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Can korbanos be brought when the Beis Hamikdash is destroyed? The Rambam (רמב"ם) and Raavad debate whether "Hashem (ה׳) es Mikdasham" creates a din of Avoda during Churban. Rabbi Zweig develops a distinction: the Rambam holds kedusha Rishona enabled both korbanos and tefillah; the Raavad holds only tefillah remains when the edifice is gone, since Hashem's presence endures even without a physical structure.
Rabbi Zweig explores a fundamental dispute between the Rambam (רמב"ם) and the Raavid regarding the nature of the Mikdash's sanctity during the period of Churban (destruction). The central question is: what does the principle "Hashem (ה׳) es Mikdasham" (I will sanctify My sanctuary) mean practically, and does it permit bringing korbanos when the Beis Hamikdash no longer stands? The Rambam holds that Hashem es Mikdasham creates a din that Avoda (sacrificial service) can be performed even during the Churban. This is because the kedusha (sanctity) established by Shlomo HaMelech was kedusha rishona kidsha le'sha'ata ve'kidsha le'asid lavo—sanctified for its time and for the future. Rabbi Zweig explains that according to the Rambam, even when the physical structure is destroyed, the place retains its status as a location where Avoda can be done, not just tefillah (prayer).
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Hilchos Beis HaBechira 6-7
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Why is Asara b'Teves—merely a siege on Yerushalayim—a fast day at all, and why does it carry the unique stringency of never being postponed? The shiur develops the yesod that geulah unfolds in four stages (the arba lashonos), and galus reverses them in mirror order. The siege was the first step back—undoing kabbalas haTorah, the fourth and highest stage of freedom. A person locked in place, unable to travel, loses his ben chorin status, and with it his capacity for Torah.
Why don't the last eight verses of the Torah require a minyan to read? The shiur develops a fundamental chiddush in the Rambam: Simchas Torah has two distinct takanos of Kriat HaTorah — Zot HaBracha is read from the din of Yom Tov (inyan hayom), while VaYom Moshe is read from the din of Shabbos (siyum haTorah). This explains why a new minyan is required for the last eight verses, and why the Raavad's minhag of having the oleh read (not the baal koreh) signals that the final aliyah is purely Talmud Torah, not shemiat dvar Hashem.
Why does the Rambam rule that one may not violate even a shvus (rabbinic prohibition) on Yom Tov to obtain a shofar, yet permit shofar blowing on Shabbos Rosh Hashanah despite the gezeirah of carrying it to an expert? The Lechem Mishneh wrestles with an apparent contradiction: in Hilchos Shofar 1:4 the Rambam treats shvus like a full lav vis-à-vis the mitzvah of shofar, but in 2:6 he allows shofar on Shabbos even though it involves overriding both a lav and an asei.
When is a melacha on Yom Tov permitted? The shiur develops the Rambam's three-tiered framework distinguishing melachos that are food preparation itself (always permitted), food processing (permitted only l'tzorech achilah), and non-food melachos (always forbidden). The Magid Mishneh's explanation of "ho'il" emerges: intention cannot create a melacha where the act itself is inherently permitted.
