Chanukah is the time of the re-dedication of the Holy Temple. The
festival commemorates the Maccabees' restoring the Second Temple to
its original sanctity after it had been ransacked and defiled (but
not destroyed) by the Greeks. It is, therefore, worth dedicating a
few minutes to consider how the Temple relates to us today. By this,
we mean, of course, the Third Temple, whose re-building and
long-awaited presence will usher in the Messianic Era.
The Third Temple,
also known as Ezekiel's Temple, is a religious
notion and desire in Judaism rooted in the
Hebrew Bible and expressed in many of Judaism's
prayers for the return and rebuilding of the
Temple in Jerusalem that had once stood as the
First and Second Temples that were destroyed by
the ancient Babylonians and the Romans.
Since the destruction of the Second Temple in AD
70, religious Jews have expressed their desire
to see the building of a Third Temple on the
Temple Mount. Prayer for this is a formal part
of the Jewish tradition of thrice daily Jewish
prayer services. Though it remains unbuilt, the
notion of and desire for a Third Temple is
sacred in Judaism, particularly Orthodox
Judaism, as an unrealized place of worship. The
prophets in the Tanakh called for its
construction, to be fulfilled in the Messianic
era.
The
scenario of a rebuilding of the Third Temple
also plays a major role with-in some
interpretations of Christian Eschatology.
Unused ancient Jewish floor plans for a Temple
exist in various sources, notably in Chapters
40–47 of Ezekiel (Ezekiel's vision pre-dates the
Second Temple) and in the Temple Scroll
discovered at Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Orthodox
Judaism believes in the rebuilding of a Third
Temple and the resumption of sacrificial
worship, although there is disagreement about
how rebuilding should take place. Orthodox
scholars and rabbinic authorities generally
believe that rebuilding should occur in the era
of the Jewish Messiah at the hand of Divine
Providence, although a minority position,
following the opinion of Maimonides, holds that
Jews should endeavor to rebuild the temple
themselves, whenever possible. Orthodox
authorities generally predict the resumption of
the complete traditional system of sacrifices,
but Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist
authorities disavow all belief in the resumption
of Korban.
This belief is embedded in
Orthodox Jewish prayer services. Three times a day, Orthodox Jews pray the
Amidah, which contains prayers for the Temple's restoration and for sacrificial
worship's resumption, and every day there is a recitation of the order of the
day's sacrifices and the psalms the Levites would have sung that day.
The generally accepted position among Orthodox Jews is that the full order of
the sacrifices will be resumed upon the building of the Temple. Although
Maimonides wrote in his early work "A Guide for the Perplexed" "that God
deliberately has moved Jews away from sacrifices towards prayer, as prayer is a
higher form of worship,", however his definitive book "Mishneh Torah" - which is
considered by some to be the final authority on Jewish law - states that animal
sacrifices will resume in the third temple, and details how they will be carried
out. Some[who?] attribute to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first chief rabbi of
the Jewish community in Palestine, the view that animal sacrifices will not be
reinstituted. These views on the Temple service are sometimes misconstrued (for
example, in Olat Re'ayah, commenting on the prophecy of Malachi ("Then the
grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God as in the days of
old and as in former years" [Malachi 3:4]), he indicates that only grain
offerings will be offered in the reinstated Temple service, while in a related
essay from Otzarot Hare'ayah he suggests otherwise).
A
masterpiece of imagery, clarity, insight, and details! The Torah's description
of the Mishkan comes alive in this stunning oversized art-quality volume.
In the midst of the Israelite encampment in the burning desert stood the Mishkan,
the Tabernacle, the sacred place where God's Presence dwelled. It was a place of
glory, of beauty, of unmatched sanctity, and the focal point of Israel's
existence during their journeys in the desert after the Exodus.
Now you can see how the Mishkan was built, its sacred vessels assembled, and the
bigdei kehunah (the priestly vestments) woven and crafted.
Format: Hardcover
Dimensions: 9 1/8" x 13 3/8"
Pages: 296
ISBN: 9781422610749
* Hundreds of exquisite, full-color, detailed, realistic
images of the Mishkan, its sacred vessels and priestly vestments.
Relevant Chumash text describing the Mishkan, its vessels,
and the priestly vestments, in Hebrew and English.
Rashi text, in Hebrew and in English, on these Chumash
verses - as elucidated by the acclaimed Sapirstein Edition.
Clear explanations of the purpose of each vessel and the
manner of use, based on the classic Torah and Talmudic sources.
An Overview of the Mishkan and its place in Jewish life, by
Rabbi Nosson Scherman
A book for every age: clear, detailed captions make this
suitable for children too - at home and in the classroom!
A
masterpiece of imagery, clarity, insight, and details! The Torah's description
of the Mishkan comes alive in this stunning oversized art-quality volume.