of Scripture correctly and with joy.[39] In Kabbalah, the principal union and coupling occurs between the masculine male principle Ze’er Anpin and the principle female principle, Nukva (also referred to as the union between the Holy blessed One and His Shechinah). This union occurs through music. It is does not at all occur through sight, just as the marital union occurs in complete darkness, without any use of the sense of sight, only and specifically with the aid of inner hearing, which is attuned to sense the inner stirrings of the heart of one’s spouse and to respond to them. This is known as the mystery of the commandment of marital union. This entire union and coupling is alluded to in the first letter of the Hebrew word for “vision,” the letter chet (ח), which according to the Arizal’s calligraphic principles[40] is written as a union of the two letters vav (ו) and zayin (ז), representing the male and female principles. Above these two letters is a calligraphic “canopy” (chuppah) that joins them and encompasses them with the encompassing lights of the Mother principle (Imma).[41] The vav and zayin have values of 6 and 7, respectively, and the encompassing lights of the Mother principle are the mystery of “the eighth firmament.”[42] Finally, we have that the word for “vision” (חָזוֹן) includes a chet (ח), and then a zayin and vav, which together with the nun at the end (again alluding to the Fifty Gates of Understanding of the Mother Principle) are the accepted acronym used to designate the coupling of the male and female principles (זו"ן).
A Sanctuary of Music
In light of all that has been said, let us try to picture for ourselves (akin to the revelation of Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat before Tishah B’av, when every person is shown the future Temple[43]) the experience of the future Temple: I enter the sanctuary of music and hear a pleasant voice that causes my soul to hover above my body, as it were, as related about certain chasidim who experienced this type of soul elevation when they heard the playing of a pleasant violin.[44] Thus, I bow with the yechidah, the highest aspect of my soul, before God upon my coming into the holy place. By doing so, the statement that “just as he comes to see,”[45] is fulfilled.
From all the above we also understand what Maimonides explains in the Guide for the Perplexed[46]: that in ancient times the nations, the idolaters, were passionate for the offering of sacrifices from animals (and even from human beings, as is explicit in many verses in the Bible[47]), and the Temple service came to refine this form of service before God. But today sacrifices are no longer offered. What has taken their place? Among the civilized nations of the world, the halls of worship, the Temples, have been replaced by concert halls, in which the music (service) of Beethoven, etc., are performed. These musical compositions are today the mystery of kelipat nogah, the external husk of impurity, in which good and evil are mixed, but they are not to be identified with the three entirely impure husks (kelipot), as it was once. Accordingly, the holy counterpart of these modern-day halls is the supernal chamber of sacred music—which also has the power to refine the good within the music of Beethoven and the like—the mystery of the future Temple.
Stages of the Inter-inclusion of Kohen-Levi-Yisrael
In the future to come the priests will be included in the Levites. That is, the tribe of Levi will include both; all will be called by the name of Levi their father (the mystery of the coupling, as above, “this time my husband will accompany me”). This is in the first stage of the Time of Mashiach, when the world will act relatively naturally,[48] and when the future Temple will be raised from its destruction (through the King Mashiach from below and God from above[49]), together with its service. But in the second stage of the Time of Mashiach, which is a miraculous period when the Resurrection of the Dead will take place, and “the commandments will be nullified in the future to come”[50] (that is, when the dead come to life, as explained in the Tanya[51]), there is no further need for the separation of the tribe of Levi from within the totality of Israel, and all will return to be included in the essential name of the people: “Israel.” All twelve tribes of Israel will be included in Israel their father, just as all three patriarchs were called by the name Israel, as explained by the sages.[52]
It emerges that in this world there are three different levels, one above the other: Cohen-Levi-Israel (Priest-Levite-Israelite). But in the first period of Mashiach only two will remain—Levite and Israelite, and in the second period of the Time of Mashiach, only one will remain—Israelite. This is the mystery of Korach’s claim that, “the entire congregation, all of them, are holy, and God is in their midst; why then do you exalt yourselves [Moses and Aaron]."[53] In the future to come, when the commandments are nullified, Korach will arise in the Resurrection, together with his claim, and then we will see the fulfillment of the verse, "the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree"[54] (צַדִּיק כַּתָּמָר יִפְרָח), whose final letters spell Korach (קֹרַח).[55] The initials of Cohen-Levite-Israelite (כֹּהֵן-לֵוִי-יִשְׂרָאֵל) spell “vessel” (כְּלִי)[56]—"a vessel that holds blessing for Israel,"[57] as all three levels in the people join to serve God, all of them together, in peace.
And to end with a mathematical signature: the sum of “Cohen-Levite-Israelite, Levite-Israelite, Israelite” (כֹּהֵן לֵוִי יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֵוִי יִשְׂרָאֵל, יִשְׂרָאֵל), the summary of all that we have seen, is 1790, which equals the value of Mashiach (מָשִׁיחַ) when written "front and back" (מ מש משי משיח משיח שיח יח ח). The “back” refers to that state of our present reality when we anticipate the Coming of Mashiach together with the first period of his coming, when the future Temple will be built, as above. The "front" refers to the second period, with the Resurrection of the Dead.
[1]. Ezekiel 44:15.
[2]. Sha’ar HaGilgulim, Introduction 35; Sha’ar HaPesukim, Ezekiel, §20.
[3]. Zohar 3:39a-b.
[4]. The gloss of Rabbi Natan Shapira to Otzrot Chayim, Sha’ar Atik, ch. 4. See Torat Shmuel 5627, p. 34 (and see there p. 78, which references Zohar 3: 178b).
[5]. Likkutei Torah, Nitzavim 49d (following Pri Etz Chayim, Sha’ar Keriat Shema, ch. 15; see the aforementioned gloss).
[6]. See Arachin 11a.
[7]. Numbers 4:47.
[8]. Zohar 3:39a-b.
[9]. Likkutei Torah, Korach 54d.
[10]. Bamidbar Rabbah 14:4.
[11]. Exodus 37:29.
[12]. Leviticus 10:9.
[13]. Pesikta DeRav Kahana 26:9; Vayikra Rabbah 12:1 (cited in Rashi on Leviticus 10:2).
[14]. Berachot 34b.
[15]. Psalms 69:32.
[16]. Exodus 15:1.
[17]. Ch. 5.
[18]. On the question of who it is that sings the song of each creature in "Perek Shirah", see Wonders, issue 171.
[19]. See Kuntres HaHitpa’alut, p. 58 (and in many places); Shiurim BeSod Hashem LiYre’av, vol. 1, ch. 6.
[20]. Psalms 27:4.
[21]. 1 Kings 12:9.
[22]. Mishnah Tamid 7:4.
[23]. Exodus 20:15.
[24]. See also Essa Einai, the article "Ezkerah Neginati BaLailah", note 9, and Panim el Panim, ch. 3, note 75.
[25]. Exodus 25:8.
[26]. Alsheikh on Exodus 31:13; Reishit Chochmah, Sha’ar HaAhavah 6:19.
[27]. See Zohar 1:50b.
[28]. Psalms 27:4.
[29]. Job 12:11; 34:3.
[30]. Leviticus 23:40.
[31]. Eitz Chayim 15:5.
[32]. Deuteronomy 31:19.
[33]. See Ma’ayan Ganim, vol. 5, Ha’azinu. And see the class of the eve following 11 Tishrei 5773; Shabbat Shuvah 5780.
[34]. Chasdei David HaNe’emanim, vol. 8, p. 229.
[35]. Otiyot DeRabbi Akiva, s.v. Zayin (also in Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah, 429, at its beginning): "And the Holy blessed One explains to them the reasons of the new Torah that the Holy blessed One is destined to reveal to them through Mashiach". See also Rashi on Song of Songs 1:2; Likkutei Torah, Tzav 17a ff.; Likkutei Sichot, vol. 22, p. 77, and the references there.
[36]. Bamidbar Rabbah 19:6.
[37]. Arachin 11b and Rashi there, s.v. "Al Iskei".
[38]. See Shabbat 11a, and elsewhere.
[39]. See also Nedarim 37a on the teacher’s role of teaching "the markings of the cantillation."
[40]. Matzat Shimurim 31a; Mishnat Chassidim, Tikkun Tefillin 1:9; Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chayim 36:2.
[41]. See also The Hebrew Letter, s.v. Chet.
[42]. Zohar 1:162b.
[43]. Cited in the writings of Rabbi Hillel of Paritch in the name of the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (transcribed in the Reshimot of the Tzemach Tzedek on Eichah, p. 45, in the notes).
[44]. Sefer HaSichot 5701, p. 114 (cited in Sefer HaNiggunim Chabad, vol. 3, Likkutei Reshimot, §31).
[45]. Chagigah 2a.
[46]. 3:32.
[47]. See Deuteronomy 12:31; 2 Kings 3:27.
[48]. Likkutei Sichot, vol. 27, Bechukotai 1 (and particularly from §9).
[49]. See Malchut Yisrael, vol. 3, the article "Who Will Build the Third Temple?" (p. 285); and see HaTeva HaYehudi, p. 52 ff. (with references there to the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the matter, collected in the book "Sha’arei Geulah", p. 110 ff.).
[50]. Niddah 61b.
[51]. Iggeret HaKodesh, epistle 26.
[52]. Bereishit Rabbah 63:3.
[53]. Numbers 16:3.
[54]. Psalms 92:13.
[55]. Sefer HaLikkutim, Psalms 92. See Emek HaMelekh, sha’ar 16, ch. 35 (see Pri Etz Chayim, Sha’ar Hanhagat HaLimud, ch. 1). And see Ma’ayan Ganim, Korach.
[56]. Kehilat Ya’akov, s.v. “keli.”
[57]. Bamidbar Rabbah 21:1.
