This week's section, Vaigash (And he approached) recounts, among other things, Joseph's encounter with his brothers. When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, the Torah tells us that he kissed each of them and wept with each of them. But before that, there is a very particular scene with Benjamin, his half-brother. Joseph weeps on Benjamin's neck (the Torah uses the plural "necks") and Benjamin weeps on Joseph's neck (the singular).
The Talmud (Megillah 16b) says: “Joseph wept for the two Temples (hence the plural necks) that in the future were going to be in the portion of Benjamin and are going to be destroyed, and Benjamin […] wept for the sanctuary of Shiloh that in the future is going to be in the portion of Joseph and is going to be destroyed.”.
Our sages say that the Temple's relationship to the neck is that, just as the neck is at the highest point of a person, so too was the Temple in Jerusalem at the highest point in the world. However, just as the neck is not at the highest point of a person but below the head, so too was the Temple not at the highest point in the world, but 23 cubits below the summit of Mount Moriah.
Now, what virtue is there in being a little lower? If height isn't a virtue, why are we told that the Temple was at the top of the world? And if height is a virtue, the Temple should have been at the very top, not a little lower...
To understand this, we must first understand what the neck is. The neck is the intermediary between the head and the body. The same is true of the intellect; when it leaves the head to reach the heart and from there spread to the rest of the body, it first passes through the neck. In this, the neck has a superior advantage over the head: it is precisely the neck that brings to fruition the head's objective: 1) that all the limbs receive energy from the head, and 2) that all behave according to the intellect of the head.
Although the head itself is superior to the neck itself (and this is also seen from the fact that the head is, physically speaking, on top of the neck), this is so if we look at the levels of each, but in terms of the realization of the head's objective, the neck has the virtue of being an intermediary between the head and the body and being able to carry the energy and guidance of the head to the rest of the body.
The same thing happened with the Temple (which is compared to the neck): its purpose was to bring the presence of God to the whole material world, that is why it was not at the top of the world (as if apart from it) but a little lower, as an intermediary between God and the world.
And the same applies to the divine soul of each one (the head): when the soul engages with the body to refine and elevate it, the person succeeds in making himself a temple for the presence of God.
The mission of every Jew is to fulfill the primary intention of all creation: to make this world a dwelling place for God. This dwelling place depends on each person's spiritual work, that is, on each person refining their body, their animal soul, and their place in the world. Therefore, the most important thing (in this sense) is engagement with the world and not withdrawing from it.
This will help us understand why Joseph and Benjamin wept over the neck On the other hand (and not on the head): on the one hand, it is not necessary to cry over the head (the divine soul), since it is always united with God, and on the other hand, the goal of each one is not in the head, in the refinement of the divine soul itself, but in the neck, the refinement of the body, animal soul and its portion in the world.