Shlomo said “and they will admit their sins towards this city and
their land” (Melachim Aleph 8:48). Prayer is a conversation, a connection between man and Hashem that represents the strength of their relationship. Man cannot embrace Hashem from the distance. He does not feel comfortable unburdening his heart and divulging his foolish dreams by shouting. Shlomo knew that the Beis HaMikdash (emphasis on the beis) was not required for the korbanos aspect. Hashem needs to be close to man so that man feels as comfortable approaching Hashem through prayer as a young child approaching his father, at any time. Man should not feel embarrassed when he unburdens himself to Hashem, no matter how trivial the request or admission. Hashem contracted to reside in the small space of a cubit by cubit, so that man can always feel close to the house (bayis) of Hashem and pray.
Tefillah requires the one who prays to identify himself as close to Hashem, derech artzam (Melachim Aleph 8:48). When one prays he must identify the “address” of Hashem in order to look towards Him. Outside of Eretz Yisrael we pray in the direction of Eretz Yisrael. In Eretz Yisrael we face Jerusalem, in Jerusalem we face the Temple, in the Temple we face the Holy of Holies. We cast our gaze in the direction of Hashem just as the young child casts his gaze to his father as he curls up in his embrace.
Shlomo said that Hashem must take up residence in the Temple, to be close to the people. No matter what the people pray for, be it repentance or help in times of personal and national crisis, Hashem should hear and accept prayer that is panim el panim, face to face. All prayer comes down to a single motive: teshuvah, repenting and returning closer to Hashem. This requires that Hashem be close and approachable, our next-door neighbor. The justification for building the Temple will be Hashem’s acceptance of their prayers. For if Hashem doesn’t accept their prayers, there is no reason to build it in the first place! Indeed, Hashem’s residing in this house and accepting our prayers, in addition to our sacrifices, shows the close connection between Hashem and His people. For unlike sacrifices, prayer requires proximity. Shlomo asked that Hashem reside close to us, in this house.
Teshuvah means to return to Hashem. In order for us to return, Hashem has to make Himself available to us to know where to return. We say Shomeah tefillah adechah kol basar yavo’u (Tehillim 65:3). Adechah is used instead of Eilechah (towards you). Adechah implies that we suddenly collided with Hashem, coming close enough to touch. Prayer requires that man approach Hashem, to be able to touch each other, so to speak.
The Temple provided the framework for achieving this closeness. When Moshe and Shlomo asked how could this finite house contain Hashem, they were saying, “Hashem, You don’t need this house for korbanos. You don’t have to leave Your infinity, to contract into a finite cubit by cubit to accept our sacrifices.” They realized that for tefillah, a house is necessary. To make prayer viable, we need Him to sit opposite us and listen to the prayer and supplication of His servants face to face, panim el panim.
There are so many aspects of creation that we cannot fathom. We learn from Moshe and Shlomo to appreciate that we do not have to understand how Hashem allows the infinite to coexist with the finite. Hashem resides with us, shows that He is interested in us and nearby to hear our prayers. We accept it as the will of Hashem.