The Messiah part 6

Despite RAMBAM's apparent opposition to the Temple Service expressed in his main philosophical work, and his opposition to visiting graves expressed both in his philosophical and legal works, he nevertheless wrote in glowing terms of his visit to the Temple Mount and the Cave of the Patriarchs during his visit to the Land of Israel. I will leave it to greater minds than mine to reconcile these things. But I believe I do understand to a degree. Back in 1978, I attended a lecture by a noted Modern Orthodox scholar entitled "Judaism and the Occult". He started off with witches, but quickly got to his thesis that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is a heretic, in that he visits his father in law's grave at least twice a month. (He also declared Rabbi Akiva a heretic, in that he believed in luck). My wife began crying loudly. I tore my jacket (done upon hearing heresy), and we both exited the hall. A Conservative Rabbi who was present ran out to us to see if we were OK. He found us both crying and hyperventilating. He said "What do you think this "scholar" says when he visits his loved one's graves? Certainly not this lecture!". He was, of course, right. There is a difference between life and "on paper". When RAMBAM visited the holiest and second holiest places in the world, speculation went out the window. His heart took over. Similarly, when King Ahashueus told Esther that he would grant anything "up until half the Kingdom", the rabbis comment ""except that which will destroy my Kingdom; the rebuilding of the Temple". Deep down, every Jew knows, and every enemy of the Jewish people senses, that the Temple would be a fundamental game changer. Perhaps this would explain why RAMBAM, who considered the Temple to be merely a concession to primitive religious norms, nevertheless places the rebuilding of the Temple at the center of the tasks of the Messiah. I have discussed in several of my posts the controversies concerning the permissibly of entering the Temple Mount at this time. In my series "The Dispute of 1538", I showed how the attempted reintroduction of the original ordination was meant as a prelude to the ultimate Redemption. So it is today. Those attempting to reconstitute the Sanhedrin and pray on the Temple Mount, are actually trying first and foremost to hasten the Mashiach. The Foundation Stone of the Temple, the one believed to be located in the Dome of the Rock, is, according to Jewish tradition, the first seminal point of Creation, as well as the place of the Akeida (the binding of Isaac). It represents creation, self sacrifice, and a covenantal connection to G-d. According to both Talmud and Kabbalah, energy lines extend from that rock to all areas of the world. It is the very center of existence! Perhaps for this reason, Jews see the Mashiach as so central, although there is so little  about him in Torah. Like the foundation stone, he represents past, present, future; this world and Eternity, all bound up together.But are these attempts productive, or are they like the maapilim; those Israelites who attempted to enter the land immediately, right after G-d decreed that forty years of wandering must first take place? Are these things in our hands, or are they an unfolding process, which we must witness and experience, but is beyond our abilities to intervene or even understand? To be continued.