Rabbi Moss: Isn't This Disgusting?

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Question of the Week:

I'm 11 years old and I'm studying about the specific laws of the Temple in Jerusalem. I learned that it was built in the most beautified way, with gold, silver and copper. Then I learned the laws of the sacrifices which were brought in the Temple, and that blood was sprinkled (and maybe splattered?) all over the place. I'm wondering how that makes the Temple beautiful to have animal's blood everywhere? It seems to be ugly and a bit disgusting. I understand that it was a mitzvah to bring sacrifices, but how is blood on the floor BEAUTIFUL?

Answer:

Sometimes, beauty appears in the most unexpected places. The blood in the Temple is one of them.

The Talmud explains that there was a drainage system in the Temple. The blood of the sacrifices was washed into gutters that flowed out of the Temple and into the Kidron River below the Temple Mount. This allowed the sanctuary to remain clean.

So the Temple was kept clean. But what about the Kidron? Was that just a putrid dump?

Not really. This bloody river made excellent fertiliser. Garden owners of Jerusalem would pay good money for the mineral-rich water of the Kidron to irrigate their gardens. Exquisite plants and colourful flowers adorned the city thanks to the messy gutters of Kidron.

There's something we can learn from this little piece of Temple trivia. You choose how you view the world, as a garbage dump or a garden of G-d. Where one person sees a sewer, another sees a flowerbed. As they say, when life gives you a bloody river, make fertiliser.

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss

Sources:

Mishnah Yoma 5:6

Maamorim Bosi Legani

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