The Jerusalem

Temple

( worship, located on Jerusalem's Temple_Mount. According to the Bible, the First_Temple was built by Solomon. It replaced the Tabernacle of Moses. Solomon's_Temple was destroyed centuries later by the Babylonians. The Second_Temple was rebuilt decades later at the same location. It too was eventually destroyed, this time by the Romans. The dual destruction of the two temples, five hundred years apart, marks two central eras in ; the second marks the beginning of the Jewish_diaspora.

Etymology

The word Temple is derived not from the Hebrew but from the Latin word for place of worship, ''templum.'' The name given in Scripture for the building was ''Beit Adonai'' or "House of Adonai" (although this name was also often used for other temples, or metaphorically). Because of the prohibition against pronouncing the holy name, the common Hebrew name for the Temple is ''Beit ha-Mikdash'' or "The Holy House", and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name.

First and Second Temples

Two distinct temples stood in succession on the Temple_Mount in Jerusalem:
  • Solomon's_Temple, from approximately the 10th_century_BC, replacing the Tabernacle, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and by the Babylonians in 586_BC.
  • The Second_Temple was built after the return from the Babylonian Captivity, around 536_BC (completed on March_12, 515_BC).
  • Herod's_Temple was a massive expansion of the Second_Temple including renovation of the entire Temple_Mount. (It is not called the third temple.) Herod_the_Great began his expansion project around 19_BC. It was destroyed by Roman troops under Titus in 70 AD. There was an aborted project by the Roman emperor Julian (331-363 CE) to allow the Jews to build a Third_Temple.

    Rebuilding the Temple today

    Standing today in what Jews believe is the historical location of the first two temples, is the Al-Aqsa_Mosque — the third holiest site in Islam. To recognize it as the only possible rebuilt Temple, or to even seriously attempt to tear it down to replace it, both constitute seemingly unresolvable religious and thus political problems. Nonetheless, the idea of rebuilding some Temple somewhere is difficult to abandon entirely: For the last 1900 years, Jews have prayed that God would allow for the rebuilding of the Temple. This prayer is a formal part of the thrice daily Jewish prayer services. However, not all rabbis agree on what would happen in a rebuilt Temple. It has traditionally just been assumed that some sort of animal sacrifices would be reinstituted, in accord with the rules in Leviticus and the Talmud. However there is another opinion, beginning with Maimonides, that God deliberately has moved Jews away from sacrifices towards prayer, as prayer is a higher form of worship. Thus, some rabbis hold that sacrifices would not take place in a rebuilt Temple. Rabbi Abraham_Isaac_Kook, the first chief rabbi of the Jewish community in pre-state Israel, holds that sacrifices will not be reinstituted. A few, very small, Jewish groups support constructing a Third Temple today, but most Jews oppose this, for a variety of reasons. Most religious Jews feel that the Temple should only be rebuilt in the messianic era, and that it would presumptuous of people to force God's hand, as it were. Furthermore, there are many ritual impurity constrictions that are difficult to resolve, making the building's construction a practical impossibility. Additionally, many Jews are against rebuilding the Temple due to the enormously hostile reaction from all Arab and Muslim nations that would likely result— even were the building to be complementary to those holy to Islam, there would be high suspicion that such a building project would ultimately end with the destruction of these and the rebuilding of the Temple on its original spot. Some fundamentalist and evangelical Christian groups, especially those who follow a dispensationalist theology, believe that the Jewish people will build the Third Temple shortly before, or perhaps after, "true" Christians have been raptured.

    Rebuilding the Temple in Jewish prayerbooks

    Orthodox Jewish prayer books call for both the restoration of Temple and resumption of animal sacrifices. Conservative_Judaism has modified the prayers; their prayerbooks call for the restoration of Temple, but do not ask for resumption of animal sacrifices. Most of the passages relating to sacrifices are replaced with the Talmudic teaching that deeds of loving-kindness now atone for sin. In the central prayer, the Amidah, the Hebrew phrase na'ase ve'nakriv (we will present and sacrifice) is modified to read to asu ve'hikrivu (they presented and sacrificed), implying that animal sacrifices are a thing of the past. The petition to accept the "fire offerings of Israel" is removed. Reform_Judaism calls neither for the resumption of sacrifices or the rebuilding of the Temple, although some new Reform prayerbooks are moving towards calling for the latter as an option. Later monuments:
  • Al-Aqsa_Mosque
  • Dome_of_the_Rock See also: Western_Wall

    External links

  • http://jeru.huji.ac.il/ed26.htm
  • http://www.jfed.org/lehrhaus/jeru3.htm
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    Copyright (c) 2004
    Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
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