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A drawing of Ezekiel's Visionary Temple from the Book of Ezekiel 40-47

Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, religious Jews have prayed that God will allow for the rebuilding of a Third Temple. This prayer has been a formal part of the traditional 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.

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.

Role in Orthodox Judaism

Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, by Francesco Hayez

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 or exactly what kind of worship will occur. Orthodox 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 (also known as the Rambam), holds that Jews should endeavor to rebuild the temple themselves, whenever possible[1]. Orthodox authorities generally predict the resumption of the complete traditional system of sacrifices, but some authorities have disagreed. It has traditionally been assumed that some sort of animal sacrifices would be reinstituted, in accord with the rules in Leviticus and the Talmud. This belief is embedded in Orthodox liturgy. Every Orthodox prayer service 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," his definitive book "The Mishneh Torah" - which is considered to have the force of law - states that animal sacrifices will take place in the third temple, and details how they will be carried out. Some 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. It should be noted that Rav Kook's 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).

Role in prayer

Orthodox Jewish prayers include, in every prayer service, a prayer for the reconstruction of the Temple and resumption of sacrifices. The morning prayer service also includes a study session of the daily Temple ritual and offerings as a reminder, including detailed study of the animal sacrifices and incense offerings. The service also contains the daily and special-occasion psalms the Levites used to sing in the Temple. Following the weekday Torah reading there is a prayer to "restore the House of our lives and to cause the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) to dwell among us", and the Amidah contains prayers for acceptance of "the fire-offerings of Israel" and ends with a meditation for the restoration of the Temple. ("And may the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing, as in former days and ancient times" (Malachi 3:4). In addition, the theological and poetic language of Hebrew is filled with words with dual connotations, which are both literal references to elements of Temple architecture or ritual, and also have metaphorical theological and poetic meanings regarding the relationship between the worshipper and God. Translations and commentary on prayers with this language tend to discuss both meanings in Orthodox Judaism. (Examples of dual-meaning words: deshen refers to both the ashes left after a burnt-offering, and also means "acceptance with favor"; kodesh refers to "the Holy", i.e. the Sanctuary portion of the Temple, and also means "holy" generally; and chatzrot refers to the courtyards of the Temple, and also connotes nearness to God; "korban" means both "sacrifice" and "drawing near".

Preservation of Kohanim and Levi'im

Orthodox Judaism preserves the Kohanim, descendants of the priestly family of Aaron, and Levi'im (Levites), descendants of the tribe of Levi, intact for future service in a restored Temple. Kohanim and Levites are regarded as still being dedicated to Divine service and obligated to report for duty for service in the Temple, at any moment, should it be rebuilt. Kohanim are still subject to Biblical purity restrictions including a prohibition on marrying a divorcee or proselyte and restrictions on entering cemeteries.

Preservation of daily cycle

Orthodox Judaism's required daily prayers must be said at the times when corresponding sacrifices would have been offered in the Temple.

Preservation of rules of tumah

The Temple had elaborate rules of ritual purity forbidding entry to people with Tumah, ritual impurity, arising from contact with the dead, seminal emissions and menstrual blood, contact with non-kosher (unclean) animals, certain diseases, and a number of other sources. While many of the original purification ceremonies involved (such as the Red Heifer ceremony) became impossible in the absence of the Temple and its rites, Rabbinic Judaism, and later Orthodox Judaism, considered Jews obligated to observe such laws of ritual purity as are possible, and retained a large number of the rules as principles for ordinary life. The laws of "family purity" are directly based, in function and terminology, on the Temple rules. A number of other requirements, such as the practices of immersing in a mikvah before Yom Kippur, washing the hands in the morning, before meals, and after a funeral, derive from these principles. Many contemporary and seemingly unconnected rules for ordinary living are intimately linked with these Temple rituals and rules. For example, the Shema Yisrael prayer is said at the time of day when Kohanim who were Tamei completed a portion of their purification ritual, and the kind of plant material that can be put on the roof of a contemporary Sukkah is the kind that is not susceptible to Tumah. In addition, authorities who permit Jews to ascend the Temple Mount require observance of a larger set of ritual purity rules than have been retained in daily life, such as a requirement of immersion following a seminal emission.

Role in Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism believes in a Messiah and in a rebuilt Temple, but does not believe in the restoration of sacrifices. Accordingly, Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has modified the prayers. Conservative prayerbooks call for the restoration of Temple, but do not ask for resumption of sacrifices. The Orthodox study session on sacrifices in the daily morning service has been replaced with the Talmudic passages teaching that deeds of loving-kindness now atone for sin. In the daily Amidah prayer, the central prayer in Jewish services, the petitions to accept the "fire offerings of Israel" and "the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem" (Malachi 3:4) are removed. In the special Mussaf Amidah prayer said on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, 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 sacrifices are a thing of the past. The prayer for the restoration of "the House of our lives" and the Shekhinah to dwell "among us" in the weekday Torah reading service is retained in Conservative prayer books, although not all Conservative services say it. In Conservative prayer books, words and phrases that have dual meaning, referring to both Temple features and theological or poetic concepts, are generally retained. However, translations and commentaries generally refer to the poetic or theological meanings only. Conservative Judaism also takes an intermediate position on Kohanim and Levites, preserving patrilineal tribal descent and some aspects of their roles, but lifting restrictions on who Kohanim are permitted to marry.

In recent responsa on the subject of the role of Niddah in Conservative Judaism, a majority of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards expressed the view that principles of ritual purity relevant to entry into the Temple are no longer applicable to contemporary Judaism and accepted a proposal to change the term "family purity" to "family holiness" and to explain the continuing observence of Niddah on a different basis from continuity with Temple practices. The Committee also permitted retention of existing observances, terminology, and rationale.[1] [2] [3].

Role in Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism

Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism do not believe in the rebuilding of a Temple or a restoration of Temple sacrifices or worship. They regard the Temple and sacrificial era as a period of a more primitive form of ritual which Judaism (in their view) has evolved out of and should not return to. They also believe a special role for Kohanim and Levites represents a caste system incompatible with modern principles of egalitarianism, and do not preserve these roles. Furthermore, there is a Reform attitude that the shul or synagogue is a modern Temple; hence, "Temple" appears in numerous congregation names in Reform Judaism.

Ancient attempts at rebuilding

Temple at Leontopolis

Sometime in the second century BCE, a Jewish temple was constructed at Leontopolis in the Egyptian nome of Heliopolis; it was closed by Rome in 74CE. The earliest reference to it is in Josephus, writing shortly after its closure. Later rabbinic sources mention Leontopolis, but do not describe the temple; and allusions to it may be found in various other texts. The temple was built by Onias IV, the son of High Priest Onias III. The temple was built to imitate that in Jerusalem, with the key differences that it resembled a tower (probably as a traditional symbolic reflection of the Jerusalem temple), and that the seven-branched Menorah was replaced by a single, golden, hanging lamp (probably representing the sun: due to being in Heliopolis, city of the sun). The building of this temple was justified by reference to Isaiah, and stood in opposition to Jerusalem.[4]

Possible Temple at Qumran

Scholarship is divided over the question of a temple at Qumran, the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most scholars favour the general emphasis in the community's literature on a spiritualisation of temple imagery to encompass the group with its 'sacrifice' of strict moral behaviour. Some, however, point to archaeological evidence particularly of burnt animal bones comparable to finds at Leontopolis, and the discovery of what may be an altar stone, in support of the existence of a Jewish temple probably operating along similar lines to that of Onias. This school, including S.H. Steckoll, also draws on somewhat sparse textual evidence of a sacrificial cult at Qumran, in the Damascus Document and in Josephus' Antiquities (which depends on the community's identification with Essenism). The question of a Qumran temple essentially reduces to whether or not the marginal evidence of such cultic activities is considered compatible with the undisputed emphasis on spiritualisation.[5]

The Bar Kochba revolt

The forces of Simon Bar Kosiba, more commonly known as Bar Kochba, captured Jeruselem from the Romans in the 132 CE, and construction of a new temple began, as well as renewed temple services. The failure of this revolt led to the writing of the Mishna, as the religious leaders believed that the next attempt to rebuild the temple might be centuries away and memory of the practices and ceremonies would be lost otherwise.

Julian's Roman "Third Temple"

There was an aborted project by the Roman emperor Julian (361-363) to allow the Jews to build a "Third Temple", part of Julian's empire-wide program of restoring/strengthening local religious cults. There is reason to believe that Julian wanted the rebuilt "Third Temple" to be for the purpose of his own apotheosis, rather than the worship of the Jewish God. Rabbi Hilkiyah, one of the leading rabbis of the time, spurned Julian's money, arguing that gentiles should play no part in the rebuilding of the temple. According to various sources of that time (that include the pagan historian and close friend of Julian, Ammianus Marcellinus, and are mentioned in Britannica Deluxe 2002 and Stewart Henry Perowne) the project of rebuilding the temple was aborted because each time the workers were trying to build the temple, using the existing substructure, they were burned by terrible flames that were coming from inside the earth and an earthquake negated what work was made.

The Sassanid vassal state

In 610, Sassanid Empire of Iran drove the Byzantine Empire out of the Middle East with the help of the Jews of Babylonia, who were given governorship of Palestine. With Jewish control of Jerusalem, the Church on the temple mount was torn down and construction began on a new temple, along with sacrificial services as set down in the Mishna.

Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back, the Persians gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partly built edifice and turned it into a garbage dump, which is what it was when the Caliph Omar took the city in the 630s.

In 1267 Nahmanides wrote a letter to his son. It contained the following references to the land and the Temple:

What shall I say of this land . . . The more holy the place the greater the desolation. Jerusalem is the most desolate of all . . . There are about 2,000 inhabitants . . . but there are no Jews, "for after the arrival of the Tartars, the Jews fled, and some were killed by the sword. There are now only two brothers, dyers, who buy their dyes from the government. At their place a quorum of worshippers meets on the Sabbath, and we encourage them, and found a ruined house, built on pillars, with a beautiful dome, and made it into a synagogue . . . People regularly come to Jerusalem, men and women from Damascus and from Aleppo and from all parts of the country, to see the Temple and weep over it. And may He who deemed us worthy to see Jerusalem in her ruins, grant us to see her rebuilt and restored, and the honor of the Divine Presence returned.

Current efforts to rebuild the Temple

Although in mainstream Orthodox Judaism the rebuilding of the Temple is generally left to the coming of the Jewish Messiah and to Divine Providence, a number of organizations, generally representing a small minority of even Orthodox Jews, have been formed with the objective of realizing the immediate construction of a Third Temple in present times. These organizations include:

Organizations involved

  • The Temple Institute states that its goal is to build the Third Temple on Mount Moriah. The Temple Institute has already made several items to be used in the Third Temple. (See below for list).
  • Recently an organization known as Revava, ambitious to build the Third Temple, has planned numerous ascensions of the Temple Mount. Revava last held a rally at the Western Wall on April 10, 2005 after it announced plans to bring 10,000 Jews to the Mount. This prompted counter-protests by Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and on the Temple Mount, and by more than 100,000 Muslims in Indonesia and several other Muslim countries. An estimated 200 Jewish protesters were allowed past intense security during the Revava rally, and they did not ascend the Mount.

Obstacles to realization

The most immediate and obvious obstacle to realization of these goals is the fact that two important Muslim structures, namely the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, are built on top of the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock is regarded as occupying the actual space where the Temple once stood, and the State of Israel has undertaken to preserve access to these buildings as part of international obligations. Any efforts to damage or reduce access to these sites, or to build Jewish structures within, between, on, or instead of them, would likely cause social upheaval on both sides.

In addition, most Orthodox scholars reject any attempts to build the Temple before the coming of Messiah. This is because there are many doubts as to the exact location in which it is required to be built. For example, while measurements are given in cubits, there exists a controversy whether this unit of measurement equals approximately 1.5 feet or 2 feet. Without exact knowledge of the size of a cubit, the altar could not be built. Indeed, the Talmud recounts that the building of the second Temple was only possible under the direct prophetic guidance of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Without valid prophetic revelation, it would be impossible to rebuild the Temple, even should the mosques no longer occupy its location.

Status of Temple Mount

Main article: Temple Mount

The State of Israel currently restricts access by Jews to the Temple Mount on both religious and political grounds. Many religious authorities, including the Chief Rabbinate, interpret halakha (Jewish law) as prohibiting entering the area to prevent inadvertently entering and desecrating forbidden areas (such as the Kadosh Kadoshim), as the Temple area is regarded as still retaining its full sanctity and restrictions. Moreover, political authorities, concerned about past violent clashes at the Temple Mount including one which inaugurated the Palestinian Intifada, seek to reduce the likelihood of further violent confrontations between Jewish religious activists and Muslims worshipping at the mosques, which could further damage the area's delicate archeological and political fabric. [2].

During the Sukkot festival in 2006 Uri Ariel, a member of the knesset from the National Union party ascended the mount [3] and said that he is preparing a plan where a synagogue will be built on the mount. His suggested synagogue won't be built instead of the mosques but in a separate area in accordance with rulings of the prominent Rabbis. He said he believed that this will be correcting an historical injustice and that it is an opportunity for the Muslim world to prove that it is tolerant to all faiths.

Building of Temple ritual items by Temple Institute

The Menorah built by the Temple Institute displayed in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem

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. Several items to be used in the Temple have been made by the Temple Institute, including:

Christian views

While there are a number of differing views amongst Christianity with regard to the significance or the requirement of a third temple being built in Jerusalem, most believe that the new covenant (spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31-34) is marked by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer (Ezekiel 36:26-27) and that, as such, the body is the temple. Paul illustrates this concept in his letter to the believers at Corinth:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV)

Some would therefore see the need for a third temple as being either diminished or redundant, while others take a position that the building of the third temple is an integral part of end-time prophecy. The various perspectives on the significance of the building of a third temple within Christianity are therefore generally linked to a number of factors including: the level of literal or spiritual interpretation applied to end-time prophecy; the perceived relationships between various scriptures such as Daniel, the Olivet discourse, 2 Thessalonians and Ezekiel (amongst others); and whether or not a dual-covenant is considered to be in place. For example, Daniel referred to what would be the third Jewish Temple in Daniel 9:27 and the Apostle Paul referred to it in 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

A number of these perspectives are illustrated below.

Protestant view

The dominant view within Protestant Christianity is that animal sacrifices within the Temple were a foreshadowing of the sacrifice Jesus made for the sins of the world, through his death. As such they believe there is no longer a need for the physical temple and its rituals.

Those Protestants who do believe in the importance of a future rebuilt temple (viz.,some dispensationalists) hold that the importance of the sacrificial system shifts to a Memorial of the Cross, given the text of Ezekiel Chapters 39 and following (in addition to Millennial references to the Temple in other OT passages); since Ezekiel explains at length the construction and nature of the Millennial temple, in which Jews will once again hold the priesthood; some others hold that perhaps it was not completely eliminated with Jesus' sacrifice for sin, but is a ceremonial object lesson for confession and forgiveness (somewhat like water baptism and Communion are today); and that such animal sacrifices would still be appropriate for ritual cleansing and for acts of celebration and thanksgiving toward God. Some dispensationalists believe this will be the case with the Second Coming of Christ when Jesus reigns over earth from the city of Jerusalem.[specify] interprets a passage in the Book of Daniel, Daniel 12:11, as a prophecy that the end of this age will occur shortly after sacrifices are ended in the newly rebuilt temple. [citation needed]

Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox view

The Catholic and Orthodox churches believe that the Eucharist, which they hold to be one in substance with the one self-sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, is a far superior offering when compared with the merely preparatory temple sacrifices, as explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews. They also believe that Christ Himself is the new Temple, as spoken of in the Book of Revelation and that Revelations can best be understood as the Eucharist, heaven on earth. Their church buildings are meant to model Solomon's Temple, with the Tabernacle, containing the Eucharist, being considered the new "Holy of Holies." Therefore they do not attach any significance to a possible future rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. The Orthodox also quote Daniel 9:27 ("he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease") to show that the sacrifices would stop with the arrival of the Messiah, and mention that according to Jesus, St. Paul and the Holy Fathers, the temple will only be rebuilt at the times of the Antichrist. (Quotations: Matthew 24:15, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)"; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4: "...that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God".)

Latter-day Saint Restorationist view

Joseph Smith, Jr. believed that not only would the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt, but that its counter-part would be constructed in Independence, Missouri. This temple is also referred to as the temple of New Jerusalem, or Zion. Originally the temple was planned to be constructed in the 1830s, but this date was postponed. One LDS sect, Church of Christ (Temple Lot), attempted to build the temple in the late 1920s, but it was not completed due to the Great Depression. [citation needed]

Mormon thought suggests that the Temple of Jerusalem was meant to be a reconstruction of the Garden of Eden. See, for instance, Jesus and Yahweh, by Harold Bloom. [verification needed] Since modern Latter-day Saint Temples, of which there are now over 130, are certainly intended to be symbolic reconstructions of the Garden of Eden, it could be said that every Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is intended to be a representation of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem. [verification needed]

Rosicrucian Fellowship view

Around or over the place where the ground was being broken for the Ecclesia were four large search lights. They faced north, south, east, and west. (...) Then all passed away. At this instant in our midst appeared the All-Seeing Eye. Then it vanished and our prayers ceased, our purpose having been accomplished. (Ground-breaking, June 29, 1920)

In 1920 the Rosicrucian Fellowship Healing Temple, "The Ecclesia", was built and dedicated at the holy lands of Mount Ecclesia in the United States (not Israel; see Matthew 21:43). The view of "The Ecclesia", a round twelve-sided Temple facing east, strongly resembles the vision described in Ezequiel 40-48, the Temple of a New Age that will precede the coming of the New Galilee. At the ground breaking ceremony of this most holy place it was evoked:

Will we respond to the call of Hiram Abiff, he who is the leader of all who are known as the "Sons of Cain"? Do we not recognize him now as Christian Rosenkreuz? If over 3000 years ago he was able to muster his forces and work with Solomon to build the beautiful Temple, which was but a symbol, can he not now, working with Jesus the Master, bring into being physical building that shall be for the healing of the nations, a building, the spiritual body of which will far exceed that of any other House of God?

If we could but realize the privilege of receiving this call! What have we done that we deserve such an honor, an honor that kings and prophets might crave!

Let us do as it is told of us long ago, "And every man brought as the Lord had prospered him." Let us respond to the call to build this Temple at Mount Ecclesia this year, with willing hearts and hands in order that the great opportunity may not be lost We did nobly at the time of the building of the Tabernacle. We worked FAITHFULLY under our leader, Hiram Abiff, when building Solomon's Temple Now let us live up to our great privilege and come to the work when called by Christian Rosenkreuz.[6]

Mount Ecclesia's foundation archetype, highest ideal or mission, as stated during the simple ground-breaking ceremony in 1911, is to become a Spiritual Center in the world, as an effort:

to unite and harmonize each with the others by teaching a religion that is both scientific and artistic, and to gather all churches into one great Christian Brotherhood.[7]

It is referred that the mission of the Rosicrucians, working through The Rosicrucian Fellowship at Mount Ecclesia, is to promulgate a scientific method of development suited particularly to the Western people whereby the wedding garment may be wrought, so that mankind may hasten the day of the Lord;[8] and that the Compassionate One, the invisible Head of the Order of the Rose Cross (Rosicrucian Order), known by the symbolical name of Christian Rosenkreuz has the mission:

to prepare a new phase of the Christian religion to be used during the coming age now at hand, for as the world and man evolve so also must religion change.[9]

Bahá'í view

In the Bahá'í view the prophecy of the Third Temple was fulfilled with the writing of the Súriy-i-Haykal by Bahá'u'lláh in pentacle form.[10] The Súriy-i-Haykal or Tablet of the Temple, is a composite work which consists of a tablet followed by five messages addressed to world leaders; shortly after its completion, Bahá'u'lláh instructed the tablet be written in the form of a pentacle, symbolizing the human temple and added to it the conclusion:[11]

Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and might, could ye but know it. This is the Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh unto it. This is that which profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples of the earth! Which is preferable, this, or a temple which is built of clay? Set your faces towards it. Thus have ye been commanded by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. [12]

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, explained that this verse refers to the prophecy in the Hebrew Bible where Zechariah had promised the rebuilding of the Temple in the End Times as fulfilled in the return of the Manifestation of God, Bahá'u'lláh, in a human temple.[11][13] Throughout the tablet, Bahá'u'lláh addresses the Temple (himself) and explains the glory which is invested in it allowing all the nations of the world to find redemption.[10][14] In the tablet, Bahá'u'lláh states that the Manifestation of God is a pure mirror that reflects the sovereignty of God and manifests God's beauty and grandeur to mankind.[10] In essence, Bahá'u'lláh explains that the Manifestation of God is a "Living Temple" and Bahá'u'lláh addresses the organs and limbs of the human body and bids each to focus on God and not the earthly world.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Rabbi Susan Grossman, MIKVEH AND THE SANCTITY OF BEING CREATED HUMAN, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, Rabbinical Assembly, December 6, 2006
  2. ^ Rabbi Avram Reisner, OBSERVING NIDDAH IN OUR DAY: AN INQUIRY ON THE STATUS OF PURITY AND THE PROHIBITION OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH A MENSTRUANT, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, Rabbinical Assembly, December 6, 2006
  3. ^ Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz, RESHAPING THE LAWS OF FAMILY PURITY FOR THE MODERN WORLD, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, Rabbinical Assembly, December 6, 2006
  4. ^ For a treatment of the Josephus material, with comprehensive bibliographies, see: C.T.R. Hayward, 'The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis: A Reconsideration', in the Journal of Jewish Studies vol.33 (1982) pp.429-443.
  5. ^ S.H. Steckoll outlines the arguments for the temple in Revue de Qumran vol.6 (1967) pp.55-69.
  6. ^ Mount Ecclesia: "The Laying of the Cornerstone of the Rosicrucian Fellowship Temple".
  7. ^ Mount Ecclesia: "Address at the Ground-Breaking for the First Building on Mount Ecclesia".
  8. ^ Mount Ecclesia: Eastern and Western Spiritual Alternatives
  9. ^ Mount Ecclesia: The Rosicrucian Interpretation of Christianity
  10. ^ a b c d Taherzadeh, Adib (1984). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3: `Akka, The Early Years 1868-77. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. pp. 133. ISBN 0-85398-144-2. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  11. ^ a b Universal House of Justice (2002). "Introduction". The Summons of the Lord of Hosts. Haifa Israel: Bahá'í World Centre. pp. pp. 1. ISBN 0-85398-976-1. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  12. ^ Bahá'u'lláh (2002). The Summons of the Lord of Hosts. Haifa Israel: Bahá'í World Centre. pp. pp. 137. ISBN 0-85398-976-1. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  13. ^ Effendi, Shoghi (1996). Promised Day is Come. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. pp. pp.47-48. ISBN 0-87743-244-9. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  14. ^ Shawamreh, Cynthia C. (1998-12). "Comparison of the Suriy-i-Haykal and the Prophecies of Zechariah". bahai-library.org. Retrieved 2006-09-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

  • Gorenberg, Gershom. The End of Days : Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount. Free Press, 2000. ISBN 0-684-87179-3 (Journalist's view)
  • Ha'Ivri, David. Reclaiming the Temple Mount. HaMeir L'David, 2006. ISBN 965-90509-6-8 (Advocacy of immediate rebuilding of a Third Temple)
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