אלו הכניסנו לארץ ישראל. ולא בנה לנו את בית המקדש “If God had brought us into the land of Israel but had not built us the Temple (Beit HaMikdash),²⁵¹ it says Beit HaBechirah, literally the “Chosen House.” . dayyenu.” (If we did not have a Temple) each person would have built an altar in his or her own house and offered sacrifices, for it was taught (in the Mishnah), “When they arrived at Gilgal private altars were permitted…”²⁵² But this was not enough. Rather God wanted us to build a Holy Temple, for the place of the altar was the gate of heaven as our father (Jacob) witnessed when he rose from his dream on his way to the household of Laban. The Kohanim would offer sacrifices as special ministers for this, and this would be more acceptable to God. Therefore, once the Temple was built it was no longer permissible for the people to have their own altars.²⁵³ has the language Beit HaMikdash while the following passage (Al achat kamah…) says Beit HaBechirah.

footnotes: ²⁵¹ In the Ashkenazic version of dayyenu ²⁵² Mishnah Zevachim 14:5, BT Zevachim 112b ²⁵³ There is a statement here that appears to have been added by the more recent publisher. It is not clear what it means but it would seem to reflect the fact that the dayyenu