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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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What is the explanation for the discrepancy between Seder Olam's chronology and that of historical scholarship?
Rabbi Harav Yaakov Medan (etzion.org.il/en/chapter-12b-daniels-prayer-continued)
states: 'According to historical scholarship, the second year of the Persian Darius, when the rebuilding of the Second ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 "...
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Why didn't the Kohanim wear Tzizis?
The Kohen Gadol wore 8 garments, and regular Kohanim wore 4. Why wasn't tzizis one of their required garments? Also, did they have to fulfill the mitzvah of tzizis before or after their daily service, ...
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Will we be obligated to bring many chatats when the temple is rebuilt?
When the Temple is rebuilt will we each have to bring chatats ("sin" offerings) as necessary based on different sins we have done (which would likely amount to quite a lot of korbanot for a lot of ...
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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 ...
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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..." ...
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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 ...
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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 -...
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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 ...
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Each generation in which the Temple wasn't rebuilt it's as if it was destroyed anew
I've often heard the phrase "In each generation in which the Temple isn't rebuilt, it's as if it was destroyed anew". כל דור שלא נבנה בית המקדש בימיו, כאילו נחרב בימיו.
I'm trying to find ...
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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 ...
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Why is melika - not shechita - done on the bird korban?
The gemara Chullin (42a) lists a severed spine as one of the conditions rendering the animal a treifa. Therefore, what is special about the dove/turtle-dove korban (Vayikra 1:15) which features the ...
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Why don't we build a Mishkan today? [duplicate]
I was just reading about Mishkan Significance, the question there made the assertion that the Torah on the Mishkan is no longer relevant, reflecting the general opinion that we do not need the Mishkan ...
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Evidence of 2nd Temple Liturgy @Temple &/or Synagogue
Friends, I have tried & failed to find really firm documented evidence of 2nd temple period Liturgy used either in Temple services or among the Judean or extra-Judean synagogues. What I find ...
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Mishkan significance
Why does the Torah feel the Need to tell me the rules for making the Mishkan? First, it is no longer relevant, as, even if we build, we will build a Beis Hamikdash. Plus, the Medrashim say it will be ...
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Kohanim and the Third Temple
Are there any organizations that provide ongoing preparation for Kohanim to immediately assume their priestly duties upon the arrival of Moshiach? I would imagine that performing the sacrifices and ...
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How did Shlomo Hamelech figure out which way to build the Beit Hamikdash?
The Torah tells us how to build the Mishkan, but not the Temple. And the dimensions of many of the objects in the Temple were not the same as in the Mishkan (the Copper Altar was bigger, for instance) ...
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Unclean due to an organ transplant, in the context of the rebuilt temple
This question pertains to a related question.
Leviticus 7:20-21 says:
כ וְהַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר-תֹּאכַל בָּשָׂר, מִזֶּבַח הַשְּׁלָמִים אֲשֶׁר לַיהוָה, וְטֻמְאָתוֹ, עָלָיו--וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא,...
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How big was the Lishkas HaGazis?
This question asks about how the elders were seated in the Lishkah. Seeing how poorly-sourced the OP’s dimensions were, I thought I’d ask it myself.
We’re told that the Lishkah was halfway in the ...
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Why there was no railing on the 5m high Mizbeach?
While looking at drawings of the Temple's Altar, I was impressed by its dimensions: up to 5m (16ft) high and 15m (100ft) wide. Here's a pretty truthful depiction (courtesy of WIKI) that gives an idea ...
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Are you allowed to make, buy and sell trumpets?
The torah forbids creating artifacts used in the beis hamikdash (based on the verse lo taasun iti (Exodus 20:19), see Talmud Avoda Zara 43a, Rambam Beit Habechira 7:10 and Shulchan Aruch YD 141:8). ...
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Why were there so many Karbanos Eitzim in Av, and so few during the rest of the year?
Taanis 4:4 introduces the concept of Karbanos Eitzim. The Gemara (28a) explains what was so special about these days:
ת"ר למה הוצרכו לומר זמן עצי כהנים והעם אמרו כשעלו בני הגולה לא מצאו עצים בלשכה ...
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Is there really evidence that the Rabbis changed the day's beginning from sunrise to sunset? [closed]
The writing of the two Rabbis quoted below state that the Rabbis changed the start of the day from sunrise to sunset. Rabbi Drazin wrote that "we know for certain that the day began in the Temple ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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?
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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? ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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:...
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Can one bring a Korban nowadays?
Assuming we don't have a problem with the Dome of the rock.
Has anyone discussed sacrifices nowadays regarding:
Can (and should) one bring sacrifices nowadays as we don't know the exact location for ...
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Shouldn't we laugh as Rabbi Akiva?
I don't want to be disrespectful, but I remember the story of when Rabbi Akiva saw the temple destroyed with foxes walking where the Kodesh HaKodashim used to be. He laughed because even though ...
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What is the source for the view that the Third Temple will be built by G-d and transported intact to Jerusalem?
I understand that there is a tradition that the Third Temple, may it come swiftly, will be built in Heaven and delivered intact to Jerusalem by G-d when the Messiah comes. What is the source for this ...
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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 ...
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Should Cohanim and Levi'im prioritize their knowledge and study of sacrificial laws, today?
My understanding of Mashi'ach related to this question:
According to one of Maimonides's principles, we are to expect it to come at any time
The Temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices will be offered, ...
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Was the fast of Tisha B'av in effect during the second temple era? [duplicate]
As the Beis Hamikdash was rebuilt at that time was the fast of Tisha B'Av in effect during the Second Temple Era?
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Why was the second Beit HaMikdash destroyed?
What reasons are given in Talmudic and Midrashic literature as to why the second Beit HaMikdash was destroyed?