Third Temple Torah, True Teachings

 Third Temple
What It Is!

By Avrohom Dovid

The Third Temple is a completion. What that means is that since the beginning of creation, all of humanity has been going through a spiritual evolution.

The Third Temple is going to be a physical place on earth in Jerusalem in the Old City on the historical Temple Mount where the First and the Second Temples stood. G-d's presence, the Shechinah, has never left that site. Granted, G-d's presence is all over the world and the universe and can be felt and seen by those who are spiritually sensitive and have eyes that see, ears that hear, and a sixth sense that feels. In essence, the Third Temple, you could say, is the place "where Heaven touches Earth" and where Earth touches the Heavens. It will be the revealed portal where tefilah (prayers) are received and realized. In this holiest of physical locations on Earth at the time of the Third Temple, even the vain, insensitive, non-knower, ignorant, and nonbeliever will experience and see the physical evidence of G-d Al-mighty's absolute presence. There are many people today who know and experience the Divine Presence. You could say that depending on the person, there are varying levels this so-called Ruach Ha Chodesh that is with us now and has never really left. Without a doubt, the Divine Presence is struggling and asking us all to acknowledge His ever-present love and sovereignty. Without having studied the wealth of information given to all of us in all the various types of Torah-true holy scriptures--such as the Bible (Tanach), the Mishneh, the Talmud with its writings, the Zohar (Kaballah), and other numerous verifiably Torah-true, undamaged writings--an honest person who seeks the ultimate answer to all of human history could see that the world is coming to a point of dramatic transformation. An honest look merely at technological advances from the beginning of recorded history (less than 6,000 years) until the present day is evidence of that transformation that all of humanity is experiencing on a material level; a hundred years ago, the vast majority of the world's population had no running water (no hot water heater, no flush toilets, etc.), no electricity, no motorized transportation (land, air, or sea), no phone service, limited medical knowledge, no antibiotics, no sanitary hygiene, no Internet, certainly no space travel, certainly no mobile phones, no radio, no television, no movies, etc., etc.

To be continued...


[Rabbi Mendel Fishman of Antwerp, Belgium in the autumn of 5765 (October 2004) brought this information to our attention. He also translated it for ThirdTemple.com from the Sefer Vayoel Moshe by the Satmar Rebbe (Introduction at the end of page 9). Many Thanks.]

Once the Holy Sanzer Rav (author of the Sefer Divrey Chaim) said at a special holy meal gathering (called a Tish) that the Beis HaMikdash above - in Heaven - is completed. However it is lacking the Parakos, the veil of separation between the Room of the Holy of Holies and the Ulam. The Holy of Holies is where the Aron HaKodesh which contains the Luchos (the Sapphire Tablets that the Ten Commandments are inscribed on) is kept. The Ulam is the main Sanctuary of the Holy Temple.

One of the Sanzer Rav's disciples named Reb Yoshua from the town of Tomashov replied "We believe with complete faith that our Holy Rebbe (the Sanzer Rav) has the ability to complete the Parakos." The Sanzer Rav remained silent.

During another Tish, the Sanzer Rav declared "How do you know that I did not complete the Parakos?" But then it became known that an extremely evil person, through his conduct, caused the Parakos to be torn in the Heavenly world.


The Third Beis HaMikdash (The Third Temple)

[This is the Introduction from Rabbi Shalom Dov Steinberg's book, published in Jerusalem, Israel 5753 (1993). Printed with permission from the publisher, Moznaim Publications.]

All of Israel's prayers are only about the Beis HaMikdash (Bereishis Rabbah 13:2)

Although the Beis HaMikdash, the pride and glory of the Jewish people, stands in ruins, nevertheless every Jewish soul experiences a deep longing for, and identification with, this holiest of places. Wherever a Jew is, in the Holy Land, or in the Diaspora, when he prays he turns toward the Beis HaMikdash. After two thousand years of exile, his heart yearns for [G-d's] House to be rebuilt.

Regarding the rebuilding of the Third Temple envisioned in the prophecies of Yechezkel (Yechezkel chs. 40-48), there are two opinions: One view maintains that the future Beis HaMikdash will be built by the Holy One, blessed is He, Himself (Shemos Rabbah 15:1; Tanchuma, Ki Tissa 13). Similarly, the greatest of the classic commentators, Rashi, writes that the future Temple which we eagerly await, stands in the heavens fully built and exquisitely decorated, and from there it will descend. This is the meaning of the verse (Shemos 16:17), "The Sanctuary, O [G-d], which Your hands have established" (commentary to Sukkah 41a). The Gemara (Rosh HaShanah 30a) also endorses this view: "The future Temple is in the hands of Heaven."

In contrast, another view maintains that the future Temple will be built by man, as the Rambam states explicitly (Pirush HaMishnah, Introduction; Hilchos Melachim). This opinion is based on the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 9) which states explicitly that Mashiach, the Messiah of flesh and blood, will build the Third Temple.

Tiferes Yisrael (Middos) offers a solution to this dilemma by explaining that the Holy One, blessed is He, will help the Jewish people in a miraculous way to rebuild the Beis HaMikdash. In this vein, the author of Aruch l'Ner (Sukkah 41a) writes: The future Beis HaMikdash will certainly be built by man. And regarding the verse, "The Sanctuary, O [G-d], which Your hands have established," from which the Midrash Tanchuma learns that it will descend from Heaven, refers to the _spiritual_ Temple which will descend and become infused in the physical building, like a soul within a body!

Although Yechezkel's prophecy describes the design and dimensions of the Beis HaMikdash in great detail, much of his prophecy remains a mystery. This may be because it is difficult to envision its manifold details, particularly since many of them are the subject of controversy, or it may be because many of theses matters simply cannot be imagined.

For this reason, I decided to clarify these matters, as far as this is possible, and to share them with all those who have an interest in the subject. I have quoted appropriate passages from Yechezkel's prophecy, although not necessarily in the order in which they appear, with the intention of aiding the reader to follow the prophet's description without getting lost. In addition, I have quoted Rashi's classic commentary to these verses, for it is without doubt that his clarification of the verses is of fundamental importance, and is universally accepted. Where necessary, the commentary of Tosafos Yom Tov and other major commentaries have been included.

Regarding those sections of the Beis HaMikdash for which the prophet did not give precise dimensions, or describe its design, I have relied on the opinion of the Tosafos Yom Tov and the Metzudos that, "Whatever, Yechezkel did not specify will be like the second Temple." This is also apparently the Rambam's intention in his Pirush HaMishnah, where he explains that the benefits of learning the tractate Middos, which describes the second Beis HaMikdash, is that when the third Beis HaMikdash will be built, speedily in our days, we will keep the design and dimensions described there, since they were revealed by Divine Inspiration...

An independent pamphlet about the songs of the Levites has been added at the end of this volume. So far, very few works have discussed the design of the Levites' musical instruments and the services in which they were used. I am sure that it will be of benefit and interest to readers.

In addition, a second pamphlet, regarding the exact location of the first and second Temples, has been appended to the end of the text. Many studies have already been made regarding this matter, some based on classical texts, and others on modern archeological and technological discoveries. By comparing and contrasting both fields, some remarkable findings have been revealed.

In this regard, I would like to express my deep gratitude to an excellent architect, Mr. Tuviah Sagiv, whose consuming interest in the locality of the Beis HaMikdash, combined with his archeological expertise and mastery of modern technology, has revealed astounding results as to the real locality of the Temple. I must thank him for his willingness to share this knowledge with me.

At this point, I would also like to express my boundless thanks to Rabbi Moshe Leib Miller, who has not only rendered the text into perfect English, but whose own knowledge of these matters has added both precision and depth to my own Hebrew text. He has managed to present an original lucid rendition of the verses from Yechezkel and the commentaries, which remains absolutely faithful to the text, and is nevertheless very readable.

A special thanks is due to my gifted editor, Rabbi Menachem Schochet, for his tireless efforts in editing the text, for his extremely helpful suggestions, and for the time and energy he has spent beyond the call of duty in preparing the text for publishing.

In addition, the book has been illuminated by two gifted artists - Rabbi Baruch Margolis, who has expended every effort and unlimited time in providing us with exact and informative diagrams, without which the text would have remained difficult and obscure; and Rabbi Ohad Ezrachi whose talents have depicted the beauty and glory of the vessels of the Beis HaMikdash. To all of the above, many humble thanks, and may the Almighty bless the work of your hands.

I would like to conclude with a short prayer: May the day when Yeshayahu's prophecy becomes reality take place very very soon: "And in the end, the mountain of [G-d's] House will be firmly established... and many nations will stream toward it. Then, many nations will say, 'Come, let us go up to the Mountain of [G-d], to the House of the [G-d] of Ya'akov...' And they will beat their swords into plows, and their spears into pruning-tools. Nation will not lift up sword against another nation, and they will no longer learn about waging war" (Yeshayahu 2:2-4).

Shalom Dov Steinberg.

[This book can be purchased from ThirdTemple.com (subject to availability). <books@thirdtemple.com>]