I know that the first two were destroyed and once the Jews were expelled from Jerusalem (didn’t the Romans change the name to Aelia Capitolina?) the focus of their worship became the synagogue. But the Temple was such a huge thing in Judaism, with the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy of Holys, the sacrifices, the Aaronic priesthood, that one might have expected, once Israel again took possessio of Jerusalem, that the building of a Third Temple would be high on the list of their priorities. Their people certainly never forgot about the Temple and its ruins are still held sacred.
So why not a new Temple? Is it purely political, ie the Arabs would find it highly provoking? I know the Temple Mount is sacred to Arabs too but surely there’s room for a Temple and a mosque?
Or is it theological? Do the Jews consider that Judaism has moved on? But how does that square with their sacred writings? Didn’t God decree the construction of the Temple? I can understand how that would be inoperative if he’d issued fresh instructions since that time. But has he?
Wouldn’t that require building it on the Temple Mount which is currently controlled by Muslims? I don’t think building another temple would go over well in the first place, and destroying mosques in order to do it probably is a non-starter.
There’s the little detail that in Judaism the Temple isn’t merely “the main place of worship”: it is where the Ark is housed. Having the Ark there wasn’t an incidental; the whole purpose of the Temple was to house the Ark and hold the appropriate ceremonies involving it.
Since the Ark is missing, the Temple cannot be rebuilt until it is found. It would be like having a museum with nothing on display.
There actually is a very small Temple movement in Israel. The more energetic advocates have been collecting temple furnishings, such as cloths for altar coverings, implements for ritual animal sacrifice, etc. One group has had the new cornerstone carved, all ready to be laid in place.
They’re a tiny minority. Most Jews are comfortable with “Rabbinic” Judaism (as opposed to Temple Judaism.) The nice Rabbit in the small local synagogue can do all that you need in the way of ritual and counseling. There’s no need to go all the way to Jerusalem, and, frankly, most Jews don’t want to have to mess around with the muddled politics of selecting a High Priest. They’ve watched the Catholics selecting a Pope, and don’t think that’s the kind of theological hierarchy they want.
(Still, every time someone spots a red heifer without a spot or blotch, some smarty-pants starts talking about building the next Temple.)
Didn’t the Ark go missing way back at the time of the destruction of the First Temple, and the Babylonian Exile? I’m pretty sure there was no Ark in the Second Temple.
Which also calls into question the issue of rebuilding the Temple a third time without the Ark. It was apparently built the 2nd time without it and people were okay with that.
(Counting Herod’s Temple as a reconstruction job rather than a new Temple.)
The items from the 2nd Temple were carried away after the Siege of Jerusalem and are shown on the Arch of Titus.
My understanding of most peopel’s thoughts on rebuilding the Temple is it hinges on things like whether resuming animal sacrifice is needed/wanted and perhaps even if the Messiah should return before it is rebuilt.
The temple can be built without the Ark. As others have mentioned, the second one was.
Judaism has not “moved on” from the Temple. Orthodox Jews still consider Temple-style worship to be the ideal, and the lack thereof to be an inferior substitute.
The real problem, with rebuilding the Temple (vis a vis Torah law) are threefold:
Ritual impurity. By Torah law, contact with a dead body renders one impure and thereby unfit for Temple service (or even going into the Temple grounds), and that person cannot be purified without the ritual of the red heifer described in Numbers chapter 19. While there is allowance for conducting Temple services when the majority of Jews are impure, that does not necessarily allow the construction of a Temple in that state.
Location of the Altar. Although there can be a Temple without an ark, there cannot be one without an altar on which to bring sacrifices, and more so, that altar needs to be only in the very specific location that was consecrated by King David in 2 Samuel 24:18. Since the exact measure of the cubit used in ancient Hebrew calculations is unknown, this location cannot be calculated, so therefore any attempt to slaughter sacrifices would be likely in an incorrect location and therefore sinful. (However, this is an issue that might be addressed in the near future. Once the full extent of the Western Wall is excavated, we’ll know exactly how long a cubit is, because we know that it was 500 cubits long.)
The likely risk to life of any attempt to build the Temple. Simply put, the political reality is that Arabs have started throwing stones even if an Israeli attempts to set foot on the Temple mount. You can bet the violence will escalate if there is ever a serious attempt to force-build a Jewish temple on the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Jewish law only recognizes three commandments that must be maintained even at the expense of one’s life, and building a Holy Temple/offering sacrifices are not amongst them.
If the Third Temple was built, then wouldn’t Jews have to follow all the mitzvot. I’m scanning through Wikipedia’s article “613 Commandments” which has the claim “Many of the mitzvot [commandments] cannot be observed now, following the destruction of the Second Temple, although they still retain religious significance.”
This is all news to me, so please fight my ignorance …
Well, Talmudic scholars are known for splitting hares.
While I’m here, let me enthusiastically recommend Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, which is connected to this discussion but you’ll have to get halfway through the book to find out how.
If you go to Jerusalem, you can tour the Kotel Tunnels which take you alongside the temple mount (continuation of the Wailing Wall wall, west side of temple mount- one time open, then covered over with arches to raise the floor of that area of Jerusalem. We’re walking through the tunnels and come across a stairway off of the tunnel, full of women praying. The guide says, "this is believed to be the point closest to where the Ark was kept, the central building of the Temple. As we proceeded I asked why there were only women praying there. He replies “only the men are allowed up the stairs into the higher level, which since it is higher, is closer to the actual spot.”
Question about that Red Heifer business - if a suitable red cow is ever discovered (in itself an event of low probability) is it even possible these days to find enough people of sufficient ritual purity to perform the sacrifice and make the water/ashes to use for Ultimate Ritual Purification?
