G-d $\leftrightarrow$ man

Man stands as opposite, "other", than G-d. Thus we are in an eternal battle and the temple is the place between us and G-d. It is like a king and a queen who come together to consumate their ברית, covenant, to remember their connection.

And in acknowledgement to the holiness, the specialness of the occasion, do so in a sacred, ceremonial space – a place of sacrifice, service and open-heartedness – a place of receiving.

G-d, as the masculine, so we create a temple (like a boudoir) to receive Him and prepare it like a lover waiting for her loved One. We arrage everything in order to please Him, wearing clothes that will excite Him,^[1] prepare food He likes,^[2] perfume the space with smells pleasing to Him,^[3] and even arrange the lighting to set the mood.^[4]

You would spend days making sure it is all perfect – and then await Him at the appointed time. On Shabbat the Shekhina is invited to share the sweetness of the Shabbat. This is looked at as a rehearsal for the rebuilding of the Temple and the arrival of the Messianic age.

Thus, our Temple is the place where I will meet my love and spend time "getting to Know" Him. For when one's heart is open in love, then every moment spent in the company of one's love is bliss. So it is to spend a moment in full awareness of the Divine Presence – for the Divine is present eternally and everywhere, and it is our inability to receive Her that is the problem here. In order to receive His Presence, we become the Queen to our King, who desdies when He will Bless us with His Divine Majesty.

As you wait to receive Him, when He arrives you will serve and pamper Him, remove His boots, wash His feet, cook Him food, anoint His being, so it is when He^[5] comes to your temple.

Though that is expressed as masculine,^[6] our souls are both masculine and feminine.^[7].

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Footnotes

1. The priestly garments. ↩︎

2. The animal and grain sacrifices. ↩︎

3. The burning of incense (kanna-bosem). ↩︎

4. The menorah. ↩︎

5. Male and Female is it. Not one, but more the mystery of the two-in-one, the one that is infinite. ↩︎

6. In Hebrew, the masculine form includes the feminine presence in it. In other words, when referring to a crowd of people, the masculine form is used. Only when there is a gathering of females, is the feminine form used. ↩︎

7. Thoughts and emotions have no gender. ↩︎