Editorial
Good News — Bad News

Jerusalem — The Mideast Jewel

The Talk — Youth Asks

Our Roots
Angels — How Similar Are We?

What Do
Catholics and Jews Believe?

Enlightening News

News Items

Jewish and Catholic Icons

Archive

Jerusalem — The Mideast Jewel
The Temple

When we speak of the Temple, we speak of the place in Jerusalem that was the center of Jewish religion from the time of Solomon to its destruction by the Romans in 70 A.D. This was the one and only place where sacrifices and certain other religious rituals were performed. It was partially destroyed at the time of the Babylonians Exile and rebuilt. The rebuilt temple was known as the Second Temple. The famous “Wailing Wall” in Hebrew, the KOTEL, is the remains of the western retaining wall of that Temple, and is very close to the site of the original Sanctuary.

Today the site of the Temple is occupied by the Dome of the Rock (a Muslim house of prayer for pilgrims) and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (a Muslim house of prayer). The Dome of the Rock is the gold domed building that figures prominently in most pictures of Jerusalem.

Traditional Jews believe that the Temple will be rebuilt when the Messiah comes. They eagerly await that day and pray for it continually.

Modern Jews on the other hand, reject the idea of rebuilding the Temple and resuming sacrifices. They call their houses of prayer “temples”, believing that such houses of worship are the only “temples” we need, the only temples we will ever have, and are equivalent to the Temple in Jerusalem. This idea is offensive to some traditional Jews, which is why you should be very careful when using the word Temple to describe a Jewish place of worship.

Permission from T. Rich, FAQ.Org