When embarking on the mission of molding a shul in one of the most vibrant Orthodox communities in the world today, I felt it was necessary to very clearly define our goals and our mission from the outset. The most logical place to look for guidance in the building of our mikdash me’at seemed to be the original center of the Jewish world - the beis hamikdash.

The Rambam writes in the fourth perek of Hilchos Beis Habechirah that when Shlomo Hamelech first built the beis hamikdash, he was well aware of the fact that it would ultimately be destroyed. Shlomo, the wisest of all men, decided to plan for the future by building an area in the depths of the har habayis in order to hide the aron kodesh when the beis hamikdash would be destroyed. Aware of this special hiding place, Yoshiyahu Hamelech actually hid the aron there in advance of the destruction of the first beis hamikdash. Due to Shlomo’s foresight, although the aron was not a visible part of the second beis hamikdash, it was actually there under ground the entire time that the second beis hamikdash stood. My esteemed rebbe, Harav Herschel Schachter shlit”a explains in the name of his rebbe, Harav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik zt”l that while one may think the role of the aron in the second beis hamikdash was insignificant, in fact the opposite is true. Had the aron not been present throughout the time of the second beis hamikdash, albeit hidden, that beis hamikdash would not have enjoyed its normal level of kedusha. The very source of kedushas mikdash is the presence of the aron. All of the activities that are done within the beis hamikdash are meaningful because they are filtered through the light of torah.

In a similar vein, a mikdash me’at, a shul, is only considered to be a place of holiness if there is an aron kodesh in the shul. This is not only true of the physical presence of the aron kodesh, but of its spiritual significance as well. A shul may be involved in many positive activities. There may be beautiful tefillah, outstanding youth and sisterhood events, special chessed projects, etc. However, in order for any shul to truly attain its potential for kedusha, the aron, and the torah must always be at its center.

Baruch Hashem, we have been fortunate to have a membership of budding leaders of the Jewish community who understand the primacy of torah in all that they do. With this clear focus, we have built a mikdash me’at where the respect for tefillah is evident, the warmth of its people is tangible, and the aspirations of the growing community are coming to fruition bli ayin hara more quickly than we ever could have reasonably expected.