RELIGION, Page 64Time for a New Temple?Traditionalist Jews hope to rebuild their sacred edifice, buta mosque and centuries of enmity stand in the wayBy Richard N. Ostling
May it be Thy will that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our
days . . .
That plea to God, recited three times a day in Jewish prayers,
expresses a yearning that makes Jerusalem's Temple Mount
potentially the most volatile 35 acres on earth. Though 19
centuries have passed since Roman troops obliterated Herod's gilded
Temple, the Mount remains the object of intense Jewish reverence.
But for the past 13 centuries the same trapezoidal tract has also
been Islam's holiest site after Mecca and Medina: its Al Aqsa
Mosque and Dome of the Rock honor the spot whence the Prophet
Muhammad is said to have ascended to the seventh heaven. Christians
too hold in awe this place where Jesus walked. Now a controversy
has arisen over whether, and when, a new Jewish Temple should be
built.
Temple reconstruction was no issue until 1967, when Israel
captured the Mount and the Old City. Eager to preserve peace,
Israel continues to allow Muslims to administer the site. They
permit no Jew or Christian to pray openly on the holy ground, nor
will they consider allowing even the simplest synagogue or church.
The merest hint of rebuilding the Temple is considered an outrage
by the Prophet's followers, who, in the words of an official at Al
Aqsa, "will defend the Islamic holy places to the last drop of
their blood."
Jewish sensitivities also hinder reconstruction. Israel's Chief
Rabbis forbid Jews to set foot on the Mount lest they accidentally
step on the site of the ancient Holy of Holies, where only the high
priest entered, once a year. In addition, there are various views
over how and when a new Temple could or should be raised. The
Babylonian Talmud offers conflicting opinions, but Rashi, the great
medieval sage, insisted that the Temple must descend directly from
heaven when the Messiah comes. On the other hand, tradition holds
that God's biblical command to build the Temple is irrevocable, and
the Jerusalem Talmud says Jews may construct an intermediate
edifice before the Messianic era. A 1983 newspaper poll showed that
a surprising 18.3% of Israelis thought it was time to rebuild; a
mere 3% wanted to wait for the Messiah.
Next week Israel's Ministry of Religious Affairs will sponsor
a first ever Conference of Temple Research to discuss whether
contemporary Jews are obligated to rebuild. However, several small
organizations in Jerusalem believe the question is settled. They
are zealously making preparations for the new Temple in spite of
the doctrinal obstacles and the certainty of provoking Muslim fury.
These groups eschew violence but offer no explanation of what
should be done about the Muslim shrines that now occupy the holy
ground. They point out that animal sacrifices and other aspects of
Temple worship are so ingrained in Judaism that they take up a
third of the 613 biblical commandments, plus major portions of the
Talmud and the daily ritual. Temple restoration is also a fixation
for literal-minded Protestants, who deem a new Temple the
precondition for Christ's Second Coming.
Two Talmudic schools located near the Western (Wailing) Wall
are teaching nearly 200 students the elaborate details of Temple
service. Other groups are researching the family lines of Jewish
priests who alone may conduct sacrifices. Next year an organizing
convention will be held for those who believe themselves to be of
priestly descent. Former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who heads
another Temple Mount organization, believes his research has fixed
the location of the ancient Holy of Holies so that Jews can enter
the Mount without sacrilege. He insists, "I cannot leave this world
without assuring that Jews will once again pray on the Mount."
No group is more zealous than the Temple Institute, whose
spiritual leader, 50-year-old Rabbi Israel Ariel, was one of the
first Israeli paratroopers to reach the Mount in 1967. "Our task,"
states the institute's American-born director, Zev Golan, "is to
advance the cause of the Temple and to prepare for its
establishment, not just talk about it."
During six years of research, the institute has reconstructed
38 of the ritual implements that will be required when Temple
sacrifices are restored; it will complete the other 65 items as
funds permit. A museum of the completed pieces has drawn 10,000
visitors during the current holy days. In addition to such items
as trumpets, lyres and lots, the institute is preparing vestments
for the priests-in-waiting. According to Scripture, the clothing
must be painstakingly made with flax spun by hand into six-stranded
threads.
One difficulty is the requirement (as in Numbers 19:1-10) that
priests purify their bodies with the cremated ashes of an
unblemished red heifer before they enter the Temple. Following a
go-ahead from the Chief Rabbinate, institute operatives spent two
weeks in August scouting Europe for heifer embryos that will
shortly be implanted into cows at an Israeli cattle ranch.
As for rebuilding, none of the groups are believed to be
stockpiling limestone and marble just yet. For years, however, a
miniature Temple model has lured tourists to Jerusalem's Holyland
Hotel, and the institute is preparing blueprints for a more
authentic replica that will cost $1 million. All money for the
various projects will come from Jews; Christian well-wishers are
not allowed to contribute.
To rabbis like Jerusalem's Pesach Schindler, such efforts are
historically interesting but spiritually superfluous. A member of
Judaism's Conservative branch, which shuns Orthodox literalism
regarding the Temple, Schindler contends that "religion evolves.
We have respect for the past, but it has no operational
significance. With the establishment of the state of Israel, we
have all our spiritual centers within us. That is where the Temples
should be built."
But historian David Solomon insists that a new Temple is
essential: "It was the essence of our Jewish being, the unifying
force of our people." The Temple Institute's Golan admits it may
be a long time before the building rises. "No one can say how, and
no one wants to do it by force. But sooner or later, in a week or
in a century, it will be done. And we will be ready for it." He
adds with quiet urgency, "Every day's delay is a stain on the
