The Temple rituals mandated for the holiday of Shavuoth were recreated on Monday in Mitzpeh Yericho in preparation for the prophesied building of the Third Temple.
Though carried out every year, this year took the ritual reenactment one step further, adding another practical element intended to pave the way for the Third Temple.
These reenactments are held before every holiday as a practical move towards preparing the Kohanim (priests) for performing the actual Temple service. The Shavuoth service includes two specially prepared loaves, a wine libation, the bikurim (first fruits), and a wave offering of two lambs. These were recreated by Kohanim in the Biblically mandated clothes, as usual.
You shall also give him the first fruits of your new grain and wine and oil and the first shearing of your sheep. Deuteronomy 18:4
Rabbi Hillel Weiss explained the significance of shearing in the reenactment.
“Shepherds sheared their sheep every year as a matter of course,” Rabbi Weiss explained. “Since the Priests who are constantly serving Hashem have no portion in the land or in the shearing, Hashem supplied them with all of their needs through their brothers. These gifts are not considered sanctified and can be used for any purpose, even sold to other non-Kohen people for the priest to earn a living.”
“People read the Bible and think the Temple was so holy because it was disconnected from the operations of the world. The opposite is true. The Temple connected the world to the Creator, allowing the world to operate properly. The world needs kohanim; to operate the Temple, connect us with God, and teach Torah. Built into the Torah laws pertaining to the Temple were mechanisms that allowed the Temple to operate properly. This included raising money for the sacrifices and the priests.”
“So many of the problems in the world today are because God has been taken out of the institutions that are in most need of Divine influence. If you have a government disconnected from the Torah, a president that is not limited or guided by the Torah, of course, society will become evil. The United Nations usurped the function of the Sanhedrin and is guided by anti-Biblical principles. Since they are unrepentant and see themselves as above Man and God, the world’s governments are on a path to destruction.”
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