Temple Institute

TIME TO OPEN THE TEMPLE MOUNT TO JEWS ON SHABBAT This AI video is part of a campaign being waged to reopen the Temple Mount to Jews on Shabbat. Before the Temple Mount was closed to all Jews, following Ariel Sharon's, (then Israel's opposition leader), visit to the Temple Mount, the Mount was open to Jews on Shabbat. During that time only a very few jJews were ascending the Mount. When the Temple Mount was reopened to Jews in 2003, it was only opened for limited hours, Sunday through Thursday. Today, as tens of thousands of Jews are ascending the Temple Mount each year, and Jewish worshipers are slowly regaining their right to worship on the Mount, the demand to reopen the Mount to Jews on Shabbat is heating up. Jews will continue to demand full and equal access to the Temple Mount and full rights, without exception, to worship freely on the Temple Mount until these G-d given rights are achieved.

SELICHOT: SPIRITUAL PREPARATION FOR ROSH HASHANA & YOM KIPPUR On Saturday evening the reciting of Selichot began for Jews around the world. Selichot, (from the Hebrew word for forgiveness), are supplications in the form of poems and songs that are read and sung aloud, often punctuated by shofar blasts. Every day throughout the month of Elul selichot are recited in Synagogues, and, of course at the Western Wall Plaza, facing the place of the Holy Temple. Selichot are traditionally recited after midnight or early morning before the break of dawn. They are recited as a form of spiritual preparation for the upcoming days of Rosh HaShana and Yon Kippur, one month from now. These video clips show tens of thousands of Jews gathered at the Western Wall this past Saturday night. http://tiny.cc/4gr8101

HAFTARAH FOR SHABBAT PARASHAT SHOFTIM Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12 "I, yea I am He Who consoles you; who are you that you fear man who will die and the son of man, who shall be made as grass? And you forgot HaShem your Maker, Who spread out the heavens and founded the earth, and you fear constantly the whole day because of the wrath of the oppressor when he prepared to destroy. Now where is the wrath of the oppressor? What must be poured out hastened to be opened, and he shall not die of destruction, and his bread shall not be wanting. I am HaShem your G-d, Who wrinkles the sea and its waves stir; HaShem of Hosts is His name. And I placed My words into your mouth, and with the shadow of My hand I covered you, to plant the heavens and to found the earth and to say to Zion that you are My people. Awaken, awaken, arise, Jerusalem, for you have drunk from the hand of HaShem the cup of His wrath; the dregs of the cup of weakness you have drained..."

GARMENTS OF THE KOHANIM: THE SIXFOLD STRANDS Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Klei HaMikdash, 8:14: "Whenever the Torah uses the term sheish or "spun sheish," it is necessary that the strand be sixfold. Where the term bad is used, it is valid, if one strand alone is used. [Even in such situations,] the most desirable manner of performing the mitzvah is that it be sixfold. Whenever the term meshizar is used alone, the intent is a thread that is eightfold."

ROSH CHODESH ELUL: THE NEW MONTH OF ELUL Tonight (Wednesday evening) begins a two day Rosh Chodesh (New Month of) Elul celebration. Elul, the 6th month of the Hebrew calendar, is an intense month of spiritual preparation and self accounting in preparation for standing before HaShem on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. The journey of teshuvah - of return - to our true selves and to HaShem our Creator, is a journey built on honesty and integrity and a burning desire to become the person G-d intended us to be. Every new day of the month of Elul is announced by the sounding of the shofar - the ancient wake up call that touches our soul and rekindles our belief in ourselves and our ability to repair who we are. The month of Elul is a gift to all who are ready to bear down and get to work. Chodesh tov - have a very good and rewarding month!חודש טוב

RED HEIFER BORN IN ISRAEL This photo of a recently born red heifer had been circulating online with the caption, "Somewhere in Israel. An unblemished red heifer (presumably) - the third of its kind born in the country within two months." We currently have no way to confirm the validity of this red heifer or of the two other red heifers reportedly born.

HAFTARAH FOR SHABBAT PARASHAT RE'EH Isaiah 54:11 - 55:5 "O poor tempestuous one, who was not consoled, behold I will set your stones with carbuncle, and I will lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of jasper and your gates of carbuncle stones, and all your border of precious stones. And all your children shall be disciples of HaShem, and your children's peace shall increase. With righteousness shall you be established, go far away from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from ruin, for it will not come near you. Behold, the one with whom I am not, shall fear, whoever mobilizes against you shall defect to you. Behold I have created a smith, who blows on a charcoal fire and produces a weapon for his work, and I have created a destroyer to destroy it. Any weapon whetted against you shall not succeed, and any tongue that contends with you in judgment, you shall condemn; this is the heritage of the servants of HaShem and their due reward from Me, says HaShem..."

WORSHIP AT JOSEPH'S TOMB (KEVER YOSEF) Earlier this week 1000's of Jews arrived at Kever Yosef. located on the outskirts of the city of Shechem, in the Shomron (Samaria). We recall that Yosef's bones were brought up out of Egypt by Moshe and the children of Israel and they were interred in the land that Yosef's father, Yaakov, had previously purchased when he returned to Israel after his twenty years living with his father-in-law Lavan, outside of the land. The purchase of the plot of land and Yosef's call for his bones to be eventually taken out of Egypt are both recorded in the book of Genesis. The carrying out of Yosef’s bones is recorded in the book of Exodus, and the burial of Yosef's bones in the tomb where Jewish worshipers visited this week is recorded in the book of Joshua. Isn't it time Israel retakes full control of Kever Yosef?

Remains of trees from the Second Temple period were also discovered on the stepped street, a 600-meter-long pilgrim street that was recently opened for visits in an underground tunnel, from the Pool of Siloam to near the corner of Robinson's Arch at the Western Wall. It turns out that their source was from houses that were along the street, and the trees used for construction were pine, cypress, and Lebanese cedar. Remains of date palm trees were also discovered, the tip of which was used to build the transoms of the houses. Another place where remains of trees were taken was in the excavations near the Western Wall. In the luxurious houses in the Herodian Quarter, decorative boxes and furniture components were found, such as marble table legs made of wood imported from neighboring countries. It should be noted that the cypress is mentioned along with the cedar as an example of height and strength (1 Kings 5:24). Sacred vessels and musical instruments were made from cypress sticks, as it is written: "David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all kinds of cypress trees, on lyres and harps" (2 Samuel 6:5). Thanks to its height, which reaches up to 20 meters, the top of the cypress was used to establish Hasidism: "The stork makes the cypress her home" (Psalm 104:17). The cypress in the prophet Isaiah is also a symbol of the flowering of the desert: "Under the bough the cypress will come up" (55:13). The scroll of Isaiah highlights the extent to which the cypress and the oak were among the forest trees found in Israel, whose thick branches and trunks served as a symbol of renewal and the ability to grow again, as it is written: "And yet the tenth came and returned, and became like a grove - like an oak (Isaiah 10:13). The oak tree is considered to be particularly strong and durable, and its lifespan reaches hundreds of years.

After the Six-Day War, the Waqf decided to get rid of a significant portion of the timbers and sell them to an Armenian scrap dealer named Musa Bazian, who lived near Atarot in the north of the city. Bazian decided to sell them to carpenters. Since the illegal construction of a huge underground mosque in "Solomon's Stables" in 1998, another batch of these timbers have been taken out of the warehouses and the beams have been piled up on the surface of the Temple Mount. In 2000, Prof. Lifshitz managed to obtain funding from Tel Aviv University to purchase 144 beams from the dealer Musa Bazian for research purposes and to determine their exact age. Carbon-14 tests dated the beams and revealed that most of them are of the Lebanese cedar, cypress, and oak types. They date from the period of the construction of the two giant buildings on the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock (691) and Al-Aqsa (705). Some of the beams also date back to the First Temple period, two of them made of cypress and one of Turkish oak, and their antiquity reaches 2,900 years. That is, they are from the ninth century BCE, in the middle of which King Solomon built the First Temple. Spectacular examples of these source slices were transferred to the Rockefeller Museum in the 1930s and were thus saved from destruction and neglect. One of them, which underwent carbon-14 testing at the Weizmann Institute, was also dated to the First Temple period. Some of the beams were deposited in the Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount and are also in good condition, but many of the beams were discarded by the Waqf on the Temple Mount surface, among them a pile on the inside of the closed Gate of Mercy, an act that shows a blatant disregard for their historical importance. The pile also contains carved wooden beams from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Researcher Zeev (Zhabo) Erlich, one of the founders of the Ofra Field School that perished in Lebanon in 2024, read about Prof. Lipshitz's research and decided to save another load of beams. He obtained funding from the council to purchase a truckload of wooden beams from the merchant Bezan. Erlich transferred them to a locked warehouse in one of the public buildings in the settlement. Several of them, decorated with various decorations, were separated and dated using carbon-14 testing to the First Temple period, but of course it is not possible to prove whether they are from Solomon's palace or the Temple. Most of the beams are from the Second Temple period and the Byzantine and Mamluk periods. Prof. Dafna Langut is currently engaged in the study of ancient trees and the restoration of the vegetation that existed in ancient ornamental gardens. She is the successor to Prof. Lipshitz as director of the botanical laboratories at Tel Aviv University. Prof. Langut is the head of the Laboratory for Archaeobotany and the Study of the Ancient Environment. She also specializes in the flora in the gardens of the last kings of Judah, in the Persian Garden in Ramat Rachel, and especially in the gardens planted in Herod's palaces. Langut identified the numerous wooden beams in Herodium, which served as supports for the buildings and the royal entrance to the mountain, as being made of cypress wood. These trees were brought to Herodium from Jerusalem and probably also from the high mountains beyond the Jordan.

The science of dendrochronology, the science of trees and determining their chronological age, received a huge boost in Israel thanks to the research of Prof. Nili Lifshitz (1944–2019). She was a profound researcher with vast botanical knowledge and was mainly concerned with identifying trees in archaeological finds. Lifshitz examined wooden beams, charcoal, and wooden objects from ancient sites in her laboratory, identifying which trees they were made of, and using the remains of the trees and charcoal, she was able to reconstruct which forests and plants characterized the biblical period, the Second Temple, the Roman, and the Byzantine periods. She used carbon-14 testing and the use of growth rings to date archaeological finds and historical events. Prof. Lipshitz found that Lebanese cedar trees are the highest quality in the Middle East, and have strong resistance to natural and animal damage, such as insects, and their lifespan ranges from 300 to 600 years. It is not for nothing that cedar is mentioned over 70 times in the Bible, and it was used to build the palaces of David and Solomon and was supplied by Hiram, King of Tyre (2 Samuel 2:11; 1 Chronicles 1:11). Solomon asks the King of Tyre for their price: "Send me cedar trees, cypresses, and algums from Lebanon." The Song of Songs states: "King Solomon made him a canopy of the trees of Lebanon" (3:9). The exiles from Zion, returning from exile in Babylon, paid money to the Sidonians and Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the Sea of Jaffa (Ezra 3:7). The trees traveled a long distance on rafts, as it is written: "And we will cut down as much timber from Lebanon as you need, and we will bring them in rafts on the sea, and you will float them up to Jerusalem." This wood was used both for coffins for the pharaohs and for building ship parts, such as the "ship of Jesus" that was discovered in the Sea of Galilee and is attributed to the first century AD. Prof. Lipshitz played a significant role in identifying wooden beams used to build the roof of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which originated from wooden beams from the First and Second Temples. In 1927, a severe earthquake struck Jerusalem, causing the roof of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to collapse, exposing hundreds of heavy wooden beams that supported it. The beams were removed to "Solomon's Stables" and "Ancient Al-Aqsa," which are the passages and spaces of the Hulda Gates and the underground cellars of the mosque. Al-Aqsa was inaugurated in 705 CE, and the ancient beams that were used in secondary use in both temples have been preserved in excellent condition. It should be noted that the preservation of wooden beams in the country over hundreds of years is extremely rare, and was only possible thanks to their being kept in a closed structure or underneath it.

The study of ancient wooden beams uncovered in the City of David and the Temple Mount presents shocking physical evidence of the destruction of the capital, allowing archaeologists to reach an unprecedented level of precise dating of the historical moments of fire. The study of burnt beams, as well as those that remained intact, thanks to their secondary use in buildings built by the Arabs and Romans, adds a valuable layer to the study of Jerusalem's Jewish past. The study teaches us about the high standard of living enjoyed by its residents when it was at its peak before the double destruction, which befell it due to both unwarranted rebellions against great powers and civil wars that weakened its internal resilience. Not only do ruin stones, inscriptions and engraved names, pottery, weapons, and coins serve to determine and document traumatic events of destruction, but also the advancement of wood science and the determination of its chronological time. Ancient wooden beams now allow us to arrive at a very precise dating of their burning, and the discovery of trees with many rings in the City of David, whose beams were used to build buildings that collapsed, clearly points to the year 586 BCE, the year the city was destroyed by the Babylonians. In the excavations of the Givati parking lot, managed by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University in the City of David, two magnificent buildings were discovered in the past decade that may have been part of a single magnificent complex from the time of the First Temple, one in 2019 and the other now uncovered in close proximity to the Tisha B'Av fast. The excavations uncovered thick wooden beams that were probably used to roof an inner courtyard and collapsed onto the floor of the building. The researchers speculate that the plaster that covered the walls of the building and melted during the intense fire covered the charred wooden beams, a fact that helped preserve them in good condition throughout the generations. What was surprising was the uncommon type of wood discovered in both excavations, the sycamore tree. The sycamore tree has no rings and without them it is not possible to date its life span, but in the current excavation a pine tree with many rings was also discovered. The sycamore tree was used for construction, although its wood was not of the highest praise, as it is written: "The sycamores are cut down, and cedars are replaced" (Isaiah 9:9).

THE HIDDEN WOODEN EVIDENCE FROM THE TEMPLE TIMES IN JERUSALEM Pic 1: Photo of the al Aqsa mosque following the 1927 earthquake. Ancient wooden beams, first used in Solomon's Temple and later repurposed for the mosque, have been exposed. Pic 2: On the Temple Mount, at the Sha'ar HaRachamnim, under canvas tarps and sheets of plastic, the ancient cedar beams are exposed to the elements. Pic 3: Top photo: Burnt wood recently discovered in the City of David. Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority. Bottom photo: The cedar beams currently on the Temple Mount. צילומים: אדם אקרמן, אפרת בוצר, רעות וילף, עיר דוד

SHAVUA TOV FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT! In this week's Torah reading, Re'eh, (Deuteronomy 11:26 - 16:17), Moshe mentions the future Holy Temple for the first time: "Look only to the site that HaShem your G-d will choose amidst all your tribes as G-d’s habitation, to establish the divine name there. There you are to go, and there you are to bring your burnt offerings and other sacrifices, your tithes and contributions, your votive and freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. Together with your households, you shall feast there before HaShem your G-d, happy in all the undertakings in which HaShem your G-d has blessed you." (Deuteronomy 12:5-7) What greater expression of joy and gratitude than to propose marriage on the Temple Mount! Mazal tov to the happy couple! Shavua tov! Have a very good week!שבוע טוב

TU B'AV - THE HOLIDAY OF LOVE https://templeinstitute.org/tu-b-av/ Tonight, (Tuesday evening), begins the one day holiday of Tu b'Av. The origin of the holiday of Tu b'Av, (literally, the 15th of Av), which comes in the midst of a long, hot summer, one week after the fast of the 9th of Av, is shrouded in mystery. But, its mysterious origins aside, Tu b'Av is nevertheless, one of Israel's most beloved holidays. Its source is attributed to a somewhat oblique mention in the book of Judges: "And they said, 'Behold, there is an annual feast before HaShem in Shiloh from time to time, which is to the north of Beit El, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Beit El to Shechem, and to the south of Levonah.' And they instructed the children of Binyamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards. And you will see, and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and you shall seize for yourselves each man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Binyamin." (Judges 21:19-21) The setting for these verses is the aftermath of one of Israel's most painful chapters - a civil war that broke out between the tribe of Binyamin and the other eleven tribes, following a harrowing and gruesome incident described in Judges, chapters 19 and 20. The war has left Binyamin on the edge of extinction. The other tribes decide it is time to set their grievances aside and come to the aid of Binyamin. They nullify the existing ban on intermarriage between the tribes, enabling the men of Binyamin to acquire brides in the above described manner. Mishnah Ta'anit 4:8 describes Tu Av: "Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were no days as joyous for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur, as on them the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in white clothes, which each woman borrowed from another. Why were they borrowed? They did this so as not to embarrass one who did not have her own white garments. All the garments that the women borrowed require immersion, as those who previously wore them might have been ritually impure. And the daughters of Jerusalem would go out and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? Young man, please lift up your eyes and see what you choose for yourself for a wife. Do not set your eyes toward beauty, but set your eyes toward a good family, as the verse states: “Grace is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears HaShem, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30), and it further says: “Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates” (Proverbs 31:31). And similarly, it says in another verse: “Go forth, daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon, upon the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the gladness of his heart” (Song of Songs 3:11). This verse is explained as an allusion to special days: “On the day of his wedding”; this is the giving of the Torah through the second set of tablets on Yom Kippur. The name King Solomon in this context, which also means king of peace, is interpreted as a reference to G-d. “And on the day of the gladness of his heart”; this is the building of the Temple, may it be rebuilt speedily in our days." Learn about other historic events that occurred on Tu b'Av: https://templeinstitute.org/tu-b-av/ Picture: The daughters of the town of Shiloh, wearing white and dancing in the vineyards as they welcome the others bringing their first-fruits from around the country to the Tabernacle in Shiloh, on Tu'b'Av. The joy in Shiloh at this time of year was also connected with the grape harvest, accompanied by the bringing of the first-fruits to the Tabernacle there.

HAFTARA SHABBAT PARASHAT VA'ETCHANAN This Shabbat we read the first of ten haftarot referred to as the haftarot of comfort. The ten haftarot of comfort create a spiritual bridge leading from the first Shabbat after Tisha b'Av to the final Shabbat before Rosh HaShana. Isaiah 40:1-26 "'Console, console My people,' says your G-d. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her, for she has become full from her host, for her iniquity has been appeased, for she has taken from the hand of HaShem double for all her sins. A voice calls, 'In the desert, clear the way of HaShem, straighten out in the wilderness, a highway for our G-d.' Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered, and the crooked terrain shall become a plain and the close mountains a champaign. And the glory of HaShem shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of HaShem spoke..."

TISHA B'AV 5786: “AND IN THIS PLACE I WILL GRANT PEACE!” One G-d, acknowledged by all: that is the one plan in heaven and on earth that can bring lasting peace to mankind. And the one place on earth for all mankind to gather as one and witness the awesome presence of G-d is the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. For 2,000 years we have mourned the tragedies of the past on Tisha b'Av. While we must never forget the destruction of the past, on this Tisha b'Av the time has come to build for the future! “And in this place I will grant peace!” Chaggai 2:9