The Temple Institute, known in Hebrew as Machon HaMikdash ( he, מכון המקדש), is an organization in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

focusing on the endeavor of establishing

the Third Temple The "Third Temple" ( he, , , ) refers to a hypothetical rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. It would succeed Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple, the former having been destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in and the latter havin ...

. Its long-term aims are to build the third Jewish temple on the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compoun ...

, on the site occupied by the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock ( ar, قبة الصخرة, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra) is an Islamic shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a site also known to Muslims as the ''al-Haram al-Sharif'' or the Al-Aqsa Compound. Its initial ...

, and to reinstate animal sacrificial worship. It aspires to reach this goal through the study of Temple construction and ritual and through the development of actual Temple ritual objects, garments, and building plans suitable for immediate use in the event conditions permit its reconstruction. It runs a museum in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in Israel. It was founded and is headed by Rabbi

Yisrael Ariel Rabbi Yisrael Ariel (, born Yisrael Stieglitz in 1939) was the chief rabbi of the evacuated Israeli settlement of Yamit in the Sinai Peninsula during the years when the Sinai was controlled by Israel, and the founder of the Temple Institute (''Ma ...

. Its current director general is Dovid Shvartz, and the International Department is headed by Rabbi

Chaim Richman Chaim Richman is a rabbi in Israel, and was the International Director of the Temple Institute from 1989 to 2020, which is dedicated to the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and a member of the current effort to revive the Sanhedrin. In J ...

. New York billionaire Henry Swieca has supported the institute. The Israeli government has also provided funding.

Activities

Building of Temple ritual items

As part of its ongoing effort to prepare for a future rebuilt Temple, the Temple Institute has been preparing ritual objects suitable for Temple use. Many of the over ninety ritual items to be used in the Temple have been made by the Temple Institute. As of June 2008, a major project of the institute was the creation of the sacred uniform of the

Kohen Gadol High Priest ( he, כהן גדול, translit=Kohen Gadol or ; ) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post-Babylonian captivity, Exilic times until Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), the destruction of the Second Temple ...

, the High Priest, and the ordinary

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

s. This project, the culmination of years of study and research, had already been underway for several years. The High Priest's ''

Hoshen The priestly breastplate or breastpiece of judgment ( he, חֹשֶׁן ''ḥōšen'') was a sacred breastplate worn by the High Priest of the Israelites, according to the Book of Exodus. In the biblical account, the breastplate is termed the ''br ...

'' (breastplate) and ''

Ephod An ephod ( he, אֵפוֹד ''ʾēfōḏ''; or ) was a type of apron, which according to the Hebrew Bible, was worn by the Jewish high priest the kohen gadol, an artifact and an object to be revered in ancient Israelite culture, and was closely ...

'' have been completed. The ''

Tzitz The priestly crown or frontlet (צִיץ ''ṣîṣ''/''tsiyts'') was the golden plate or tiara worn by the Jewish High Priest on his mitre or turban whenever he would minister in the Tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem. Etymology The root ' ...

'', the golden crown of the High Priest, was completed in 2007

The Temple Institute is designing the garments for the lay priests intended for purchase by Kohen, Kohanim.

Education programs

The institute's educational efforts include raising public awareness about the Holy Temple, and the central role that it is believed to occupy in the spiritual life of mankind. These efforts include a full-time research staff (kollel), seminars, publications, and conferences, as well as the production of educational materials. Online educational tools include the institute's websit

educational videos and video conferencing.

Red heifer

In addition to a variety of items required for service within the Temple, the institute has attempted to locate a ''parah adumah'' ( red heifer) consistent with the requirements of

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

19:1–22 and

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

Tractate

Parah Parah ( he, פָּרָה) is the name of a treatise in the Mishnah and the Tosefta, included in the order Tohorot. The Pentateuchal law (Num. ) decrees that a red heifer, "wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke," shall be burned an ...

for purposes of ''

taharah Purity ( ar, طهارة, ''ṭahāra(h)'') is an essential aspect of Islam. It is the opposite of ''najāsa'', the state of being ritually impure. It is achieved by first removing physical impurities (for example, urine) from the body, and then ...

'' (purification) necessary to enter the Temple sanctuary proper in most circumstances. In recent years, the institute identified two candidates, one in 1997 and another in 2002.Red Heifer born in Israel
Temple Institute, 8 April 2002 The Temple Institute had initially declared both

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

, but later found each to be unsuitable.

Controversies

Rebuilding a Jewish temple on the Temple Mount

Although Orthodox Judaism generally agrees that the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...

will and should be rebuilt, there is a substantial disagreement about whether this should occur by human or divine hands. The Temple Institute interprets the opinion of the

Rambam Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...

(

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

) as saying that Jews should attempt to build the Temple themselves, and have a

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...

(obligation) to do so if they can. The Rambam's opinion, however, is a controversial one and has aroused substantial opposition. The Temple Institute's view of the

's opinion is not universally accepted by Maimonides scholars. According to seventeenth-century Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller in his commentary on the tractate Yoma, the Rambam did not say that any Jew can build the future Temple, only the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

Ascending the Temple Mount

The rabbis associated with the Temple Institute hold (also following the

) that it is, under certain conditions, permissible under halakha, Jewish law for Jews to visit parts of the

and periodically organize groups to ascend and tour the Mount. The view that Jews may ascend the Temple is controversial among

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

rabbis, with many authorities completely prohibiting visiting the Mount to prevent accidental entrance into and desecration of the

Holy of Holies The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: ''Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm'' or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also הַדְּבִיר ''haDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's prese ...

or other sacred, off-limits areas. The Temple Institute conducts aliyot (literally, "ascending"; "making a pilgrimage") to the Temple Mount. The institute claims that these aliyot are conducted in accordance with halachic requirements.

References and footnotes

External links

The Temple Institute Official website
{{coord, 31, 46, 31.73, N, 35, 13, 59.16, E, display=title Orthodox Judaism Zionist organizations Religious Zionist organizations Temple Mount Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem Museums in Jerusalem Jewish messianism Jewish museums 1987 establishments in Israel