Questions tagged [beis-hamikdash]

Relating to (one or two) of the two Temples that stood in Jerusalem.

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Can you become "more tamei"? If not, why do we worry about it today?

Without the temple and access to the ritual of the red heifer, we're all tamei (ritually impure) today with no way to fix it. Yet we work to avoid situations that would make us tamei (e.g. kohanim ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
19 votes
1 answer
406 views

Why was the side door to the hechal unlocked so oddly?

The hechal (central room) of the bes hamikdash had its main entrance on its eastern end. To either side of that entrance were cubicles, and the main-floor cubicles on each side had a door to the east ...
msh210's user avatar
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16 votes
1 answer
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Could stones cut with a high powered laser be used to build the Beit Hamikdash?

If Solomon's builders had access to lasers powerful enough to cut through stone, could he have used that instead of the Shamir? Stones for an altar or for the Beit Hamikdash were not allowed to be ...
Echad-Ani-Yodeya's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
260 views

Where did the incense-altar sweeper get his broom from?

Mishna, Tamid chapter 3, in a loose translation: Those who merited removing the ashes from the inner altar and the candelabrum would precede. They had four tools in their hands: the basket, the ...
msh210's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
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Did the kohanim wear tefillin during their Temple services?

The Torah and the Gemara (especially in Yoma) gives us fascinating detail about the bigdei kahuna (clothes of the priests) that were worn in the Holy Temple. What is not clear is whether tefillin ...
Bruce James's user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
403 views

Yearning for Moshiach while the Temples stood

Did we (the Jewish people) yearn for the complete Redemption (with the Techias HaMasim, etc) like we do today, at the time the either Temple was standing? It can't be that we just assumed "This is it"...
chaimp's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
281 views

Ritual locations during the times of the Mishkan

There are certain, rituals such as the sending away of the scapegoat on Yom Kippur or the drawing of water on Sukkot which are described in Mishna as relating geographically to the location of the ...
rikitikitembo's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
315 views

Why didn't the Israelites build Yechezkel's temple when they returned from exile?

G-d gave Yechezkel the blueprints for what is now known as the third temple. Later the Israelites returned from exile and built the second temple... according to the blueprints of the first one? Why? ...
Mr. Bultitude's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
562 views

What is the explanation for the destruction of the First Temple?

What is the explanation (according to the Jewish Bible, Talmud, etc.) for the destruction of the First Temple?
Kaveh's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
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Was the Shamir worm used for the second Beis Hamikdash?

Shlomo Hamelech used a 'Shamir' worm to quarry and cut the stones for the first Beis Hamikdash. Did they still have this worm for the second Beis Hamikdash? If not, how were the stones cut (as no ...
user5303's user avatar
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14 votes
2 answers
513 views

If Rome release the vessels from the Beit Hamikdash to Israel, what is the procedure?

If Rome calls up the Ministry of Tradition in Israel and says they want to return the vessels they have from the Beit Hamikdash, including the Menorah, what would be the halachic considerations for ...
Rabbi Kaii's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
176 views

Why don't we care if the Pesach pilgrims get rained on?

After Sukkos, we immediately begin saying mashiv haruach, as it is the rainy season. However, we delay saying v'sein tal umattar, the request for rain, until we have given the pilgrims who came to ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
13 votes
5 answers
391 views

What was the purpose of the Temple's destruction?

There are plenty of explanations about which sins led to the destruction of the Temple. My question is not about which sins they were, but what does the destruction of the Temple do to solve the ...
Premundane's user avatar
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13 votes
5 answers
375 views

How did Achashveirosh have the utensils of the Beit Hamikdash?

In the first chapter of sefer Ezra we read that Koresh sent all the utensils that had been stolen by Nevuchadnetzar back to Yerushalayim as part of the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash. However the ...
rikitikitembo's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
796 views

What did kohanim do the other fifty weeks of the year?

I remember learning (somewhere in talmud but can't remember where) that the kohanim were divided into 24 groups and they rotated service in the temple. And they went to Yerushalayim for the chagim, ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
324 views

How were coins that were destined for the Dead Sea managed?

A mishna on Meila 11a talks about money that a nazarite set aside for his offerings; if he died before completing the term and had set money aside specifically for the sin-offering, those coins are ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
12 votes
5 answers
686 views

How can a person visualize the Churban Bais HaMikdash?

It is now thousands of years since the Churban Bais HaMikdash. Many Jews feel very comfortable in their surroundings. How can a person help themselves visualize and understand the great loss of the ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
496 views

Rishonim saying Ester took place during the second bayis

Elsewhere on this site, avi cited sources to the effect that, contrary to the Bavli (M'gila), the events recounted in the book of Ester took place after the second bes hamikdash was built. Do any ...
msh210's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
280 views

Ban on Shabas fasts derived from lechem hapanim?

The Shabas table song "Ki eshm'ra Shabas" includes the following stanza: רָשׁוּם/רָשַׁם בְּדַת הָאֵ׳ חוֹק אֶל סְגָנָיו בּוֹ לַעֲרוֹךְ לֶחֶם פָּנִים בְּפָנָיו עַל כֵּן לְהִתְעַנּוֹת בּוֹ עַל ...
msh210's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
17k views

Cleaning blood from the temple

According to the Mosaic Law, blood was to be sprinkled on the alters, before the curtains and other places in the temple. This would result in many places, especially the curtains, being blood ...
למה זה תשאל לשמי's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
920 views

How did the Kohanim eat in the Azara?

As far as I know, it was forbidden to sit in the Azara unless you were a king descended from David. So it seems the Kohanim must have been forced to stand while eating their portions of the Kodshei ...
Daniel Kagan's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
258 views

Why didn't kohanim undress themselves?

The mishna, Tamid 5:3, indicates that those kohanim who had gotten dressed for the day's work but were not needed for it would be stripped of their kohen-clothes by the Temple workers. My kid asked: ...
msh210's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
686 views

Will firstborn sons or Kohanim serve in the Third Temple?

In Ezekiel 48, where he prophesied about a future temple, he talks about Kohanim and Levites serving. "Kohanim of the sons of Zadok..." or "Now for the Levites, opposite the border of the Kohanim..." ...
A L's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
459 views

Source for 3 and only 3 Temples

Is Yirmiyahu 7:4 the source for the idea that there won't be a 4th Temple? If not, what is? ד אַל-תִּבְטְחוּ לָכֶם, אֶל-דִּבְרֵי הַשֶּׁקֶר לֵאמֹר: הֵיכַל יְהוָה הֵיכַל יְהוָה, הֵיכַל יְהוָה ...
avi's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
245 views

On Yom Kippur, why did Chachomim not want the people to know if the red thread had not turned white?

Originally a red thread was tied to the outside of the door of the Ulam on Yom Kippur. If the thread went white, it symbolised that the people’s sins had been forgiven and vice versa. Later the thread ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
104 views

Is there a timetable of the Yom Kippur Avodah available?

I'm trying to get a sense of how long each part of the Kohen Gadol's day was. I have the impression that the (outer) Musaf offering took much longer than the Torah reading, but I have no idea how much ...
Daniel Kagan's user avatar
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10 votes
7 answers
960 views

Is the passage describing an approximation of pi or is it one of the miracles of Bais Hamikdash?

In Sepher M'lakhim we read how different measurement was taken. I wonder if this passage (Ⅰ M'lakhim 7:23) is describing an approximation of PI (3.1415...), or was this one of the hidden miracles? ...
Ben's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
186 views

Does the Beis Hamikdash require Mezuzos?

The Shema says וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּזֹ֥ת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ - on the doorpost of your houses and gates. I've always thought of the Beis Hamikdash as God's house [and gates], does the Beis ...
Dr. Shmuel's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
492 views

Can we visit the Temple Mount?

I heard that even though the Temple Mount is under muslim authority, tourists are allowed in specific hours. My question is from a Torah perspective - since this place was for the Kohanim, are we "...
Nathan H's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
518 views

Jewish Minecraft instructions?

My 8 year old son wants to build a mizbeyach or a simple beit hamikdash structure on Minecraft. I know nothing about Minecraft and he is not great at it, though he uses it a lot. Does anyone know how ...
Gabrielle Lebens's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
450 views

Why was Shlomo more worthy to build the Beis Hamikdash than David?

We see throughout the Navi that David does not want people killed on his behalf (Saul, Ish Boshet...) yet he does not get to build the Temple and the most common reason that David is told no by Hashem ...
morah hochman's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
851 views

What shape were the branches on the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash?

What shape were the branches on the Menorah in the Beit Hamikdash? I have seen the diagram by the Rambam where he depicts it with angular branches. I am looking for sources in halacha (i.e. sources ...
shnozolla's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
419 views

Temple mount: wall around court of the gentiles?

In looking of these two models of the temple mount, Alec Garrad model and Israel Museum model, they differ on one major point. In the Garrad model there is another wall on the temple mount that I ...
Niclas Nilsson's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
597 views

Status of stones that fell out of the Kotel

On the day after Tisha B'Av 5778 a 400Kg (estimated) stone fell off the Kotel. It was subsequently moved - for safekeeping - close to the Gate of the Moors, a.k.a. the Mughrabi Gate. Meanwhile, the ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
497 views

Building the Third Temple

I've heard that the Third Beit Hamikdash will be made when the Mashiach arrives. And that it will be built by G-d himself, unlike the previous Temples. This seems to be the most common opinion in ...
Gabriel12's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
404 views

Temple Institute menorah

Recently I was zoche to visit Eretz Yisroel, and my family went on the Temple Institute (Mechon Hamikdash) tour, very interesting. They showed their beautiful menorah, which they said had been made ...
MichoelR's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
212 views

Why redeem hekdesh?

Kind of related to What is my relationship to an object once I have pledged it as hekdesh? Why would somebody pledge something to hekdesh and then redeem it when he could just donate money directly? ...
Daniel's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
265 views

What did mikdash workers eat?

Groups of Jews not from shevet Levi would work in the bes hamikdash, a week at a time. Their primary responsibility was attendance: being present when korb'nos tzibur, public offerings, were brought. (...
msh210's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
107 views

Is there any connection between the Sotah, the Mizbeiach, and the Beis HaMikdash keychain?

In exactly three contexts, the Mishnah notes that there was an amah square marble slab with a ring, using exactly the same language each time. The first is in Sotah 2:2, regarding the Sotah procedure:...
DonielF's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
937 views

Can a Chanukah menorah share a single oil source?

All the Chanukah menorot that I have seen each have separate oil cups / holders. Would it be permissible to have a "trough" with separate cups coming out of it and each one having a separate wick, so ...
DanF's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
443 views

Does the Third Temple have to be built on the Temple Mount?

Suppose it is allowed for Jews in the present to build a Third Temple, does that temple have to stand on the Temple Mount? Modern Israel is in many ways (actually most) not similar to the Israelite's ...
Stand with Gaza's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
919 views

How was Rosh Chodesh determined, if a New Moon Cannot be Seen?

1. Question / Issue : If a New Moon cannot be seen, then it seems that the first visible confirmation of a New Moon is actually the Waxing Crescent Moon, which can only be observed after the New Moon -...
elika kohen's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
177 views

Why does the order of temple services in our prayers follow the non-hallachic opinion?

Something that has bothered me for a long time, and I have not found a good explanation for, is why we recite the order of service in the temple following Abbaye in the name of Abba Shaul, despite the ...
Daniel Moskovich's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
554 views

Tisha B'av Fasting in Second Temple Times

The prophet Zechariah 7:3 brings a question he was asked by Jews during the Second Temple as to whether or not they should continue fasting on Tisha B'av, presumably because the Temple had been ...
Jewels's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
652 views

What happened to the utensils from the Second Bais Hamikdash?

After the second temple was destroyed what happened to the keilim? When was the last time they were recordedly seen and where do historians or other academics believe they are today?
not-allowed to change my name's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
793 views

Did people who were not priests ever enter the Tabernacle?

Is there any mention in the Tanakh of people who were not priests entering the Tabernacle? Leviticus 17:5 says that the people were to bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the tent ...
Lee Woofenden's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why was it improper to stick out a thumb in the Temple?

The Mishnah says, in Yoma 2:1, “the assigner [of tasks] would tell [all of] them: "Stick out your fingers [for the procedure to assign the task]." And what would they stick out? Either one or two [...
Aaron100's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
601 views

In what sense did G-d live in the Temple, in the understanding of Jews prior to the Temple's destruction?

I'm going to be extra careful with this question, because I think that it would be easy to say something the wrong way and cause serious offense. If I do cause offense, I apologize in advance, and I ...
Wad Cheber's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
723 views

How did the Jewish people understand and make sense of the destruction of the Second Temple?

Since I began studying the history of the Christian faith, and the relation between Judaism and Christianity, I have been struck by the idea of the Second Temple's destruction. I simply can't imagine ...
Wad Cheber's user avatar
  • 2,100
8 votes
2 answers
3k views

Did people who were not priests or Levites enter the Tabernacle for ritual purposes?

(Note: I am posting this more specific follow-up to a previous question based on the recommendation of Isaac Moses here.) Aaron and his descendants were designated as cohanim (priests) to do the ...
Lee Woofenden's user avatar

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