SECRETS OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE
"Mishkney Elyon" By Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
Translated by Avraham Greenbaum
will enlighten and inspire all who seriously yearn and hope for the Temple which is destined to stand eternally in Jerusalem as the House of Prayer for ALL the Nations.

The Bible records the prophet Ezekiel's vision of being transported to Jerusalem, where a heavenly angel showed him this Temple, giving him precise measurements of all its buildings, chambers, courtyards, gates and other details.

The inner meaning and purpose of the Future Temple are explained in full in Mishkney Elyon, "Dwellings of the Supreme", a priceless jewel in the legacy of towering 18th century mystical genius Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ("Ramchal", 1707-47). The Temple is the center point where all the branches of the Tree of Life connect with their roots, channeling a flow of sustenance and blessing to the entire world.

SECRETS OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE presents a clear English translation of this kabbalistic classic together with diagrams of the Temple and Altar and other study aids. An extensive Overview trances the Temple vision from the Founding Fathers of Judaism onwards, Review Ramchal's life and works, and explains the central concepts of Mishkney Elyon is simple, understandable terms.

Soft Cover
141 pages
Published in 1999

From the Overview:

Ezekiel's Prophecy

Shortly after the destruction of the First Temple, the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of the Third Temple with all its buildings, gateways and courtyards in all their details. The entire vision is recorded in the Book of Ezekiel (chapters 40-43:17).

There is an apparent contradiction in the opening verse of this prophecy, which dates it "on the New Year, on the tenth day of the month..." (Ezekiel 40:1). The Rabbis taught: "In which year is the New Year celebrated on the tenth of Tishri (and not at its usual time on the first of that month)? This was the Jubilee year [the fiftieth year in the count of sabbatical years, see Leviticus 25:9], fourteen years after the destruction of the Temple and twenty-five years after the exile of Jehoiachin" (Rashi ad loc. and Erchin 12a).

The Jubilee year is one of complete redemption in which all slaves go free, everyone returns to their ancestral lands and everything begins afresh. In kabbalistic thought, Yovel, the Jubilee, is associated with the redemptive sefirah of Binah, "Understanding", which has "Fifty Gates".

In Ezekiel's vision on this auspicious day, he rose in his prophetic Binah to a level beyond created space and time. He was thus able to see beyond the Second Temple that would rise fifty-six years later. He saw beyond its destruction over four hundred years afterwards, beyond the thousands of years of exile, trials and tribulations that were to follow... Ezekiel already saw a vision of the ultimate Heavenly Temple, which is destined to descend to earth at the climax of history as we know it and stand eternally on Mount Moriah....

Twenty years before Ezekiel's vision of the Temple, when the prophet stood on the banks of the River Kvar and saw the heavenly "Chariot", it was a vision of the same heavenly order that had existed continuously from long, long before. The Hebrew word Kvar in fact means "before" or "already". When Ezekiel looked up at the sky, he saw the same stars and constellations at which Abraham had gazed. When the skies and heavens "opened up" for Ezekiel giving him a glimpse of the realm beyond physical space and time, it was through his use of methods of prophetic prayer and meditation that also went back to the author of Sefer Yetzirah.

Abraham's search for the power-source behind the manifest plurality of the world led him to the underlying coordinates and elements of creation as expressed in the letters of the Aleph Beit. From earliest childhood Abraham had faith that all the different powers in creation are interconnected as part of a single, unified, purposeful system or order. The stars and planets are governed by "angels" which in turn are governed by higher angels. Everything in creation is a manifestation of the power of the Sefirot, which are the ultimate coordinates and elements of creation, brought into being through the "Word of God", the letters of the Aleph Beit and their combinations. The purpose of Abraham's letter-manipulations was to connect with the Creator and harness the power of the letters so as to channel beneficial influences to the world.

Abraham transmitted his wisdom to Isaac, who taught it to Jacob. Jacob transmitted it to his sons, and especially Levi, who became chief guardian of the tradition. Levi passed it on to his son, Kehat, who passed it on to his son Amram. And Amram was father of the Lord of all the Prophets, Moses.

The plan of creation is that God should be revealed to all His creatures on all levels. Moses' greatness lay in his power to rise to the highest levels of prophecy ever achieved and bring his vision "down" so as to make it accessible to people on far lower levels. Thus Moses brought the Children of Israel to a state where "at the crossing of the Red Sea a simple maid saw more than Ezekiel", while at the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, God "opened up" all seven heavens to the Children of Israel (Mechilta on Exodus 15:2 and 19:11).

The "soul" of the Torah revealed at Sinai was the prophetic vision of the inner workings of the universe together with the prayer-power it gives to those who attain it. The Sanctuary that Moses built and the Temple that later took its place stand at the center of the Torah system as a holographic model of those inner workings and the principle focus of devotion and prayer.

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A Miracle of Providence

It is one of the great miracles of providence and a sign of God's love and compassion for the Jewish People that we have in our possession today the work translated in this volume, Mishkney Elyon.

Ramchal mentions the work by name in a letter he wrote to his teacher, Rabbi Yishayah Basan, in 1729 (Letters p. 31 #109). This was at the height of the fury against Ramchal, when his opponents sought to burn his writings and prevent him writing any more. The date of the letter indicates that Ramchal was no more than twenty-two years old when he wrote this work! Another contemporary reference is contained in a letter by Rabbi Yitzchak Pacifico of Venice, who mentions that Ramchal "wrote an explanation of Ezekiel's vision of the Temple and of the Heavenly Temple, which he called Mishkney Elyon" (Ms. Montefiore 111).

The work was not printed during Ramchal's lifetime, and nothing is known about what happened to it thereafter, until a single manuscript – the only known copy of the work in existence – came to light in 1956 in the Bodleian Library in Oxford in a bundle of unidentified kabbalistic manuscripts. The manuscript in question did not bear the name of its author, but the scholar Professor Yishayah Tishbi identified it as the work of Ramchal. The manuscript itself is thought to be in the hand of Ramchal's leading student, Rabbi Shlomo David Trevis.

Mishkney Elyon was transcribed by Rabbi Yosef Spinner ๙์้่"เ, who divided it into titled sections and added explanatory notes. The text was printed for the first time in 1980 in Ginzey Ramchal, a volume of Ramchal's kabbalistic writings published in Israel by the late Rabbi Chaim Friedlander. That edition included a short introduction by Rabbi Friedlander, Rabbi Spinner's notes, and a plan of the Third Temple prepared by Rabbis Moshe Dvir and Yosef Yitzchak Lipshitz ๙์้่"เ.

At the request of the Lubavitcher Rebbe a new edition of Mishkney Elyon was published in a separate volume in 1993 by the Ramchal Institute in Jerusalem. This edition contains an introduction by Rabbi Mordekhai Chriqui, Director of the Institute, together with his commentary on the "Five Chapters".

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The Heavenly Temple

Ramchal clearly explains the purpose of Mishkney Elyon in his opening words:

The Heavenly Temple is mentioned in a number of places in rabbinic literature. In the Talmud we find: "Rabbi Yochanan said: The Holy One blessed-be-He declared: 'I will not enter the heavenly Jerusalem until I enter the earthly Jerusalem.' Is there then a heavenly Jerusalem? Yes, as it is written (Psalms 122:3): 'Jerusalem will be built like the city that is joined to it together'" (Taanit 5a).

The Zohar states: "The earthly Sanctuary depends upon the Upper Sanctuary, and that Upper Sanctuary depends in turn upon another Upper Sanctuary, which is the most exalted of all. All of them are included in one another, and this is the meaning of the verse (Exodus 26:6): 'And the Sanctuary was one'" (Zohar Pekudey II, 235a).

This statement of the Zohar indicates that there are two heavenly Sanctuaries, one above the other. This explains the phrase from the Psalms which Ramchal took as the title of his work, Mishkney Elyon. The phrase is contained in the following verse: "There is a river whose streams bring joy to the city of God, the holy place of the dwellings of the Supreme (Mishkney Elyon)" (Psalms 46:5). The Hebrew phrase Mishkney Elyon could also be translated as "the Sanctuaries above", alluding to the two heavenly Sanctuaries mentioned by the Zohar.

The lower of these two heavenly Sanctuaries is mentioned in a midrashic comment on the verse: "And it came to pass on the day that Moses completed erecting the Sanctuary" (Numbers 7:1). "Rabbi Simon said: At the time when the Holy One blessed-be-He told the Jewish People to erect the Sanctuary, he hinted to the Ministering Angels that they too should make a Sanctuary. When the Sanctuary was erected in the lower world, this angelic Sanctuary was erected above. This is the Sanctuary of the 'lad', [the angel] whose name is Metatron, where he offers the souls of the Tzaddikim in order to atone for Israel during their time of exile" (Bemidbar Rabbah 12:13).

The passage from the Zohar quoted earlier indicates that even higher than this heavenly Sanctuary of the Angels stands another Sanctuary. This supreme Heavenly Temple is the subject of Ramchal's Mishkney Elyon. Of it he writes: "This holy House was created before the universe. For it is from this House that all created beings receive their power and sustenance." This is the Temple that Ezekiel saw in his vision, and it is the prototype of the Third Temple, which will be an actual physical structure in this world.

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Structure of Mishkney Elyon

The work begins with an explanation of the relationship between the Heavenly Temple and its counterpart, the earthly Temple, which is a holographic image of the Heavenly Temple and emanates from it. Ramchal clarifies the differences between the First, Second and Third Temples on earth, explaining among other things why Ezekiel already saw the vision of the Third Temple at the time of the destruction of the First, and why the Divine Presence did not dwell in the Second Temple.

Ramchal then proceeds with a step-by-step "tour" of the various parts of the Sanctuary, Temple courtyards, gates and other buildings as seen by Ezekiel in his vision. In each case Ramchal explains how the form and very dimensions of each place are bound up with the corresponding spiritual "lights" – Sefirot and holy names – in the upper worlds.

In the second part of the work, Ramchal explains the Order of the Temple Service, and in particular the secret of the sacrifices:

Ramchal's account of how the "branches" of creation reconnect with their "roots" through the Temple service fulfills his promise to the reader at the outset of the book to "lay these matters before you in a single all-inclusive introductory work that will enable you to understand the way the world is run and how God gives each day's portion of food and sustenance to all His creatures, each in its proper time."

Ramchal's explanation of the sacrificial service also throws light on the deeper meaning and kabbalistic intentions of the daily prayer services, which correspond to the regular Temple sacrifices and, in times of exile, take their place.

Five Chapters

After the end of the main body of Ramchal's discourse in Mishkney Elyon, he says: "I will now provide a concise, orderly account of all the measurements of the Temple and its courtyards in all their details in five chapters." He follows with five chapters written in the tersely elegant style of Mishneh summarizing the plan and measurements of all the different Temple buildings, courtyards, gates, steps, etc. These five chapters have many parallels to the five chapters of the mishnaic Tractate Middot, which explains the plan of the Second Temple. Ramchal's Five Chapters also bear certain resemblances to Rambam's account of the Second Temple in his Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Beit Habechirah.

Thus at the end of Mishkney Elyon, as in quite a number of his other works, Ramchal performs the invaluable service of providing his readers with a clear, concise summary of the entire contents of the main work.

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Keys to the Third Temple

In Mishkney Elyon Ramchal provides vital keys to understanding both the physical form and spiritual meaning of the Third Temple.

Rambam had written: "Even though the building destined to be built in the future is written about in Ezekiel, it is not explained nor is it clear" (Hilchot Beit Habec 1:4). Even mishnaic sages were perplexed by difficulties in Ezekiel's prophecies, including certain apparent contradictions to the Halachah. In the words of the Talmud:

Notwithstanding the labors of Hananiah ben Hizkiah, Ezekiel's prophecies remained a closed book for all but the most outstanding of scholars. The account of Ezekiel's vision of the Third Temple contains many passages whose meaning is extremely hard to determine even with the help of the classical commentators. Trying to build a picture of the basic design and layout of the Temple buildings as seen by Ezekiel can be a daunting task.

Rav's expression of appreciation for the labors of Hananiah ben Hizkiah can therefore surely be applied to Ramchal, who explained the structure and purpose of the Third Temple with the crystal clarity of a Rambam.

From the day the Sanctuary was erected in the wilderness, the Temple in its various manifestations has been the focal point of the entire devotional system of the Torah. It was from the Holy of Holies that Moses and all the later prophets received prophecy. It was to the Sanctuary in Shilo that the childless Hannah went to pour out her heart in whispered prayer, becoming the model of Tefilah, Prayer, for all time.

Hints about the meaning of various aspects of the Temple and its services can be found throughout the Zoharitic writings and those of the ARI and other kabbalistic sages. But nowhere in the whole of rabbinic literature is the significance of the Temple as a devotional focus for Jews and indeed all humanity explained systematically and with such clarity as in Ramchal's Mishkney Elyon.

This is not to suggest that Mishkney Elyon is "easy". It deals with matters that stand at the very summit of the universe. For the Temple "includes" all the Sefirot and all the worlds. A work about the meaning of the Temple must necessarily deal with the secrets of Maaseh Bereishit and Maaseh Merkavah. These matters must be approached with the utmost reverence and humility and with many prayers to God for enlightenment.

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Number and Space

It is the Yichud or union of different Partzufim through the joining and connection of their associated Names that "makes" the Heavenly Temple. This will be more understandable if we grasp a very simple point that is the key to the mathematics of Mishkney Elyon. These involve little more than simple addition and multiplication.

The mathematical system of Mishkney Elyon is what in Hebrew is known as Gematria, the "Study of Numbers" (or Torah numerology). The term Gematria is derived from the ancient Greek word for what we call geometry. It is common knowledge that Gematria is the study of the numerical values of the letters and words of the Hebrew Torah. What is not generally realized is that Gematria, like geometry, is also the mathematics of space.

This is alluded to in Sefer Yetzirah, which says that "Two stones build two houses, three stones build six houses, four stones build twenty-four houses…" (4:16). The "stones" are the letters of the Aleph Beit, the building blocks of creation. The concept of "stones" or "blocks" is intrinsically three-dimensional (see Sefer Yetzirah translated with a commentary by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in which he discusses the creation of multi-dimensional realities).

Geometry, the mathematics of space, was initially a practical science employed by ancient architects as they sought to build more ambitious projects. Ramchal in Mishkney Elyon brings kabbalistic Gematria to the level of sacred architectural geometry as he explains how interactions between the Divine Names of the Partzufim, all of which are also numbers, "create" the "space" of the Holy Temple.

Consider an example of how numbers create space: A room that is forty feet in length, twenty feet wide and twenty feet high is "created" by walls of appropriate length and height. In the language of Mishkney Elyon, the floor-space of such a room is created through the "joining" (Chibur) of forty and twenty. Chibur is the Hebrew word for the mathematical relationship expressed by x, the multiplication sign. We would say that the room is 40 by 20, and 20 high, or 40 x 20 x 20. The mathematics of Mishkney Elyon are no more complicated than that.

As Ramchal proceeds with his "tour" of the various areas of the Temple, he shows how each individual Hall, Chamber, Wall, Gate and Courtyard "appears" as a result of the "joining together" of some or all of the letters of various Divine Names. These names correspond to the Sefirot and Partzufim, which are the Middot, "qualities" or "measures". Chibur, "joining" and "multiplication" of the "measures", brings into being three-dimensional "spaces" where the axes of "length", "breadth" and "height" are the three "lines" or "columns" of Chesed, Kindness, Din, Judgment and Rachamim, Mercy and Balance (see Sefer Yetzirah 1:13).

The Temple that Ramchal explains to us in Mishkney Elyon is that seen by Ezekiel in his prophetic vision. The Angel appeared to the Prophet with his "measuring rod" and "linen cord", taking him on what today would be called a "virtual" three-dimensional tour of the entire Temple, showing him every detail and giving him exact measurements. These "measurements" are the Middot, the Sefirot and Partzufim, and their interactions and "joining" create "space". The Temple that Ezekiel saw exists in metaspace, or in the language of religion and Kabbalah, space as it is "above", "in Heaven".

Yet the Sefirot and Partzufim hold sway on all levels of creation, spiritual and physical. Numerical relationships between the various names are capable of being expressed in the form of the finite, physical three-dimensional "Halls", "Chambers", "Gates" and "Courtyards" of the Temple in this world. The Heavenly Temple is thus a hologram that exists on a level beyond space as we know it – "in Heaven" – and as such it is the very blueprint of creation. Yet this same hologram is destined to actually manifest in physical space in the form of the Third Temple on Earth. This will be the tangible embodiment of the holographic pattern.

The key principle governing all the relationships expressed in the holographic Temple is balance between the two "sides": the "right side" of Chesed, kindness and expansiveness, and the "left side" of Din, judgment and contraction. Chesed and Din, "right" and "left", are the Giver and Receiver/Male and Female of the Kabbalah equation. Balancing these two "sides" is the center column of Rachamim, mercy and compassion.

For the goal of creation is that God, Master of Compassion, should be perfectly revealed on all levels so as to "give" all creatures their own unique share of pure goodness. This "giving" requires a state of perfect balance between Giver and Receiver on all levels. This balance is expressed in the form of the Halls and Courtyards of the Temple, which is located in the place where all the roots of creation join together. The Temple and its services are ordered in such a way that Giver and Receiver join "face to face". This way all the "branches" – the souls, angels and other orders and levels of created beings – reconnect with their roots and receive their respective shares of sustaining Shefa from the Creator.

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From the opening section of Mishkney Elyon:

My purpose in this work is to discuss the subject of the Heavenly Temple mentioned by our sages, to explain its form and structure in all their various details, and to show how the structure and dimensions of the earthly Temple are in direct alignment with those of the Heavenly Temple.

And you, dear, pleasant reader: Apply yourself with all your mental powers. Pay full attention, and I will teach you wondrous wisdom the like of which you have never heard. Then you will know how the King of the kings of kings watches over His creatures and conducts His universe in an ordered manner. He instituted the order of the universe so as to set it on a firm foundation and bring it to perfection in truth and faith.

These deep matters are way beyond the grasp of the human mind. No man has ever succeeded in fathoming the wisdom of his Creator and traveling the path of truth and justice in order to grasp and understand the works of God. But now I will lay these matters before you in a single, all-inclusive introductory work that will enable you to understand the way the world is run and how God gives each day's portion of food and sustenance to all His creatures, each in its proper time.

The Foundation Stone

When the Creator willed the creation of this world, He included everything in ten great lights [the ten Sefirot] from which all the different creatures emerged like branches extending from the trunk of the tree. There is nothing in the whole of existence that does not have its place in the supreme Chariot.

The last of these ten lights [Malchut] is called Shechinah [the Indwelling Presence]. It is here that all existing beings are rooted. Understand this well. For besides the roots that all existing beings have in the other higher lights, they also all have a root in the Shechinah, which is therefore called "the mother of children". Everything comes forth from her hands, and for this reason all things are rooted in her.

Understand that there is a special place known to her where all these roots come together. [This is the Heavenly Temple.] In that place is the root of all things, both those that depend on her and those that depend on the other higher lights. In that place are the roots of the earth and all it contains, the heavens, the heavens of the heavens and all their hosts without exception.

In the middle of the place where all these roots come together, there is a single "stone". [This is in the Holy of Holies of the Heavenly Temple.] This stone is most precious. It possesses every kind of beauty and charm. It is called the Foundation Stone (Even Shetiyah). There is a corresponding stone in this world - the lower world - in the place of the Holy of Holies, as will be explained later.

Stretching out in all directions from this stone are channels and pathways leading to all things. At their start these channels are great highways governing and regulating all the different orders and species of created beings, all of which have a deep inner knowledge of their root paths. From here they all receive their share of the constant sustenance given to them by the King.

Branching off from these highways are countless smaller pathways containing the individual roots of every single being in creation from the biggest to the smallest. Each one has its own unique pathway.

All these channels and pathways start in the place I mentioned at the outset. From the point where they all join together in the stone in the middle of this place, the Creator watches over them and scans them all with a single glance. This is the secret of the verse: "He forms their hearts together, He understands all their works" (Psalms 33:15). For this stone stands at the heart of the universe, and there all things are gathered in and joined together and scanned in a single glance by the King.

The Land of Israel

In this place that I mentioned there is a single great path surrounding the stone. This path is like a vast land containing great fortified cities the like of whose beauty and splendor has never been seen. This entire path emerged from the light emanating in full beauty and splendor from the very essence of the luminary of which I am speaking [Shechinah]. For this reason this place is very holy. The earth there is holy earth. And from it emanated in the world below the land that God watches with special care, the Land of Israel.

The rest of the world

Around this land are numerous other paths extending from one end of the world to the other, some inclining to the right (Chesed, Kindness) and others to the left (Din, Judgment). These roads were designed to produce many different lands. These are all the countries of the world. They are all under the supervision of great and powerful ministers [the Sarim, Angels of the seventy nations]. For this reason all the other countries in the world should also have been pure like the Land of Israel, and this also applies to the ministers appointed over them.

However, when humanity became corrupt, everything was thrown into turmoil and the world was spoiled. Even the ministers were drawn into impurity. This is why all the other countries became impure. Impurity took hold on every level, dividing these lands up among the impure ministers, and for this reason they remained impure.

However, this was not so when they stood in their proper order in the beginning. Nor will it be so when they are set right in the future. Eventually the other countries will also be pure, though not with the same degree of holiness as in the good land that God has given eternally to His people Israel.

Understand this well. For I am revealing to you great and awesome secrets that are rooted in the deepest wisdom. Use your intelligence and be resolute in the pursuit of wisdom and understanding in order to know something of the greatness of our God, at least a drop in the ocean. For one who reaches this level of understanding will have attained a good measure of what lies within the power of the human mind to grasp of God's greatness and mystery. And now, listen carefully and hear, and I will tell you an awesome, wondrous secret.

Building the House by connecting the lights

When the last of the ten lights [Shechinah] was complete with all its lights shining and everything fixed and functioning properly, there appeared at the end a certain place that is most awesome [the Holy of Holies of the Heavenly Temple]. This is the place of great desire, the place of love and peace. This place is hidden and secret. Only the King may come there. No one may enter except for Him. This place contains all the beauty of this light and all its radiance and perfection. In it are found all pleasantness and delight. When the King enters, who can express His great beauty and goodness? None can compare to Him in all His glory and holiness. Being so hidden, the light is all the greater and more intense.

It was from this holy place that the other place of which I was speaking previously [i.e. the rest of the Heavenly Temple] emanated, and the Foundation Stone (Even Shetiyah) has its firm place within it.

Therefore understand: This hidden and concealed place contains all the beauty of this light [i.e. of Malchut], while the second place contains all the sources and roots of all created beings. The first place is the Holy of Holies, where the Ark and the Testimony are situated, and where the Foundation Stone stands in all its power. The second place is the rest of the Temple structure, which emerged from this stone as I will explain later.

See now: When the light called Malchut (royal power) joined with the Melech (King), the resulting state of blissful tranquility (Menuchah) gave rise to this House in all its details with all its various courtyards and chambers, interior and exterior. All the different dimensions of the Temple correspond to the related lights, whether few or many.

For in this House are the great highways that stretch out to all the different orders and species of created beings, as mentioned earlier. These highways have glorious names full of strength and power. It is from these highways that the pathways I mentioned branch out. Each pathway has its own special name. Everything is arranged with the greatest wisdom. It is from here that all things receive their power. It is to these names that they attach themselves when they ascend from the lower realm to the upper. When they reach these highways they take cover under the great names I mentioned, so that nothing can be seen of the individual pathways. It is only when they emerge, each one in its own place, that they take on their own particular names. For this reason in the House itself only the highways have names but not the pathways. Understand this well.

Since the House emerges with such blissful tranquility, it is called Menuchah. Once this House was built, it was never again concealed. This holy House was created before the universe. For it is from this House that all created beings receive their power and sustenance. When the flow of blessing and sustenance reaches the House from the King, all its courtyards and chambers are seen to be full of power and strength to give to all who draw near, each according to his level.

For this reason the flow of blessing and sustenance to this House has never ever ceased. If it were to be interrupted for even a moment, all created beings would immediately cease to exist. The King never turns His eyes away from His palace. If you counter that it was only of the upper levels [Abba and Imma] that they said "they never separate" but not of the lower levels [Zeir Anpin and Nukva], this is not a valid objection. You have not plumbed the depths of wisdom and you have not found its roots.

You must understand that pairing and union (Zivug) on the one hand and connection (Chibur) on the other are two distinct phenomena. We speak of connection (Chibur) when two lights shine towards each other from their respective places without drawing closer to one another. For this reason the further the light is from its source, the weaker it becomes. The sages called this "separation" (Pirud), although there is no actual separation between the lights, God forbid. It is just that when they are not close to each other it is called "separation". This is the idea of "uprooting the plants".

This flaw is only possible in the lower realms and cannot reach the upper plane. Thus the two lights of Yud and Heh (the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton) are always perfectly connected, with the cusp of the Yud above them. All three [the cusp of the Yud, alluding to Keter, the Crown, the Yud itself, alluding to Chochmah, Wisdom, and the Heh, alluding to Binah, Understanding] are bound together with a strong, firm bond. But in the lower realms we do find separation as a result of men's sins. The Yud separates from the Heh, the Heh from the Vav, and the Vav from the [second] Heh.

On the other hand, pairing and union (Zivug) occurs when the lights draw close to each other. When they join together in this way, who can express the great beauty of their holiness and the power of their radiance? Like a raging fire they flash passionately to each other and become tightly bound together in great unity. The resulting power and delight bring joy to all the lights, one after the other, right up to the perfect, unified source, the Infinite One [Eyn Sof] blessed-be-He. And because of this great joy, a flow of abundant blessings comes forth from Him and descends to every level.

This pairing and union [Zivug] is absent in the lower realms. For this reason the sages said: "The Holy One blessed-be-He, said: I will not enter the heavenly Jerusalem until I enter the earthly Jerusalem" (Taanit 5a). For until the earthly Jerusalem is firmly established as the praise of all the earth, the King will not fully enter the heavenly Jerusalem. But as the repair of the lights brings them to greater and greater perfection, their power will spread with great force and the Holy Temple will be built in the lower world. But in the absence of this state of repair as a result of sin, the earthly House is destroyed.

Nevertheless, the Heavenly Temple never ceased to exist. If it did, the entire universe would be destroyed in a moment, as I said earlier. It is just that its original brilliance has grown dim and it lacks the intense joy it radiated when it was the glorious residence and resting place of the King. But when the sinners are removed from the earth, things will return to the way they were at first; the light will be brighter and the flow of blessing will pour forth in abundance. For this reason, the Temple will indeed be rebuilt in the lower world and its glory will be greater than that of the first two Temples, as I will discuss more fully later on.