Jews Begin Building Third Temple on Israel Independence Day

JEWS BEGIN BUILDING THIRD TEMPLE ON ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY. chipping away at stones, preparing them to be used to build the prophesied Third Temple. The event was organized by Rabbi Aryeh Lipo who envisioned it while on his way to the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in March. Lipo ascends to the Temple Mount on a daily basis (when the Israeli police permit Jews to enter) but was deliberating with a friend which was more important: to attend the funeral of a tzaddik (righteous Jew) or to ascend to the Temple Mount. We have a mitzvah (Torah commandment) to build the Temple. This mitzvah is not conditional or time-bound. We have this requirement at all times. So it is a pity that we are not actively engaged in it. Right now, it is politically complicated for us to begin building on the Temple Mount but that does not exempt us from this mitzvah.” Rabbi Lipo realized that it was possible to begin to actually perform this mitzvah by preparing the stones that will be used to build the Third Temple. He explained that Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, the medieval Torah authority known as Maimonides or by the acronym Rambam, taught that the stones for the Temple building were cut outside of the Temple Mount and transported to the Temple Mount. Once on the Temple Mount, it was forbidden to use iron tools to form the stones. It was, of course, forbidden to use iron tools at any stage to form the stones for the altar. As an aside, Rabbi Lipo has already begun collecting stones for the altar. Rabbi Lipo cited Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook who, in 1937, wrote an article relating to Ezekiel’s vision of the Jews’ return to Zion: And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh; Ezekiel 36:26 “There are hearts and there are hearts,” Rabbi Kook wrote. “There are human hearts, and there are hearts of stone. There are stones and there are stones. There are silent stones, and there are stones which are hearts. These stones, remnants of our dwelling on high, “retain their holiness even in desolation” (Megillah 3:3) In order to perform the mitzvah properly, Rabbi Lipo had to consult with several rabbis who were expert in issues concerning the Temple. Because of its politically sensitive nature, an aspect some rabbis consider when ruling about the Tempe Mount and Third Temple, there are normally vastly divergent views regarding such issues. “All of the rabbis we consulted agreed that we should begin preparing the stones,” Lipo said “This wasn’t just a physical action to produce dressed stones. We had to be very careful about our intentions. Of course, this was not a political statement. The intention was to unify the Jews and all of the world in making God One and His Name One.” It was for this reason that they chose to begin forming the stones for the Third Temple on Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. Rabbi Lipo cited commentaries that explained that when God appeared to Moses at the burning bush, He told Moses that the reason for bringing the Jews out was in order to serve Him in Jerusalem: And He said, “I will be with you; that shall be your sign that it was I who sent you. And when you have freed the people from Egypt, you shall worship Hashem at this mountain.” Exodus 3:12 As for the builders, each had his sword girded at his side as he was building. The trumpeter stood beside me. Nehemiah 4:12 “Third Temple, as prophesied and as commanded.” The current situation in which Israel is a beautifully developed country while the Temple Mount is under the control of the Palestinians is similar to the situation described by the Prophet Haggai: Is it a time for you to dwell in your paneled houses, while this House is lying in ruins? Haggai 1:4