We have to emphasize that the Sanctuary is always standing in this awareness, regardless its physical destruction. We pray daily to G-d’s Love to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple, and this prayer is also part of our Grace after meals in which we thank His Love for the continuous sustenance of His creatures. In this context, Jerusalem is as important as its Temple, because the undivided capital of Israel also represents a time and a space where all levels of our consciousness are united under the Creator’s will. However, it is our choice to return to Jerusalem and reunite with Him.

Those of us who recognize G-d’s Love for all His Creation and follow His word can understand the certainty of our choice; and by bearing His word in our minds and our hearts we make the choice. Hence, the words of G-d’s Love are our way to return to Jerusalem, to Zion, and its Temple. Let’s close the book of Exodus and start the book of Leviticus with the invitation from our Creator to return to His Love, in the words dictated to our Prophet Isaiah:

“These I will bring to My Holy Mount and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:7). “All nations” represent all potential negative traits in consciousness that are eventually redeemed under the direction of Love’s attributes if we make the choice to make it so: “In the last days the Mount of the Lord’s Temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, to the house of the G-d of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths’. The law (the Torah) will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (2:2-3), “Nations will come to your Light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” (60:3) because it is in the consciousness of Jerusalem that we are united in G-d’s Love; and in this unity there is no conflict, separation or division. This means that every single trait and quality of consciousness, lower and higher, can coexist in harmony under Love’s ways:

“They will neither harm nor destroy on all My Holy Mount, because the Earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (11:9), “‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My Holy Mount’, says the Lord.” (65:25). In this awareness we partake of the delights of G-d’s Love: “On this Mount the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines.” (25:6). In our choice to be and manifest Love’s ways and attributes we experience the Creator’s Essence: “Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.” (4:3), “They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City (Jerusalem) No Longer Deserted.” (62:12), “Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” (12:16).

“O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, he will answer you.” (30:19) because G-d’s Love is always present in all His Creation, we just need to be aware of this truth: “And the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (35:10, 51:11), “Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting Light, and your days of sorrow will end.” (60:20), “The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.” (51:3).

“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.” (66:10), “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.” (65:18), “I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in My people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.” (65:19) it is in this awareness that we make the choice: “Listen to Me, My people; hear Me, My Nation: The law will go out from Me; My justice will become a Light to the nations.” (51:4) and let’s never forget that Divine Love is the Light that guides us to His Oneness, always present and available to us: “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (65:24).

We are not perfect as long as we have the free choice that the Creator gave us in His unconditional Love, and He hopes that we choose His Love instead of the darkness of the illusions of the material world: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him, and to our G-d, because He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (55:7-9) because “In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His Love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” (63:9).

G-d’s Love created us, and we are made from Him. He is always present sustaining us and waiting for us to return to His Love, our true identity. But the choice is only ours, and when we make the choice of Truth, we will experience what the King David says in his words: “Fortunate those who dwell in Your House, they are ever praising You. Forever.” (Psalms 84:5).