Article in The Times of Israel by Andy Blumenthal: In essence, the Jewish Temples have been not only physically buried over, but also the site has been historically Islamicized despite the Temple Mount’s intrinsic holiness to all three major religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). In short, this is a very sensitive issue that is likely anchored in facets of intolerance and religious rivalry, as well as pretenses of superiority and dominance, rather than ultimately on the shared connection we have through both our genetic and spiritual lineage as Abraham’s decedents.

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THE BLOGS
Andy Blumenthal
Preparing for The Third Temple
Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal
This week, Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein cancelled a trip to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem after a disagreement with Israel
over the size of his security detail and the heavy weapons they brought to enter the sovereign State of Israel. In context, this
can also be seen as part of a historical con ict over the authority of the holy Temple Mount itself.
In Judaism, we yearn and pray daily to “restore G-d’s divine presence to Zion” with the rebuilding of the holy Temple in
Jerusalem. Generally, Judaism believes that the 3rd Temple will be rebuilt in the time of the Mashiach, so any forward
discussion of it before this period of redemption is not typically encouraged and may even be considered sacrilegious in some
ultra-Orthodox circles.
So while even now-a-days, with Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in our hands since the 1967 War, many Jews will not even
ascend and pray on the Temple Mount, because apparently it is not yet time for the rebuilding and therefore, we do not even
approach the extreme sanctity of where the Holy of Holies once stood.

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Yes, after 2,000 years, Jerusalem is once again in our hands, and it is “the uni ed and eternal capital” of Israel, yet the Temple
Mount is not under our stewardship, but rather is managed by the Islamic Waqf and under Jordanian custodianship. For over
1,300 years, the Temple Mount has been divorced from having been the site of two holy Jewish Temples and instead made to
be seen much more narrowly as Islam’s 3rd holiest site, with the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, where Mohammed
is said to have ascended to heaven.
In essence, the Jewish Temples have been not only physically buried over, but also the site has been historically Islamicized
despite the Temple Mount’s intrinsic holiness to all three major religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism). In short, this is a
very sensitive issue that is likely anchored in facets of intolerance and religious rivalry, as well as pretenses of superiority and
dominance, rather than ultimately on the shared connection we have through both our genetic and spiritual lineage as
Abraham’s decedents.
In this week’s Torah portion of Vayakhel and Pekudai, we learn about the building of the holy Mishkan (Tabernacle) as the
Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years prior to settling the land of Israel. The Mishkan was precursor to the Jewish
Temple in Jerusalem, but even for this temporary dwelling place for Hashem among His people, we are told of the loving and
abundant giving of precious items by the Jewish people to construct it until Moshe had to say stop, that “the people are
bringing more than enough” (Exodus 36:5).
Now, the Jewish people have survived through the destruction of both our rst and second Temples in 586 BCE and in 70 CE as
well as our long exile from our homeland until the founding of the Modern State of Israel in 1948. Yet, even with our
miraculous redemption from the Holocaust and the return of our people to the land of our forefathers, the Promised Land of
Israel, we are still not able to see the rebuilding of our holy Temple in Jerusalem. While of course, it is a great honor to even be
able to go and pray at the Kotel (the Western Wall) of what was once our beloved Temple, we are still at arms-length from the
actual rebuilding itself and the subsequent ability to once again ful ll all the mitzvot associated with it
While I understand that we, as Jews, must merit the arrival of Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Temple and we must do
everything we can in terms of following the Torah and tikkun olam to hasten the arrival, still it painful to see only the Mosque
and the Dome of the Rock perched atop Judaism’s holiest site, where literally Heaven and Earth are said to meet since creation
of the world itself, and where the sacred binding by Abraham of his beloved son, Isaac, took place in a supreme test of his faith
in Hashem.
Further, it is even more awful when some Muslim leaders deny the very existence of our having had a holy Temple to begin
with and resorting to violence and terror during the Intifada and other Arab riots, hurling rocks from the Temple Mount unto
the heads of the Jews praying below. Not only is it a grave physical danger to the people worshipping at the Kotel, but also it is
a vile desecration to our freedom of religion to be under attack in our most holy place.
But what can we do even as Israel is surrounded and vastly outnumbered by enemies in terms of our geographic and political
reality, yet are we not entitled to have our people and their religious rights respected and no longer vili ed and de led?
New York lox company booms during pandemic – by
New York lox company booms during pandemic – by
selling British smoked salmon
selling British smoked salmon

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Blumenthal is a business and technology leader who writes frequently about Jewish life, culture, and security. All opinions are his own.
First, we have a duty to prevent both danger to the Jewish and other worshippers as well as the sacrilege to our and other
faiths. It is high time to move on from trying to get an obsolete recognition of Israel’s “right to exist” which is now a 72-year
old fact, and instead focus on an un inching demand for an equal respect of our people, faith, and the security of the State
of Israel.
Second, we should continue to reach out to good people of all religions to build bridges and brotherhood as well as to speak
out and act resolutely to reduce extremism and all forms of warfare (military, economic, and political) by those who usurp
holiness and truth for their own corrupt and profane reasons.
Third, just like the Israelites were partners with Hashem in building the Mishkan and later on the Temple, so too now we
can set the stage for the arrival of Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Temple through modeling correct and not corrupt
behavior, and supporting the State of Israel, protecting its people, and sanctifying its holy places.
Of course, we absolutely want to have a peaceful and productive coexistence with all people, but just as Israel has risen from
the Valley of Dry Bones, so too the day is coming soon when the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in shinning glory and we can
worship G-d just as we did in times before. What will be special about the 3rd Temple is that it will not only be for the Jewish
people, but for all the world’s people to come together harmoniously to recognize and worship the one true and faithful G-d of
us all.