Steinman was cited by the Nobel committee for his discoveries about the immune system. A statement from Rockefeller University in New York, where the cell biologist had carried out his research since 1970, said Steinman had been treated with immunotherapy based on his discovery of dendritic cells. These cells help regulate adaptive immunity, an immune system response that purges invading micro-organisms from the body.

“He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer four years ago, and his life was extended using a dendritic-cell based immunotherapy of his own design,” the university said. Steinman, recently given a gleaming new lab in his role as head of Rockefeller University’s Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases, has received many recognitions for his work, including the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2007 and the Canadian Gairdner Award in 2003.

“For several years, we’ve been wondering and hoping that Ralph Steinman might be winning the Nobel Prize, and today when I heard that he won it, I was delighted,” said Dr. Lorne Tyrrell of the University of Alberta, chair of the Gairdner Foundation board that selected him as a winner. And then I felt cheated and it was such a cruel turn of fate to find out that he passed away on Friday, because I think nothing would have made him happier near the end of his life, to have heard that he won the Nobel Prize,” Tyrrell said from Kyoto, Japan, where he was attending a conference.

Dr. John Dirks, Gairdner Foundation president and scientific director, said Steinman was a great researcher who knew his science and critiqued it well. “He liked Canada a lot, loved Canada, his family is still here in large part and just a great person and almost an ideal image of a creative scientist,” Dirks said in an interview from Japan. “We’ll miss him in every respect. I can’t imagine how sad this is just a few minutes before everyone hears of this great honour and the next moment we realize that he died over the weekend.”

Alan Bernstein, a fellow Canadian who got to know Steinman during his 3 1/2-year tenure as head of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise in New York, said he was shocked and saddened to hear of the death of his friend and colleague. Bernstein said Steinman took him under his scientific wing when he first arrived in New York in 2008 and the two would celebrate Canada Day together each year. “Ralph was a wonderful human being, so his passing, aside from the Nobel, is very sad news indeed. He was a very warm-hearted individual, very open.”

Steinman’s discovery dates back to 1973, when he found a new cell type, the dendritic cell, which has a unique capacity to activate T-cells. Those cells have a key role in adaptive immunity, when antibodies and killer cells fight infections. They also develop a memory that helps the immune system mobilize its defences next time it comes under a similar attack.

The Nobel committee also cited Beutler and Hoffmann for their discoveries in the 1990s of receptor proteins that can recognize bacteria and other micro-organisms as they enter the body, and activate the first line of defence in the immune system, known as innate immunity.

The trio’s discoveries have enabled the development of improved vaccines against infectious diseases. In the long term they could also yield better treatments of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and chronic inflammatory diseases, Hansson said.

The discoveries have helped scientists understand why the immune system sometimes attacks its own tissues, paving the way for new ways to fight inflammatory diseases, Hansson said. “They have made possible the development of new methods for preventing and treating disease, for instance with improved vaccines against infections and in attempts to stimulate the immune system to attack tumours,” the committee said. No vaccines are on the market yet, but Hansson said that vaccines against hepatitis are in the pipeline. “Large clinical trials are being done today,” he said.

Beutler, 53, is professor of genetics and immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, Calif. Hoffmann, 70, headed a research laboratory in Strasbourg, France, between 1974 and 2009 and served as president of the French National Academy of Sciences between 2007-2008.

Hoffmann’s discovery came in 1996 during research on how fruit flies fight infections. Two years later, Beutler’s research on mice showed that fruit flies and mammals activate innate immunity in similar ways when attacked by germs.

Dr. Steinman was a great scientist. The 68-year-old physician had managed to prolong his own life using a new dendritic cell-based immunotherapy of his own design based on the same research that last year contributed to the launch of the world’s first vaccine to kill tumours. The research is now being used to create a vaccine against hepatitis.

U.S. citizen Bruce Beutler was the second Jewish scientist to be awarded the 2011 Nobel prize for medicine Monday. Beutler, 53, is based at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Beutler and Luxembourg-born biologist Jules Hoffman, 70, studied the first stages of immune responses to attack. The two scientists will share half of the $1.5 million award. It is not clear what will happen with the other half, which was to go to Steinman.

“This year’s Nobel laureates have revolutionized our understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation,” the award panel at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said in a statement in Stockholm.

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Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for a discovery that faced skepticism and mockery, even prompting his expulsion from his research team, before it won widespread acceptance as a fundamental breakthrough. Shechtman, a 70-year-old distinguished professor at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

Shechtman, also is professor of materials science and engineering at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. While doing research in the U.S. in 1982, Shechtman discovered a new chemical structure; “quasicrystals”, that researchers previously thought was impossible. He was studying a mix of aluminum and manganese in an electron microscope when he found the atoms were arranged in a pattern, similar to one in some traditional Islamic mosaics that never repeated itself and appeared contrary to the laws of nature. He concluded that science was wrong but it would take years for him and other researchers to prove that he was right.
Since then, quasicrystals have been produced in laboratories and a Swedish company found them in one of the most durable kinds of steel, which is now used in products such as razor blades and thin needles made specifically for eye surgery, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated. Quasicrystals are also being studied for use in new materials that convert heat to electricity. They were first discovered in nature in Russia in 2009.

Despite the initial reluctance in the scientific community to accept his discovery, it “fundamentally altered how chemists conceive of solid matter,” the academy stated in its citation for the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award. In chemical terms, a crystal is traditionally defined as a regular and repeating arrangement of atoms within a material. A quasicrystal presents a pattern that scientists had thought was impossible. The pattern of atoms within a material influences the material’s physical properties.

“His battle eventually forced scientists to reconsider their conception of the very nature of matter,” the academy stated.Nancy B. Jackson, president of the American Chemical Society called Shechtman’s discovery “one of these great scientific discoveries that go against the rules.” When Shechtman announced it, other experts hesitated. “People didn’t think that this kind of crystal existed,” she stated. “They thought it was against the rules of nature.”

Only later did some scientists go back to some of their own inexplicable findings and realized they had seen quasicrystals but not realized what they had, Jackson said. Staffan Normark, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy stated Shechtman’s discovery was one of the few Nobel Prize-winning achievements that can be dated to a single day.

Crystallographers always believed that all crystals have rotational symmetry, so that when they are rotated, they look the same. On April 8, 1982, while on a sabbatical at the U.S. National Bureau of Standards and Technology in Washington, D.C., Shechtman first observed crystals with 10 points, pentagonal symmetry, which most scientists said was impossible.

“I told everyone who was ready to listen that I had material with pentagonal symmetry. People just laughed at me,” Shechtman stated in a description of his work released by his university. For months he tried to persuade his colleagues of his find, but they refused to accept it. Finally he was asked to leave his research group, and moved to another one within the institute.

Shechtman returned to Israel, where he found one colleague prepared to work with him on an article describing the phenomenon. The article was at first rejected, but finally published in November 1984 to uproar in the scientific world. Double Nobel winner Linus Pauling was among those who never accepted the findings.

In 1987, friends of Shechtman in France and Japan succeeded in growing crystals large enough for x-rays to repeat and verify what he had discovered with the electron microscope. “It borders on art,” academy member Sara Snogerup Linse said of the quasicrystal patterns. “Humans have created similar patterns in macroscopic scale with the help of ceramic tiles, quilts, etc. But what was new was that it was found also in the world of molecules and atoms.”

Cesar Pay Gomez, a structural chemistry expert at Uppsala University in Sweden and an adviser to the prize committee, said research on quasicrystals is ongoing “in the field of thermal-electric applications, where waste heat can be converted to electrical currents or energy.”

The Nobel Prize in chemistry announcement capped this year’s science awards.

U.S.-born scientists Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess won the physics prize for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace.

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One of Israel’s sources of pride is the enormous number of inventions and innovations that have taken root on its soil over 63 years — despite challenges of geography, size and diplomacy. The ever-churning Israeli mind has brought us drip irrigation, the cherry tomato, the electric car grid, the Disk-on-Key and much more.

Through December at the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, 45 indispensable Israeli inventions are being displayed and demonstrated. Curator Varda Gur Ben-Sheetrit tells ISRAEL21c that hundreds of ingenious inventions were considered for Inventions, Inc., which offers visitors a chance to learn more and try their own hand at coming up with something new.

She emphasizes that many other Israeli inventions are deserving of being included. “We were, of course, constrained by space limitations, and also not every company we invited to exhibit responded,” she says.

Another feature of the exhibition is the Transparent Studio, where graduates of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design conduct a course on innovation in the area of light and lighting design. Visitors can observe their work-in-progress and share their ideas and suggestions with the designers.

Here, ISRAEL21c gives Israel’s top 45 inventions highlighted at the exhibition, in no particular order.

1. Given Imaging, a world leader in developing and marketing patient-friendly solutions for visualizing and detecting disorders of the GI tract, is best known for its PillCam (aka capsule endoscopy), now the gold standard for intestinal visualization.

2. Netafim is a worldwide pioneer in smart drip and micro-irrigation, starting from the idea of Israeli engineer Simcha Blass for releasing water in controlled, slow drips to provide precise crop irrigation. The kibbutz-owned company operates in 112 countries with 13 factories throughout the world.

3. Ormat Technologies designs, develops, builds, owns, manufactures and operates geothermal power plants worldwide, supplying clean geothermal power in more than 20 countries.

4. Pythagoras Solar makes the world’s first solar window, which combines energy efficiency, power generation and transparency. This transparent photovoltaic glass unit can be easily integrated into conventional building design and construction processes.

5. Hazera Genetics, a project of two professors at the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture, yielded the cherry tomato — a tasty salad fixing that ripens slowly and doesn’t rot in shipment.

6. BabySense is a non-touch, no-radiation device designed to prevent crib death. Made by HiSense, the device monitors a baby’s breathing and movements through the mattress during sleep. An auditory and visual alarm is activated if breathing ceases for more than 20 seconds or if breath rate slows to less than 10 breaths per minute.

7. EpiLady, the first electric hair remover (epilator), secured its leading position in the international beauty care market and since 1986 has sold almost 30 million units.

8. 3G Solar pioneered a low-cost alternative to silicon that generates significantly more electricity than leading silicon-based PV solar modules at a lower cost per kilowatt hour.

9. MobileEye combines a tiny digital camera with sophisticated algorithms to help drivers navigate more safely. The steering system-linked device sounds an alert when a driver is about to change lanes inadvertently, warns of an impending forward collision and detects pedestrians. MobileEye has deals with GM, BMW and Volvo, among others.

10. Leviathan Energy innovated the Wind Tulip, a cost-effective, silent, vibration-free wind turbine designed as an aesthetic environmental sculpture, producing clean energy at high efficiency from any direction.

11. Rav Bariach introduced the steel security door that has become Israel’s standard. Its geometric lock, whose cylinders extend from different points into the doorframe, is incorporated into doors selling on five continents.

12. BriefCam video-synopsis technology lets viewers rapidly review and index original full-length video footage by concurrently showing multiple objects and activities that actually occurred at different times. This technology drastically cuts the time and manpower involved in event tracking, forensics and evidence discovery.

13. GridON makes the Keeper, a three-phase fault current limiter developed at Bar-Ilan University. The device, which blocks current surges and limits the current for as long as required to clear the fault, won an Innovation Award from General Electric’s Ecomagination Challenge and is of interest to major utilities companies around the world.

14. Better Place electric car network, Israeli Shai Agassi’s brainchild, is implementing the Israeli pilot that will provide a model for a worldwide electric car grid.

15. Intel Israel changed the face of the computing world with the 8088 processor (the “brain” of the first PC), MMX and Centrino mobile technology. Israeli engineers at Intel in the 1990s had to convince skeptical bosses to take a chance on MMX technology, an innovation designed to improve computer processing. It’s now considered a milestone in the company’s history.

16. Disk-on-Key, the ubiquitous little portable storage device made by SanDisk, was invented by Dov Moran as an upgraded version of disk and diskette technology through the use of flash memory and USB interface for connection to personal computers.

17. TACount real-time microbiology enables the detection and counting of harmful microorganisms in a matter of minutes, rather than the conventional method of cell culture that takes several hours to a few days. The technology applies to the fields of drinking and wastewater, pharmaceuticals and food and beverage production.

18. Solaris Synergy innovated an environmentally friendly and economically beneficial way to float solar panels on water instead of taking up valuable land, generating energy while protecting and limiting evaporation from reservoir surfaces.

19. HydroSpin is developing a unique internal pipe generator that supplies electricity for water monitoring and control systems in remote areas and sites without accessibility to electricity.

20. The Volcani Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development aims to improve existing agricultural production systems and to introduce new products, processes and equipment. Basic and applied research is conducted at six institutes and in two regional research centers by more than 200 scientists and 300 engineers and technicians.

21. Rosetta Green, a 2010 spinoff of the agro-biotechnology division of Rosetta Genomics, develops improved plant traits for the agriculture and biofuel industries, using unique genes called microRNAs.

22. Mazor Robotics’ Spine Assist and other surgical robots are transforming spine surgery from freehand procedures to highly accurate, state-of-the-art operations with less need for radiation.

23. The optical heartbeat monitor developed by Bar-Ilan University’s Prof. Ze’ev Zalevsky is a revolutionary medical technology using a fast camera and small laser light source.

24. Elya Recycling developed and patented an innovative method for recycling plastic based on a specialized formulation of natural ingredients. Making the new raw material for handbags, reusable totes and lumber products requires 50 percent less energy than current recycling methods and 83% less energy than virgin manufacturing.

25. Like-A-Fish unique air supply systems extract air from water, freeing leisure and professional scuba divers, as well as submarines and underwater habitats, from air tanks.

26. Itamar Medical’s WatchPAT is an FDA-approved portable diagnostic device for the follow-up treatment of sleep apnea in the patient’s own bedroom, rather than at a sleep disorders clinic.

27. Zenith Solar developed a modular, easily scalable high-concentration photovoltaic system (HCPV). The core technology is based on a unique, proprietary optical design to extract the maximum energy with minimal real estate.

28. AFC (Active Flow Control) was developed at Tel Aviv University as an intelligent gas-air mixing system to replace all existing mixing technologies.

29. The Space Imagery Intelligence (IMINT) unit of Elbit Systems makes a “space camera,” a compact, lightweight electro-optic observation system for government, commercial and scientific applications.

30. Turbulence, the world’s first hyper-narrative, interactive movie, is also the name of the company developed by Prof. Nitzan Ben-Shaul of Tel Aviv University. The technology allows the viewer to choose the direction of the film’s plot by pressing buttons on the PC, Mac or iPad at various moments in the action.

31. Decell Technologies is a global leader in providing real-time road traffic information based on monitoring the location and movement of phones and GPS devices. Swift-i Traffic, Decell’s premium product, is incorporated in leading navigation systems, fleet management services, mapping operations and media channels in several countries.

32. NDS VideoGuard technology is the pay-TV industry’s advanced suite of conditional access (CA) solutions. It protects branded service from piracy and ensures that consumers will have the choice and flexibility they demand in broadcast and on-demand content.

33. PrimeSense revolutionizes interaction with digital devices by allowing them to “see” in three dimensions and transfer control from remote controls and joysticks to hands and body. It is the leading business provider of low-cost, high-performance 3D machine vision technologies for the consumer market.

34. Takadu provides monitoring software to leading water utilities worldwide. The product offers real-time detection and control over network events such as leaks, bursts, zone breaches and inefficiencies

35. Hewlett Packard (HP)’s Indigo digital printing presses for general commercial printing, direct mail, photos and photobooks, publications, labels, business cards, flexible packaging and folding cartons print without films and plates, allowing for personalized short runs and changing text and images without stopping the press.

36. Cubital’s solid rapid prototyping machines craft 3D models of engineering parts directly from designs on a computer screen. They’re used in the automotive, aerospace, consumer products and medical industries, as well as engineering firms and academic and research institutions.

37. The Zomet Institute in Jerusalem is a non-profit, public research institute where rabbis, researchers and engineers devise practical solutions for modern life without violating Sabbath restrictions on the use of electricity. Zomet technology is behind metal detectors, security jeeps, elevators, electric wheelchairs and coffee machines that can be used on Shabbat, as well as solutions requested by the Israeli ministries of health and defense, Ben-Gurion Airport, Elite Foods, Tnuva Dairies, Israeli Channel 10 Television and others.

38. The EarlySense continuous monitoring solution allows hospital nurses to watch and record patients’ heart rate, respiration and movement remotely through a contact-free sensor under the mattress. The system’s built-in tools include a wide range of reports on the status of patients, including alerts for falls and bedsore prevention.

39. TourEngine significantly reduces fuel consumption and harmful emissions by common engines through a sophisticated thermal management strategy. It can also be easily integrated with future hybrid engines, further improving their efficiency and environment-friendly attributes.

40. The superconducting fault current limiter (FCL), designed for limiting short currents, comes out of a $2 million project developed over two years by RICOR Cryogenics and Vacuum Systems with the Institute of Superconductivity at Bar-Ilan University.

41. Heliofocus led an industry trend to provide solar-energy boosting for existing coal or gas power plants, reducing carbon emissions and overall costs.

42. Transbiodiesel makes enzyme-based catalysts (biocatalysts) used in the production of biodiesel.

43. SolarEdge makes a module that optimizes every link in the solar PV chain, maximizing energy production while monitoring constantly to detect faults and prevent theft.

44. The 3D tethered particle motion system developed by three professors at Bar-Ilan allows for three-dimensional tracking of critical protein-DNA and protein-RNA cell interactions in the body.

45. Panoramic Power provides a current monitor solution that enables enterprises and organizations to reduce their operational and energy expenses using a breakthrough power flow visibility platform.

Three groups of heavenly angels stand in the judgment on Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Yossi taught that three groups enter [for judgment] on the Day of Judgment: the group of the completely righteous, the group of the completely wicked, and the group of those in between [known as "beinonim"].

Corresponding to these, there are three powers in a person: the power of the holy Neshama [relating to the righteous who empower their soul to control their body], the power of lust and desires [relating to the wicked who empower their lust-driven illusions to defeat the desire of their holy soul], and the power to prevent wrongdoing [relating to the beinonim].

What is the power to prevent wrongdoing? Rabbi Yehuda explained that this is a power that grows and prevents the body from achieving all its requirements.

The third group, the beinonim, is controlled by the nature of their bodies. This nature dictates to them what they think they need to do. Their failure is that they don’t bring the actions so generated, such as eating and talking etc. which are not forbidden, into the realm of the holy.

Rabbi Yossi ben Pazzi said: Come and see the mercy shown by the Holy One Blessed Be He. Even though the heavenly court comes to stand in judgment [for misdeeds] and to judge the Creation, there also appear those who give evidence before Him of a person’s merits and [not just] misdeeds.

Rabbi Yossi ben Pazzi taught that three groups of heavenly angels stand in the judgment on Rosh Hashanah. There are those that give evidence on the good that a person has done on the side of his merits. And there are those that show his bad deeds to the side of his guilt [and the third group is to execute the judgment].

The mystics write that as the sun sets before Rosh Hashanah, the universe goes into a comatose state. A slumber descends on all existence; everything comes to a stand-still in cosmic silence, in apprehension of its contract being renewed.

Is existence a form of revelation or a form of concealment?
As the sun sets before Rosh Hashanah and existence hangs in the balance – it’s a good time to review the very nature of this existence that we are part of and whose parameters define our lives. Is existence a form of revelation or a form of concealment?

This is not a mere abstract or esoteric question; it touches on the fundamental nature of our beings. Is the true essence of a human being and of all existence; defined by what is visible to the eye and tangible to the five senses, or is the essence quite invisible, something that cannot be experienced in a revealed state?

In other words: is what we see really a state of revelation, or is it the other way around, what we see is the glove, while the true hand remains hidden within?

The first verse of Genesis: “In the beginning when G-d created heaven and earth,” answers the riddle. The name for G-d used in this verse is “Elokim.” The classic commentator Rashi explains why the name “Havaya” is not used (as in a later verse, Genesis 2:4): “Initially the Divine intention was to create existence with the element of justice, but He perceived that the world would not endure; so He preceded it with the element of compassion, blending it with the element of justice.”

…why did G-d initially consider creating it that way…

What is the meaning of this explanation? Since the world could not endure on justice alone, why did G-d initially consider creating it that way; and only later did He decide to integrate the element of compassion? And what exactly is the meaning of ‘justice’ and ‘compassion’?

Justice (Elokim) refers to the concealment of the Divine omnipresence which was a prerequisite for existence to come into being. As long as the Divine reality is all consuming, there is no room for any other consciousness to emerge. Explains the great mystic, Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal of Tsfat), in his revolutionary tzimtzum doctrine, that the Divine presence (i.e. light) was concealed in a type of cosmic “black hole,” which allowed for the emergence of the conscious, independent personality of existence as we know it. Like a teacher with an infinitely greater mind than his student conceals his brilliance in order to allow “space” for the student to contain the ideas on his limited terms.

This tzimtzum/concealment is a called justice (din and gevurah), which withholds, measures and limits the transmission. By contrast, compassion (Havaya) activates the flow of energy and light.

Without this concealment an independent existence can never come to be.
Now we can understand the meaning of Rashi’s words: The basis of all existence is rooted in the element of “justice”, which concentrates and conceals the Divine light. Without this concealment an independent existence can never come to be. Thus, genesis begins that the universe was created with the name Elokim. However, G-d recognized the far-reaching consequences of a universe whose engine is strict justice and concealment. He therefore infused into the tzimtzum an element of compassion – ingrained in the concealment is the purpose that it must bring light.

When a great teacher conceals the full intensity of his mind he does so not as an end in itself, but as a means to convey the idea to the student. In other words, the concealment (justice) itself is ultimately an expression of compassion, allowing the student to absorb the wisdom.

So too, the concealment of the Divine energy (the tzimtzum), so necessary for existence to emerge, is not an end in itself but an act of compassion that will allow us – an autonomous entity – to unite with the Divine, step by step, on our terms.

Here we have the answer to our initial question as to the nature of existence: Existence as we perceive it is actually a state of concealment. The deeper you travel into the intimate recesses of the human spirit the less tangible is the sensation, the fewer are the words, the less defined is the experience.

In other words, the entire nature of existence is turned on its head, upside down and inside out: Our sensation of the revealed is actually a state of concealment, and that what is concealed is the true state of revelation. The visible is an artificial cover, and the invisible is true reality. This existence as we know it, as we perceive and experience it merely a shell, the surface layer that shrouds what lies behind the curtain.

And the journey and purpose of our lives is not to be distracted by the outer mechanics, not to be deluded into thinking that there is nothing more than the outer shell. The objective of life is to weaken the hold of the concealment (justice) and reveal the compassion and revelation within.

No person is immune to the forces of “justice” in this dark world. Our challenge is not to be overcome by the severer moments of life, and recognize the compassion even in the darker moments. Knowing that compassion is imbued into the very fabric of existence (or else the world could not have endured), becomes an eternal source of hope, giving us the strength to overcome any challenge.

This is one of the main themes of Rosh Hashanah, when we celebrate the birthday of the universe and its crown-jewel, the human being.

G-d said it. G-d proclaimed it in the Bible which all 3 major religions of the world concur is divine and true. (Genesis 12:3) “And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed”. These words are there in black and white, as plain as day, ‘the blessing and the curse’.

Inside The Dome Of The Rock

The Temple
A. The purpose of this class is to present information about the holy Temple in order to make it more real and understandable, to demystify the Temple, to help us realize it was a historical fact and an integral part of Jewish life and religion.

The aim is to encourage knowledge and appreciation for the role of the Temple, to appreciate its greatness, to feel its loss, and to promote its return through raising the awareness and consciousness of the past and the future and to bridge these in the present.

B. The Temple and the Temple services are an integral part of our daily lives as Jews even today:

1. In prayer: in the shmone esre we pray for the return of the Temple and its service. In the Yom Kippur service we vicariously relive the Kohen Gadol’s service to attain atonement for Am Yisrael. Every Shabbat and Holiday we recall the offerings brought for the community at the Temple.

2. Holidays: Chanukah is based on the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the Menorah. Succot we celebrate at the Simchat Beit HaShoeva and the Arava as a remembrance of the Temple Service. On Pesach we eat the Matza and Maror through lacking the Korbon Pesach lamb which was eaten with it. On the Ninth of Av we mourn and fast in commemoration of the loss of the Temple and in longing for its rebuilding.

3. Other: At weddings we break a glass to recall that our joy is not complete while the Temple is still unbuilt. The Kotel, the Western Wall is the focus of our attention, the place where we aim all our payers, the remaining remnant of the Temple.

C. The study of the Temple and the Temple service

A major portion of the written Torah deals exclusively with the Temple service. The book of Vayikra and the second half of the book of Shemot deal almost exclusively with the vessels, participants and procedure of the service. A complete order of the Mishna and Talmud Seder Kodshim is concerned with the details of the Service. Our Sages tell us that the study of the Temple service is equivalent to its actual performance. In the learning about the Temple, we demonstrate a longing for its restoration and the final redemption of our people.

The Importance of the Temple

1. The importance of the Temple to the Jewish People and the world cannot be overestimated. The Temple Service served as the focus of Jewish life from the time of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, a period of approximately 1,500 years.

2. The Temple was the national judicial, social and religious center of the Jewish People. The Temple complex on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem served as the seat of the great Sanhedrin which was the supreme court and source of Torah decisions (It was under the supervision of the Nasi and Av Beit Din, the elders of the court). The Temple Service itself was under the authority of the Kohen Gadol, the high priest. He headed an elaborate hierarchy of officials charged with the proper carrying out of the Temple service.

3. If the nations of the world had only known how much they needed the Temple, they would have surrounded it with armed fortresses to protect it (Midrash B’midbar).

4. The Holy Temple was part of the blueprint of creation. As it was described in the vision of Ya’akov Avinu, the Patriarch Jacob, who saw a ladder joining the earth to the heavens, the Temple serves as a gateway to the heavenly realm.

5. The Temple mystically confirmed to the image of a man. The Holy of Holiness – containing the Holy Ark, the source of Torah wisdom – corresponds to the human mind. The Menorah, a source of light, symbolizing enlightenment, corresponds to the right eye. The Shulchan, the table which held the showbread representing material sustenance, corresponds to the left eye.

The Golden Altar, upon which incense was offered, representing pleasantness in relationships, corresponds to the nose. The entrance way to the Heichel, where the Kohanim stood to give the blessing, represents the mouth. And it might be added that the outer Mizbayach, the Altar upon which offerings were burnt, corresponds to the stomach of a man.

6. The Temple and service accomplished four general purposes: one, to purify man from sin and achieve atonement; two, to bring him closer to his Creator; three, to elevate him to a level of inspiration and even prophesy; four, to be a source of Divine Blessing for all those involved in the Service and for the world at large.

7. The Temple – Mikdash was a spiritual entity in the physical world. Through the Temple service, an individual could attain forgiveness and atonement through the process of bringing an offering. Now, when we do not have the Temple service, we can attain atonement through t’shuva combined with prayer and Torah study. The bringing of sacrifices, was a direct and more certain means of achieving atonement and immediate relationship to the Creator.

8. The Temple was the House of God, where God’s presence was readily available to all those who sought Him. There was daily manifestation of the Divine Presence through miracles – the suspension of the “laws of nature” for all to see. Throughout the First Temple era, a lamp of the menorah stayed lit continually and the altar fire had the actual form of a crouching lion. Even in the Second Temple, when the supernatural level was less, even then ten miracles were seen constantly. The Temple was the terrestrial place of the Almighty, with His presence more concentrated there than anywhere in the world. It was in essence the embassy of Heaven on Earth.

9. Without the Temple, life is fundamentally different. With its destruction, even physical nature changed. The Sages of the Talmud, some of whom lived during both the time of the Temple and after its destruction, relate that the fruits now lack their full taste, the sky is not its true colour, and the full beauty of music and song have been lost. Most tragically, the spiritual levels of the Jewish People – and mankind as a whole – have been greatly diminished.

10. Even today the Temple and its service form an essential focus of our daily Jewish religious life. Our prayers, holidays and Torah learning are deeply imbued with the remembrance of the Temple and our longing for its restoration. For example, in the Amidah prayer, we pray for the return of the Temple and its service. The holidays of Pesach, Succot, Chanukah and the Ninth of Av are all closely related to the Temple. Of the five books of the Torah, Vayikra and half of the book of Shemot (Leviticus and Exodus) deal primarily with the Temple service.

11. Our prophets have related God’s promise that the Temple will once again be restored, thus returning the service to its proper central position in Jewish life. Study and concern with the Temple service is therefore not only a meaningful study of the past, it is a necessary preparation for the future.

“Build for Me a Mikdash…”

A. “Make for Me a Mikdash and I will dwell among you.” Shemot 25:8

1. This Mitzvah included the construction of the Mishkan, the portable tabernacle in the desert, the three places it dwelt temporarily in the Land of Israel, and its final dwelling place on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

2. 410, the duration of the First Temple; “and the second (Temple) 420 (years)”

B. “And it shall be the place which the Lord your God shall choose therein to dwell, there you shall bring all which I command to you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and your first fruits, and all vows which you shall make to the Lord.” (Devorim 12:11)

C. Three times each year all of the nation came to celebrate together at the Temple in Jerusalem: Pesach, Shevuot and Succot.

Aspects of the Mikdash

A. Mikdash – The place of God’s most concentrated presence

1. Literally meaning the “holy house” or the “house which makes holy”; that is, it elevates the material level to a spiritual level.

2. Metaphysical, supernatural, above nature. A place above nature, above time and space

3. The connecting point between the upper and lower worlds.

4. The place of the Holy Ark, the Menorah, the Golden Table, the Incense Altar. Heavenly music, Beautiful Fragrance, Holy Light, Divine Fire.

B. The Outer Altar used in the service of Korban , animal offerings

1. Definition of Korban : means attaining closeness to the Creator. Not sacrifice which entails personal loss. Not offering which entails open personal choice.

2. Mitzvah: very precise Divine instructions which had to be followed exactly as commanded.

3. The meaning of attaining atonement for individuals and for the nation.

4. Unification of all elements of creation: animal, vegetable and mineral.

5. Pleasing fragrance: supreme satisfaction of Hashem from His people doing His will. God does not need the service. We do.

History of the Temple and the Temple Services

A. From the beginning, the Temple Mount was recognized as the center of the universe.

1. Berashit: Bara Sheet, the foundation stone from which the creation began.

2. Adam HaRishon created from the matter of the place where he himself offered to God at the place.

3. Cain and Avel: Avel brought from the best of his flock as an offering whereas Cain brought poorer quality vegetation.

4. Noah, after the flood, offered thanksgiving from the extra kosher animals which he brought with him on the ark.

5. Shem ben Noah, also known as Malki-Tzedek, was a Cohen of God in Jerusalem

B. The fathers of the Jewish people.

1. Avraham
a) The tent of Avraham and Sara was a model for the Temple to come. A cloud of glory which represented the Shechina’s presence over the Holy Ark. Their candles stayed lit all week, similar to the Menorah in the Temple. The bread which Sara baked stayed fresh all week like the showbread on the table of the Temple.
b) Avraham was commanded by God to bring up his son Yitzchak to the place which God revealed to him, which was the Temple Mount, Har Moriah. Having fulfilled the command of God to bring Yitzhak up and having shown his willingness even to take his life, if that would be God’s will, Avraham was them told to take Yitzhak down from the Altar. A ram was offered in his place.
c) When Avraham was chosen by God to be the father of the Godly nation, a covenant was made. The procedure through which the covenant was made was that Avraham was required to sacrifice animals and pass through their parts. This procedure established the importance of animal offerings.

2. Yitzhak
a) He allowed himself to be bound to the Altar and though he was not slaughtered, the Midrash relates, that symbolically, the ashes of Yitzhak remain on the altar forever.

3. Ya’akov
a) While sleeping on the Temple Mount, he had the dream of the ladder, reaching into the heavens symbolic of the Temple Service. He saw in his vision the destroyed Holy Temple being restored to its full protection.
b) The stones of the place gathered around Ya’akov and these were to be the foundation of the Altar.

C. Sinai

1. The Midrash relates that Har Moriah was transferred to Mt. Sinai for the revelation of the Torah.

2. The people camped at Mt. Sinai in three divisions. In the center was the presence of the Shechinah. Around that was the camp of the families of the tribe of Levi and around that was the camp of the tribes of Israel. This arrangement was the model for the traveling in the desert, camped around the Mishkan. It also is the model for the Temple complex: within the walls of Jerusalem is the equivalent to the camp of the tribes of Israel. The Temple Mount is equivalent to the camp of the Levites, and the Temple building and inner courtyard is equivalent to the camp of the Shechinah.

D. The Mishkan – Tabernacle

1. The building of the Mishkan, the portable Temple, was commanded in the first year after the Exodus. It was inaugurated on the first of Nissan of the second year after the Exodus.

2. A detailed description of the construction and the functioning of the service of the Mishkan are found in the books of Shemot and Vayikra.

3. Aharon, the brother of Moshe, and his sons were appointed Kohanim to serve in the Mishkan.

4. For 40 years, the Jewish people traveled in the desert with the Mishkan in their center.

E. Into Eretz Yisrael

1. 440 years before the Temple was built in Jerusalem the settling of the Land occurred by tribes and the rulership of the judges.

2. Gilgal 14, Shilo 369, Nov 13, Gibon 44 years.

F. The First Temple

1. King David purchased the site of Mount Moriah after being informed by prophecy as to the location of the Temple. He prepared materials for the construction of the Temple and laid and sanctified its foundations.

2. King Solomon, David’s son, gathered materials and constructed the First Temple.

3. The First Temple lasted 410 years. It was inaugurated and became one of he wonders of the ancient world.

4. Near the end of the Temple, under threat of destruction, the Holy Ark and other Temple vessels were hidden below the Temple Mount.

5. The Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia for 70 years.

G. The Second Temple

1. The Second Temple was built with permission of the Persian rulers under the leadership of Nechemia and Ezra.

2. The level of Presence of God was lower in the Second Temple than in the first.

3. Midway through the 420 year history of the Second Temple, the Macabbees, the family of the Hashmonaim, led a revolt to free the Temple from Greek influence and re-established the Temple Service and resanctified the area which had become defiled.

4. Approximately 100 years before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, Herod rebuilt and refurbished the Temple and the Temple Mount. It is the Herodian walls which surround the Temple Mount which we see today.

5. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans and plowed over in fulfillment of the fateful prophesy.

6. Since the destruction, the Romans, the Byzantine Christians, the early Muslims, the Christian Crusaders. and once again, the Muslims have occupied the Temple Mount.

H. The Third Temple

1. The prophecy of Ezekiel contains a detailed description of the future Temple.

2. The command to build a Temple is still in effect. If it is not built before then, it will be the task of Mashiach to rebuild the Temple.

3. Presently we lack prophesy to determine the exact place of the altar which is necessary for the restoration of the Temple service.

4. We are promised, however, that the Temple service will be restored, that the glory of God will once again be clear to all, and the Temple will stand once again in its place.

I. Now

1. Now we are nearly 2,000 without the Temple, Jewish existence is an unnatural one. The exile has been long and bitter. Without the Temple we are lacking unity as a nation as well as the clear Presence of God. Without the Temple, we have no peace, no security, and reduced prosperity.

2. The Temple Mount is presently occupied by strangers. In 1967, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were liberated by the Jewish people. However, jurisdiction was given back to the Muslims and the opportunity to re-establish the Temple was temporarily lost.

3. The re-establishment of the Temple and the service therein depends on the uplifting of the spiritual level of the Jewish people and the world.

4. Presently, we must feel the loss of the Temple as a personal loss, as the Talmud relates, “one who mourns the loss of the Temple will rejoice in its restoration”. Our sages teach that the learning of the Temple and its service accomplish a degree of atonement that was accomplished by the services itself and brings closer the days of its restoration

1. The Site and Pattern of the Temple

The Mikdash, the Holy Temple, was situated on the top of Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. The site of the Temple was revealed to King David through prophesy. We purchased the land and prepared the foundation for the First Temple which was built and inaugurated by King Solomon. Jewish tradition relates that the Temple site was the starting point of Creation and the source of the material fo the first man. At this place, offerings were brought by Adam, Kain and Abel, and Noah, after the flood. Abraham brought up and bound his son on the Altar in this place and it was Abraham who gave it the name Moriah.

The Temple Complex consists of the Temple building and its courtyards at its center, surrounded by the Temple Mount that was surrounded by the walls of Jerusalem. The pattern of the levels of holiness of the Temple complex is based upon the model established at Mount Sinai at the receiving of the Torah. At the center was the Shechina – the Divine Presence. Located closest to the mountain was the tribe of Levi, and further back were the people of Israel.

This is also the pattern in which the tribes camped and travelled in the forty years before their entry into the Land of Isael. The Mishkan, the Tabernacle containing the Holy Ark, was in the center. The families of the tribe of Levi camped on the four sides around the Mishkan and the twelve tribes of Israel, three tribes in each direction, camped around them.

The Temple Building and the Inner Courtyard repesent the camp of the Divine Presence. The Temple Mount, a 500 square cubit area ( a cubit is approximately half a meter or one and one-half feet) surrounded the Temple, represents the camp of the Levi’im. And the city of Jerusalem within the walls, represents the camp of Israel.

Each area required a high degree of ritual purity. No one afflicted with tzarat, a defiling skin condition, was allowed within the walls of Jerusalem. Within the Temple Mount, no one who was impure through a body emission was allowed until he had purified himself. To enter the Inner Courtyard of the Temple, a person had to purified fom all spiritual impurity including that caused by contact with the dead. Entry into the Heichel, the Temple Building itself, was restricted to Kohanim involved in the service who had purified themselves in a mikve and washed their hands and feet from the Temple washbasin and were dressed in their proper garments.

2. The Temple Mount – Har HaBayit.

In the late Second Temple era, the Temple Mount was extended and the Temple Building and courtyards were embellished by Herod. It is generally this structure which is described in the Mishna and Talmud and by Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived in the time of the Temple. The essential elements and arrangements of the Second Temple were basically the same as in the First Temple, both being based on the Divine instruction to construct the Mishkan and its vessels as described in the Torah. The Third Temple will also maintain the same basic structure and components with some modifications are described in the book of the prophet Ezekiel.

The extended Temple Mount had five major entrance gates. Generally the people entered and walked, always toward the right, to the main entrance into the outer Temple Courtyard, located on the eastern side of the Temple Mount.

Around the walls of the Temple structure was a low wooden fence called the Soreg. No non-Jew or anyone with ritual impurity was allowed to pass beyond this fence. With every increase in closeness to a more sanctified area of the Temple, there was also an increase in the physical elevation. Between the fence and the walls of the courtyard, there were 12 steps with a total rise in elevation of nearly ten feet.

From the east, one entered to the Outer Courtyard or Women’s Courtyard. This Courtyard measured 135 square cubits. Four special chambers were located at its corners. In the northeast corner was the wood storage area, in the southeast corner was the Nazirites’ Chamber, in the northwest corner was the Chamber of the Metzoraim, and in the southwest corner was the oil storage area. The Women’s Courtyard derived its name from the fact that it was there, that the women who came to the Temple assembled. Balconies were constructed to allow the women to view the festivities of the Simcat Beit Hashoeva and to prevent mixing.

3. The Inner Courtyard – The Azorah

The Inner Courtyard was reached through the Niknor Gate which stood atop fifteen semi-circular steps. Built into the wall next to this magnificent polished brass gate was the chamber for the Kohanim’s garments, and on the south side was the chamber for the Preparation of the Kohen Gadol’s special mincha offering.

The Inner Courtyard had the equivalent holiness level of the area within the curtains of the Mishkan. Contained within it was the Heichel – the Temple Building, the Mizbayach – the large outer altar, as well as many other vessels and chambers necessary for the service.

The Azora measured 187 cubits, from its entrance to the wall beyond the Heichel. As a person entered from the Inner Courtyard, he would be facing west, the direction of the Holy of Holies. The first eleven cubits was known as the Courtyard of the Israelites where people could view the service. On the platform which served as the border of this area, the Levi’im stood to sing and play music at the required times during the service. The next area of the Inner Courtyard was the Courtyard of the Kohanim into which only Kohanim generally could enter to perform their required duties.

The central object of the Inner Courtyard was the Mizbayach, the Altar. It stood seventeen cubits high, the height of the two-story building. It was thirty-two cubits square at its base with a large ramp, leading up to its top from its southern side. The Mizbayach had to be situated precisely, resting on the bedrock of Mount Moriah. The altar structure itself was made of perfectly smooth stone. On the top of the Mizbayach were three fireplaces.

The largest was used to consume the sacrificial parts of every Korban . The second fireplace provided the burning coals for the Incense Offering. The third fire burned continually as commanded in the Torah. In the center of the top of the Mizbayach was an area known as the tapuach, the apple, which consisted of the ashes removed from the fireplace and piled high until removed from the Mizbayach. At the Altar’s southwest corner were two receptacles, for the wine and water libations. At the four corners were horns, square protrusions upon which the blood of certain offerings was placed.

On the north side of the altar was the slaughter area. Here rows of rings for holding the animals down, and tables and pillars with hooks were arranged to facilitate in the slaughter, skinning, cutting and cleaning of the Korban .

On the northern side of the inner Courtyard was the Moked, a large domed structure containing four auxiliary chambers. It was here that the Kohanim would sleep. The elders slept on platform steps and the younger Kohanin on mats on the floor. From the Moked, the serving Kohanim could reach through underground tunnels, the toilets and the mikveh for purfication. In the Moked was a fireplace for warmth.

Many other chambers were located at the periphery of the Azora. The most significant of these was the Chamber of Hewn Stone which was the seat of the Great Sanhedrin, the Supreme Torah Court.

Between the Altar and the Heichel building, near the ramp of the Altar, stood the Kiyur, the copper washbasin. Here the Kohanim were required to wash their hands and feet as a necessary preparation for the Avodah. The entire washbasin was immersed in a pool of water every night and raised to the surface every morning with a system of pulleys. This was to keep the water in the washbasin from becoming unfit for use.

Near the west side of the ramp to the Mizbayach stood two tables. One was of silver upon which were placed the 93 vessels which were needed for a normal day’s Avodah. The second table was of marble. Upon it were placed the limbs of the Offerings before they were brought up the ramp to the Altar. At the conclusion of the Tamid service, two Kohanim would stand on this table and blow the silver trumpets signaling the song of the Levi’im and the music to begin.

4. The Temple Building – The Heichel

The Temple Building was a magnificient structure raising one hundred cubits high. In Herodian times, the building was refubished in pure marble and fine wood and gold ornamentation. Twelve wide steps led up to the entrace of the Heichel. Upon these steps, the Kohanim recited the Blessing of the Kohanim every morning as part of the Tamid service. The entrance to the Heichel was flanked by two large columns. A magnificent woven curtain hung at the entranceway.

The Heichel was symbolically shaped like a crouching lion, wide in front and narrowing towards the back. Immediately beyond the entrance was a wide hall or antechamber known as the Ulam. The building narrowed at the entrance to the Kodesh, the Holy Area. This area contained the Menorah, the Incense Altar and the Golden Table and beyond it stood the Holy of Holies.

Great doors opened into the Kodesh area and a tapestry curtain hung there. The windows of the Kodesh consisted of long narrow openings in the walls. The openings were wider on the outside than on the inside, indicating that the light source was within and spread outwards. The Kodesh was forty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and forty cubits high with a ceiling above separting it from the second story.

Only a Kohen with a particular assignment could enter the Kodesh. On the left as he entered, which is the south side of the room, stood the Menorah. In the center and slightly closer to the entrance was the Golden Incense Altar, and on the right, stood the Golden Table supporting the twelve loaves of the showbread.

The Menorah is a seven-branched candalabra formed from solid gold with all the intricate design details as described in the Torah. In order to clean, fill and light the Menorah, the Kohen would mount a three-stepped stone platform which allowed him to reach the height of the lamps. Following the opinion of Maimonides, the Menorah was placed on a north-south orientation with its central lamp directed towards the Holy of Holies. During the First and into the Second Temple times, this Ner M’arvi, Western Lamp, stayed lit continuously. The Menorah was cleaned and prepared as part of the morning Tamid service. It was lit in the late afternoon as part of the afternoon Tamid service and burned through the night.

The Golden Table or Shulchan was located near the northern wall of the Kodesh. On this Table the twelve loaves of the Showbread – Lechem HaPanim – were specially placed along with two golden spoons filled with frankincense. Every Shabbat afternoon the previous week’s breads were removed and eaten by the Kohanim on duty and the frankincense was burned on the Outer Altar. At the same time, the twelve new breads were placed on the Table. Nearby to this unique Golden Table stood ten other golden tables to enhance its beauty. The Table, as well as the Golden Incense Altar, as well as the Holy Ark, had rings and carrying poles always attached as it was in the Mishkan.

The Golden Incense Altar stood in a direct line with the Holy of Holies. Twice a day, as part of the Morning and Afternoon Tamid services, a Kohen would enter the Kodesh area with a portion of incense, the Ketoret. Another Kohen would enter with a shovel full of burning coals which he would place on top of the Golden Altar. The first Kohen would then place the incense on the coals and a bellow of smoke would rise straight up producing a heavenly fragrance. This Altar would also be used to receive the blood of certain Offerings.

5. The Holy of Holies – Kadosh Kadoshim

The Holy of Holies was the most sacred area of the entire Temple complex. Entry to this inner sanctum was forbidden to all but one man, the Kohen Gadol, on one day each year, Yom Kippur.

The Holy of Holies was a room twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and forty cubits high. It was located at the westernmost section of the Temple Building. There was a ceiling to the Holy of Holies with another floor-level above it whose dimensions and decorative work were identical to those of the chamber below.

There was a separation between the Kodesh area and the Holy of Holies. At the time of the Mishkan there existed a single curtain barrier. In the First Temple, there was a solid wall constructed with a doorway at its center. In the Second Temple the separation was demarked by two large parallel curtains one cubit apart between which the Kohen Gadol would walk to enter and exist.

In the Holy of Holies was an outcropping of the bedrock of Mount Moriah. During the First Temple, the Holy Ark rested upon this rock. During the Second Temple, however, the Ark was not in its place and the rock itself served as the location of the Yom Kippur Incense Offering.

The Holy Ark, the Aron HaKodesh, is described in the Torah as a three-ply gold-wood-gold rectangular box measuring two and one-half cubits in length by one and one-half cubits width and one-half cubits high. Contained within this box were the original Tablets of Stone engraved with Ten Commandments. The cover of the Ark was a solid piece of gold upon which the Keruvim, two angel child-like forms stood with their wings outspread facing one another. It was from the Ark, from between the wings of the Keruvim, that the Divine communication emmanated.

When King Solomon constructed the First Temple, he knew through Divine Inspiration that it would come to be destroyed. He prepared, therefore, hidden chambers below the Temple floor to protect the Holy Ark and Temple vessels. Shortly before the Babylonian invasion, King Yoshiahu ordered the Ark and other holy objects to be hidden in these underground chambers. During the Second Temple, the Holy Ark did not reappear.

The Avodah – The Service in the Temple

A significant part of the activities of the Temple centered around the offering of a Korban , an animal offering or sacrifice. The process of the Korban is described in detail in the Torah, particularly in the book of Leviticus -Vayikra which is also known as Torat Kohanim, the teaching of particular relevance to Kohanim, those who process the Korban .

The basic process of a Korban was that an animal was brought to the Temple where it was checked for blemishes and then slaughtered within the sanctified area. Its blood was received in a vessel and applied to a specific area of the Mizbayach – Altar. The meat of the Korban was then partially or entirely consumed on the Altar fire, depending on the specific type of Korban .

This process with all its particulars is known as the Avodah – the service. Hundreds of mitzvot in the Torah are concerned with the Avodah. These are among the mitzvot known as chukim – statutes. They are, at least on the surface, not fully understandable in the limited human realm. Therefore we do them because they are the Will of God and not because we claim to grasp their meaning. However, there a number of approaches which help make this essential part of the Temple Service more comprehensible. These approaches are as follows:

1. The word Korban is usually translated as “sacrifice” or “offering”. Neither of these words convey its true meaning. Sacrifice implies depriving one’s self while offering, implies a tribute made to appease the receiver. The word Korban comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to bring close”. A Korban is designed to restore relationship, to bring the giver of the Korban closer to God.

2. It is obvious that God, the Creator of the Universe and all of life, does not need animals to be burnt for Him or for their blood to be placed on an Altar. Clearly, the benefit of the Korban is for man. A man needs to experience the animal, material side of his nature, is temporary and finite. Only the spiritual side, the soul, survives death. The blood and the consumption of the animal flesh makes the human being aware that it is the Divine element above the animal with which he must fully identify.

The Torah relates that the Korban provides a “satisfying aroma” to God. That is, when a man offers himself, symbolized by the animal offering on the fire, his actions are pleasing to his Creator. An analogy can be made between a father and a son. The father needs nothing of substance from the child, but when the child brings a gift to the father, indicating his desire for closeness and love, the father’s pleasure is great.

3. The offering of a Korban achieves atonement for the offerer whether it be an individual or the community. The relationship which is impaired through the violation of the will of the Creator is restored through the bringing of the Korban . Every aspect of a Korban had to be precise without any alteration from the command of God. This precision and discipline to the word of God allowed for the restoration of the relationship.

4. Animals were created, as was all of the material creation, to serve man in his service of God. Permission was given to man to use animals for work and for food. The highest use of an animal is to promote closeness in relationship between man and his Creator. This is the purpose of the Korban .

Jewish Law is very concerned with the prevention of cruelty to animals. Ritual slaughter, shechita, which is used both in preparation for food as well as in preparation for the Korban , provides instantaneous death and a minimal suffering of the animal.

The bringing of an animal as a Korban raises the animal’s “soul” – its life-force. If an animal has been used for a Korban , it has aided in the service of God, helped restore relationship between man and God, and allowed the human soul to be elevated. This is indeed the highest purpose an animal can achieve.

5. Through the bringing of a Korban , particularly a sin-offering, a person rectifies his soul. His thought, speech and action are repaired by the Korban . Proper intentions in pledging the Korban rectify his improper thoughts, his statement of repentance rectifies improper speech, and the placing of his hands on the animal before it is slaughtered rectifies his actions. The experience of the Korban – the animal’s slaughter, its blood spilled on the Altar, its internal organs burned in the fire, all serve as a vicarious experience of his own death. It is God’s mercy and desire for man’s improvement that allows an individual to atone through his Korban .

6. From the earliest times, the offering of a Korban was known to be a means of closeness to God. Adam HaRishon, Kane and Abel, Noah, all brought offerings to God.. There is a strong desire in man to offer something of himself to the Highest Power. This desire became misused by idol worshipping societies who sought to appease their nature gods with animals. To show the world the proper use of animal offerings, the Torah instructed the Jewish People the precise procedure and components of the proper Korban .

7. Though the practice of the Temple Service seems remote to the modern mind, in time it will be reestablished once again in its place. The Prophet Ezekiel describes the floorplan for the future Temple. Clearly, the promises of God will not go unfulfilled and the Torah which commands the service will not be abrogated and the millennia of prayers of our people will not go unanswered.

As we say in the Musaf prayer of Rosh Chodesh: “A new Altar in Zion will be established and Offerings will be brought upon it. In the Service of the Holy Temple, we shall all rejoice, and the songs (Psalms) of David, Your servant, will be heard in Your city, as they are recited before Your Altar.

“May You bring us to Zion, Your city in joy, to Jerusalem, Your Holy Temple, with everlasting gladness. There we will perform before You our obligatory Offerings, the Korban Tamid in its proper order, and the Additional Offerings, according to their laws…”

B. Components and Procedure of the Avodah

1. The materials and substances used in the Avodah of the Korban come from the totality of creation. Represented are the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms.

a. Animals. Only kosher animals were used for the Korban . Only domesticated non-carnivorous animals were used. These are sheep, goats and cattle, male and female. Of the birds, only doves and young pigeons were used for a Korban .

b. Vegetation. Refined wheat and barley flour were used for the Mincha offering which consisted of flour mixed with olive oil. Grape wine was used for libation pouring on the Altar. The incense offered daily on the Inner Altar was composed of eleven spices of plant origin. Wood, clean of worms and mold was the fuel of the fireplace and could also be brought as an Offering.

c. Mineral. Every Korban was required to be salted. The origin of the salt was from the Dead Sea. One week of the year, on Succot, a libation of water was poured on the outer Altar.

2. The participants of the Korban included the owner, who was offering the Korban , and the Kohanim, who processed the Korban .

The Korban could be offered by an individual or by the community as a whole. An individual’s Korban was either a voluntary one or one that was obligatory. All community offerings were obligatory.

3. There are three major classes of an animal Korban under which the eight specific types can be broadly categorized.

a. The Completely Burnt Offering – Olah. A communal Olah, known as the Tamid Offering, was brought twice daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Varying numbers of Olah offerings are components of the Musaf offerings of Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh and the Festivals. An Olah is also obligatory upon individuals in certain specific situations. These include a woman after childbirth, a metzora, a nazir, a convert, and a person who visits the Temple on the three festivals. An Olah may also be brought voluntarily by an individual as an elevation offering. Also, when there was no other Korban being processed, the Kohanim offered communal Olahs.

b. The Sin and Guilt Offering- the Chatot the Asham. For specific sins denoted in the Torah, an individual, and in some cases a community, was required to bring a Korban . The specifics of the Avodah of the two types of Korban in this category are the same, but they differed in the causes for which they were offered. In general, the Chatat was brought for an unintentional commission of a sin which, had it been done intentionally and with proper warning, would have been punishable by death. The Asham, which was always an individual’s offering, is required in six specific situations. A portion of these offerings was burnt on the Altar, the remainder was eaten by the Kohanim in the Inner Courtyard area.

c. The Peace Offering – Shelamim. The most common form of shelamim was the individual’s Shelamim Offering. The only communal Shelamim was the two sheep brought with the two loaves of fine flour on the festival of Shavuot. In contrast to the other categories of offerings, the meat of the personal Shelamim offerings belongs to the owners of the offering, though the Kohanim were given portions of each Shelamim. Shelamim were mostly brought voluntarily, though in certain circumstances, including visiting the Temple on the three Festivals, Korban Shelamim were required.

Other types of Korban similar to the Shelamim, yet each with its specific differences, include the Korban Pesach, Ma’aser Behema, the Bechor and the Todah – Thanksgiving Offering.

4. the Meal Offering – Korban Mincha. A Mincha is an Offering composed of flour mixed with olive oil. These Offerings were brought together with the Korban Olah and Korban Shelamim, along with a wine libation. A person could also offer a Korban Mincha on its own as a free-will offering. Special Mincha Offerings were also brought for particular needs such as the daily Mincha of the Kohen Gadol, the Inauguration Mincha on a Kohen’s first day of service, the Sinner’s Mincha for one who was too poor to afford an animal offering, and the Mincha of a Sotah, a suspected wife.

The Mincha had various means of preparation. Besides the mixed raw flour and oil Mincha, there were baked Minchas and frankincense. A Kohen removed a fistful of the Mincha called the Kamitza which was then burned on the Outer Altar. The Mincha was then eaten by the Kohanim within the Inner Courtyard area.

5. The Procedure of the Korban . Though differing in details between the various categories, a Korban required these basic processes:

a. Bringing Close – Hakrava. The owner of the Korban selected the animal which he either brought with him or purchased nearby the Temple Mount. He led it to the area of Offering where it was thoroughly checked for no disqualifying blemishes. The owner then proclaimed it to be the particular type of Korban it was to be and thereby sanctified it.

b. Placing of Hands – Semichah. Only for an individual’s Korban was the preliminary rite of semichah required. The owner of the offering placed his hands on the animal’s head and, while pressing down with all his strength, recited his confessional, in the case of an Olah, Chatat or Asham, or words of praise of God, in the case of the Shelamim.

Semichah is not considered an Avodah, if it were omitted the Korban was not invalidated.

c. Ritual Slaughter – Shechitah. The Korban was slaughtered according to the same laws of kashrut as apply to all kosher meat. This took place at specifically delineated locations within the Inner Temple Courtyard. The act of Shechitah could be performed by the owner or any other capable individual. After Shechitah, all the procedures required the services of a Kohen for the Korban be valid.

d. Receiving the Blood of the Korban – Kabalah. The Kohen received the blood as it spurted from the animal’s neck in a vessel sanctified for this purpose.

e. Carrying – Halacha. The Kohen carried the vessel containing the blood to the required part of the Mizbayach – Altar.

f. Application of the Blood – Zarikah. The Kohen applied the blood to the appropriate part of the Altar. For the Chatat and the Asham, the blood was applied to the upper section of the Altar; the blood of the Olah and the Shelamim was applied to the lower section. It was the application of the blood which was the essential part of the Korban . It served to validate the Korban as well as to atone and to discharge the owner’s obligation. Once the Zarikah had been performed, the offering was considered to be valid, even if the remaining stages of the Avodah were not performed.

g. Burning of the Parts in the Fire of the Mizbayach – Haktara. The sacrificial parts of all the animal offerings, except for the Olah which was skinned, cut and completely burnt, consisted of portions of the fat and certain internal organs. These were placed in a sanctified vessel and brought to the top of the Altar, salted and thrown into a fire by a Kohen.

h. Eating the Meat of the Korban – Achilah. Only after the essential procedure was completed could the sanctified meat of the Korban be eaten. The meat of the Chatat and the Asham was eaten by the Kohanim who served the day it was offered. It had to be eaten, prepared in any manner they desired, within the Inner Courtyard and its adjoining chambers. From the Shelamim, The Kohanim received the breast and the right hind thigh. The remaining meat of the Shelamim was taken by its owner. The owner and members of his household were allowed to eat the Shelamim in a state of ritual purity within the walls of Jerusalem for up to two days from the time it was offered, in contrast to most offerings which may be eaten only for a day and its following night.

The Order of the Service in the Mikdash.

The nature of the order of the Avodah, the Temple service, was commanded in the Torah and was in actual practice for nearly 1,500 years. The Talmud devotes many tractates to the intricacies of the Avodah. The order of the day’s service is described step-by-step in the Mishna Tamid.

The service in the mikdash was very orderly and precise. An appointed administrator, the Memune, oversaw the smooth flow of the service.

The nightwatch. 24 places in the Temple Complex required the presence of an honour guard. Young Kohanim served watch in three upper-story locations in the Azora, the Inner Courtyard. Levi’im stood watch in 21 locations throughout the Temple Mount.

Wake-up. Kohanim of the Beit Av serving the following day slept in the central area of the Moked that adjoined the Inner Courtyard. Very early in the morning the Kohanim would wake, immerse in the mikveh and dress in their uniforms. Before daybreak, the Memuna knocked on the door of the Moked and the Kohanim opened for him and three trumpet blasts were sounded.

Checking the Courtyard. The Kohanim divided into two groups. Each group took torches in hand and entered the Inner Courtyard. One group walked around the periphery towards the east and the other towards the west. They checked that all was in order and that the vessels necessary for the day’s service were in place. The two groups rejoined near the eastern entrance to the Inner Courtyard. If all was in order they greeted each other with “Shalom, everything is shalom – peaceful.”

The First Draw. Each task in the Temple service was greatly desired. As there were more Kohanim than specific tasks, a policy of lotteries or draws were instituted. The Kohanim assembled and formed a large circle. A number was chosen larger than the number of Kohanim present. The Kohanim would show one or two fingers and starting from a particular Kohen, the Meuma would count the fingers. The Kohen upon whom the chosen number fell out would be honoured with the first service. The Kohanim after him would receive the next tasks. The first draw was for the first service of the day, that of removing a portion of the ash from the Mizbayach, the Outer Altar.

Removal of the Ash from the Altar. The Kohen selected to remove the ash would first wash his hands and feet from the copper washbasin located in the Inner Courtyard. He would then take a silver shovel and ascend the ramp to the roof of the Mizbayach.

There he stirred the coals on the fireplace to locate some fully burnt ash and collect it in the shovel. He then descended the ramp and placed the ash in its particular place on the floor by the east side of the ramp. Other Kohanim with fire rakes and other tools then ascended the ramp to remove the remaining ash. They placed it in a large vessel and removed it from the Temple area.

Firewood for the Altar. The Kohen selected to remove the ash also received the honour of placing wood on the fireplace of the Altar. He brought up two blocks of quality firewood which he placed on the large fireplace. Enough wood to maintain a large fire necessary for the consumption of the sacrificial parts was first placed on the large fireplace. The secondary fireplace used for obtaining the coals of the Incense Offering was also supplied with firewood at this time. A fire was constantly burning on the Mizbayach night and day. Firewood was provided though Divine fire consumed the Offerings.

The Second Draw. The Memuna announced the second selection for the thirteen tasks involved in the daily Tamid service. Those fortunate enough to receive a particular task performed those same tasks at the afternoon Tamid service as well. These tasks included the slaughter, receiving of the blood and the burning of the various parts of the Tamid Offering. Also included in this lottery were the cleaning and the lighting of the Menorah, preparation of the Incense Altar, and the bringing of the Mincha and Wine Offerings which accompanied the Korban Tamid.

Preparation for the Korban Tamid. The Tamid was the twice-daily offering of a male lamb as commanded in the Torah. It was the first offering and the last offering of each day. The Tamid was a Korban Olah, a completely Burnt Offering.

Those Kohanim selected for the Tamid service were told by the Memuna to bring the lamb from the chamber where it was kept. The vessels needed for the day’s Avodah were set in place. The animal was given water to drink from a golden vessel and was given final inspection for blemishes. The lamb was then lead to the north side of the Altar where the slaughtering was to take place.

Cleaning and Preparation of the Golden Incense Altar and the Menorah. The Kohanim privileged to do the service of the Inner Altar and the Menorah entered the Heichel, the Temple building, with the particular implements which they needed. After the ashes of the Inner Altar were collected, the receptacle was left and the Kohen bowed and went out. The Kohen privileged to prepare the Menorah entered and cleaned out five lamps of ashes and unconsumed oil and then removed and replaced their wicks. He climbed the three steps at the side of the Menorah to be able to reach the lamps. When he finished, he placed the vessels on the second step, bowed and exited the Heichel. After the Ketoret Offering, he entered again and prepared the remaining two lamps.

The Offering of the Korban Tamid. Only after the opening of the doors of the Heichel was the lamb slaughtered. The animal was held down by Kohanim with its body facing south and its head towards the west. A blessing was made by the Kohen as he performed each aspect of the service. The animal’s blood was received in a golden vessel, called a Mizrak, which had a handle and a pointed bottom so that it could not be placed down, thus preventing coagulation of the blood.

The blood was carried immediately to the northeast corner of the Mizbayach where the blood was applied in such a manner that it reached both the northern and eastern sides of the Altar.

The Kohen then circled the Mizbayach towards the west and repeated the procedure on the southwest corner. the blood remaining in the vessel was poured on the foundation of the Altar at the southwest corner.

The animal was then skinned and cut into defined pieces. The Kohanim who were selected by the draw brought the individual parts half-way up the ramp of the Mizbayach. The pieces were thoroughly salted and left temporarily on the ramp.

Prayer. The Kohanim then assembled in the Chamber of Hewn Stone where all the drawings for Service were held. The Memuna announced “Bless…” Though it was still before dawn, the Kohanim recited the entire Kriyat Shma, read the Ten Commandments, and recited three blessings including a request that the Avodah just performed be acceptable. At that time a third drawing was held. Only those Kohanim who had never in their lives had the privilege of offering the Incense could take part. A drawing was also held amoung all the remaining Kohanim for the privilege of placing the pieces of the Tamid Offering in the Altar fire.

The Incense Offering – The Ketoret. The Kohanim who had cleaned and prepared the Inner Altar and the Menorah entered the Heichel to remove the vessels which they had left inside and then bowed and exited the Heichel. The Kohen privileged with the Incense Offering took the golden vessel with the Ketoret. Another Kohen took a silver shovel and removed hot coals from the Outer Altar which were then placed in a golden vessel and taken into the Heichel where they were spread on the top of the Golden Incense Altar. This Kohen then bowed and exited and stood on the steps outside the Heichel.

The Kohen privileged to do the Ketoret Offering entered the Heichel with the Incense. The Ketoret was a fine powder made from eleven types of spices, some mentioned in the Torah, mixed to a precise formula. The Memuna accompanied the Kohen to the Inner Altar. He announced “Hatir, burn the Incense” and he then excited as no one other than the Kohen offering the Ketoret was allowed to be in the Heichel at the time of its offering.

The Kohen carefully placed the Incense upon the coals of the Golden Altar. A cloud of smoke rose to the ceiling and filled the Kodesh area. The Kohen then bowed and exited.

The Conclusion of the morning Tamid service. At this time a loud noise was made in the Courtyard as a signal for all the Kohanim to come to the Heichel where they would enter and bow. The Levi’im assembled on the platform in the Inner Courtyard and prepared for their musical service.

Those Kohanim selected to bring the pieces of the Tamid Offering up to the Altar for burning now did so.

The Kohanim gathered on the twelve steps at the entrance to the Heichel to give the Blessing of the Kohanim. In the Mikdash, Kohanim raised their arms straight up above their heads while reciting the Blessing. The Blessing in the Mikdash was done with the Explicit Name of God, though it was uttered in a concealed manner. The Blessing was said as one unit and the people present answered, “Blessed is Hashem, God of Israel, in this world and all worlds forever,” rather than Amen.

The Communal Mincha Offering which consisted of pure flour and olive oil was then brought to the Altar fire. The Kohen Gadol, who if he chose to, could perform any or all of the daily services, then brought his personal daily Mincha Offering. The Kohen selected for the wine libation then mounted the Altar and poured wine into the receptacle at the southwest corner of the Outer Altar.

At the completion of the wine libation, a signal flag was raised. Two Kohanim, who were standing on a nearby table, then blew on silver trumpets, “Tekiah, Teruah, Tekiah”. At this signal, the Levi’im began their song accompanied by harps, flutes, cymbals and other musical instruments. Each day required a particular Psalm to be sung by the Levi’im. Each Psalm was divided into sections and between these sections, the trumpets were sounded and the people present would bow and prostrate themselves. This completed the Tamid service of the morning.

The Remainder of the Day’s Avodah. The nature of the rest of the day’s service depended on whether it was a weekday or a Shabbat or a Holiday. On Shabbat and Holidays, additional public offerings, the Musaf, were brought as commanded in the Torah. These were offered after the normal Tamid Service. On weekdays individuals’ offerings were accepted.

These included Chatot – Sin Offerings, which were required for atonement; Olah – Burnt Offerings, as a freewill offering; and Shelamim – Peace Offerings, which could be eaten by their owners. If there were no other offerings, the Kohanim would bring Olah Offerings to keep the Altar active.

In the afternoon, toward sunset, after all the private offering were completed, the afternoon Tamid Offering was brought. The procedure was identical to the morning Tamid with the exception of the ash removal, the preparation of the fireplaces and draws. Except for the Incense Offering, those who received a particular task in the morning service repeated that same task in the afternoon service. The Menorah was lit as part of the afternoon Tamid service.

No Offering could be brought after the afternoon Tamid with the exception of the Korban Pesach. No Korban could be brought after sundown though the burning of the Offerings continued into the night.

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No woman ever miscarried from the aroma of the burning offerings;
The sacrifices themselves never became offensive;
No fly was ever seen where the offerings were prepared;
The High Priest never experienced a defilement on Yom Kippur;
Rains never extinguished the altar fire;
The altar smoke always rose to heaven in a straight line;
No disqualification was ever found in the barley offering, twin loaves and showbread;
All would stand compact together in the Courtyard -
Yet when it came time to bow prostrate, all would have ample space;
No snake or scorpion ever caused harm in Jerusalem;
…and not one man ever said to another: “Jerusalem is too crowded for me to find lodging overnight.”
(Chapters of the Fathers 5)

The presence of these miracles indicates the constant Divine Providence over Israel and Jerusalem – in itself a miracle of unparalleled proportions. This special relationship with G-d made itself felt in the spiritual realm as well. The Second Temple period saw the rise of a chain of great Jewish leaders, and the wise men of the Sanhedrin who dwelled in the Temple. Among their numbers were such luminaries as Shimon ben Shetach, Shemaya and Avtalyon, Hillel and Shammai, Yonatan ben Uziel, R. Yochanan ben Zakkai and many more. The learned men of the Sanhedrin, housed in their Temple chambers, served as the eyes of the nation, and many foreign kings and wise men visited the rabbis of the Sanhedrin to debate matters of faith.

Thus Torah and wisdom flourished around the Second Temple. The House of G-d properly served as the center of wisdom and guidance for the non-Jew as well, from both neighboring countries and distant lands.

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A. The Kohen Gadol (High Priest)

1. From the time of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) through the time of the Second Temple, one Kohen was appointed by the Sanhedrin, the High Court, to be the Kohen Gadol – the Chief of the Kohanim. The Torah refers to the Kohen Gadol as “the Kohen who is great (gadol) from among his brothers” (Vayikra 21:10). From this we learn that the qualifications for this most honoured position included his being stronger, wealthier, wiser, and more handsome than his brother Kohanim. If an otherwise qualified candidate lacked wealth, the other Kohanim gave from their wealth to make him the wealthiest.

2. At the death of the Kohen Gadol, his son or next of kin was appointed in his place provided the relative was himself a worthy replacement.

3. A new Kohen Gadol would be initiated in a seven-day ceremony. Each day of the ceremony, he would be dressed in the eight garments of the Kohen Gadol and, when it was available, anointed with a specially prepared oil. When the oil was not available, wearing the garments would be sufficient to consecrate him. The new Kohen Gadol was required to bring a special Inauguration Mincha Offering upon entering his new position.

4. The Kohen Gadol acquired an extra level of holiness as was reflected in the additional mitzvot associated with his office. For example, he was required to be married and, if he married while in office, he could only marry a virgin. He was not allowed to become spiritually impure through contact with death even for his closest relatives.

Another expression of his added holiness was that the Kohen Gadol was given quarters in the Temple complex and generally remained in the Mikdash all day.

5. The Kohen Gadol had the option of performing any or all of the duties in the Mikdash. He could choose, for example, to offer the Incense or Light the Menorah, to process any Korban , or take for himself any of the sacrificial portions eaten by the Kohanim.

6. The Kohen Gadol was responsible for the spiritual level of the Jewish People. He needed to pray for Divine mercy for his generation that no evil or misfortune befell. He bore the moral weight of the people on his shoulders and chest — symbolized by the gemstones he wore displaying the names of the tribes of Israel.

7. On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol alone performed all the essentials of the Service. He personally processed all of the sixteen animal offerings of the day. On this holiest of days, the Kohen Gadol entered the Holy of Holies to offer the Incense before the place of the Holy Ark. The Service of Yom Kippur through the efforts of the Kohen Gadol brought atonement and spiritual cleansing for the people.

B. The Temple Administration

The Mikdash was a very busy place which required a thorough and efficient organization. The Kohanim families were organized in mishmarot – service groups, and batei avot – family houses, each with its particular chief executive officer. The Temple administration was a hierarchical one descending in authority from the Kohen Gadol. The assistance to the Kohen Gadol was the Segan. Under the Segan was his assistant under whom were seven supervisors who held the keys to the inner courtyard. Three treasurers oversaw the donations and financial obligations of the Temple. Various essential operations of the Temple required full time officials and their staff. In the Second Temple, the following officiated:

1. The official time manager. He announced the times of the offerings for the Kohanim, Levi’im, and Yisraelites to be prepared for their particular duties.

2. The official gatekeeper. Only upon his order were the gates of the Temple opened and closed accompanied by three trumpet blasts.

3. Chief of the watchmen. The Temple was guarded in three inner areas by Kohanim and in twenty-one outer areas by Levi’im. Each night he would check on the guards. If he found anyone asleep on the watch, he could strike them or even set fire to their cloaks.

4. The choral master. He chose the Levi’im who were to stand on the platform in the Inner Courtyard to recite Psalms accompanied by music while certain Communal Offerings were brought. At his signal, the music began.

5. The orchestra conductor. He appointed the players of musical instruments to accompany the Levi’im singers.

6. Administrator of the draws. The Kohanim were appointed to their particular services through the use of a system of draws or lotteries. He was responsible for the four draws which took place each day.

7. The manager of bird offerings. He provided the doves and pigeons purchased by people wishing to bring a bird offering. He was regularly reimbursed by the Temple treasurer.

8. The director of the voucher system. When someone wished to bring an offering of either an animal or Mincha – flour and oil or wine – he would pay for the required items and receive a voucher. He would then present this voucher to have his particular offering processed by the Kohanim.

9. Gastrointestinal specialist. A stomach doctor and staff were required to treat the Kohanim who became ill due to the large quantities of meat they ate and the chill they contacted by going barefoot and wearing only relatively lightweight Kohen garments.

10. A water expert. His job was to provide sufficient clean water for the Temple use as well as for the residents and millions of visitors to Jerusalem each year.

11. The supervisor of the Showbread preparation. He oversaw the preparation and baking of the twelve loaves of Showbread which were placed on the Golden Table in the Sanctuary.

12. The supervisor of the Incense preparation. He was the keeper of the secret formula for the mixing and preparation of the ketoret which was offered daily on the Inner Golden Altar.

13. The chief of tapestry weavers. There were thirteen very large woven curtains hanging at the various doorways in the Second Temple. Two of these, those above the entrance to the Holy of Holies, were replaced with new ones each year. The weaving of these enormous tapestries required great skill.

14. The supervisor of the Kohanim’s garments. He oversaw the weaving of the special clothing for the Kohanim as well as its distribution and storage.

C. The well-dressed Kohen – the Clothing of the Kohanim

1. The garments of the Kohanim were to be “for honour and beauty” (Shemot 28:2). They were to be physically beautiful and honourable to those who wore them. In particular, they were to give honour to God in Whose house and in Whose service they were worn.

2. There were three types of Kohanim’s garments:
a. the four garments of the regular Kohen
b. the eight garments of the Kohen Gadol
c. the four white garments worn by the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur.

3. The very making of the Kohen’s garments is itself a Mitzvah. They were made with materials purchased with public funds and woven to the particular measurements of each Kohen. The garments were woven completely on a loom rather than being sewn together, except for the sleeves of the tunic. Each thread of the weave was spun from six separate strands.

The following are the materials which were used in the making of the garments:
a. bod – natural white linen derived from the soaked and beaten stalk of the flax plant.
b. techelet – wool dyed dark sky-blue using a dye obtained from a Hilazon, a sea mollusk.
c. argamon – wool dyed scarlet red
d. tolat sheni – wool dyed dark red using a dye obtained from a type of worm.

4. The following are the garments of the regular Kohen:
a. ktonet – tunic. The tunic was a long pullover garment which reached to the Kohen’s ankle. The sleeves reached to the palm of his hand. It was made from linen in a textured weave.
b. michnasayim – pants. Linen knee-length pants were worn under the tunic. They fastened at the waist by means of a drawstring.
c. magbat – turban. The head covering was formed from a strip of white linen which was approximately 8 yards long and 2 inches wide. This strip was wrapped to form a cone-shaped hat.
d. avnet – belt. The belt was a strip of material about 16 yards long and 2 inches wide wrapped outside the tunic just below the level. The belt was made from pure linen or was an admixture of linen and wool.

5. The eight garments of the Kohen Gadol were known as the Golden Garments. Four of these were basically the same as the four garments of the regular Kohen. Those garments specific to the Kohen Gadol were as follows:
a. me’il – this garment was similar to a long version of the talit katan which is worn today. It reached down to a few inches above the bottom of the tunic. It was woven from twelve-stranded threads of pure sky-blue wool. At its bottom edge was an alternating series of small golden bells and woven pomegranates.
b. ephod – this was a long vest or apron-like garment. It was worn above the me’il. At each shoulder was attached a gemstone. Inscribed on each gemstone were the names of six of the tribes of Israel. The ephod was woven from seven-stranded threads of each of the four materials interwoven with a strand of gold to create a tapestry-like effect.
c. hoshen – breastplate. This remarkable garment was woven in the same manner as the ephod. The breastplate was rectangular in shape, about 18 inches long and nine wide. On its upper half were four rows of gold settings in which were mounted 12 gemstones. On each of the gemstones, was engraved the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The bottom half was folded under to form a pocket into which were placed the urim and tumim. These were written names of God which gave the gemstones the energy to light up in response to questions posed to the Kohen Gadol who was wearing it. The breastplate was attached by gold chains to the ephod and was attached at the waist by two strands of sky-blue wool.
d. tzitz – golden headband. This was a narrow string of gold which was worn on the forehead. It extended above one ear to the other. The phrase “Holy to God” was written on it in elevated letters. The headband was tied to the Kohen Gadol’s forehead by means of sky-blue ribbons which were attached to the ends and at the middle of the headband passing over the Kohen’s turban.

6. For the Yom Kippur Service, the Kohen Gadol wore a set of four white linen garments. These were of the same types as the garments of the regular Kohen, but made of a specially prepared pure white linen.

7. The Kohen was only allowed to wear precisely these garments during his service. If he wore any other garment or lacked one of the required garments, his service was invalid. The garments also had to be worn with no extraneous object interfering between them and the Kohen’s body. While serving, Kohanim were allowed to wear head tefillin, but not arm tefillin.

8. The Kohen was required to don his garments in a specific order. The Regular Kohen first put on the pants while still wearing his non-sanctified clothing. He then put on the tunic and wrapped his belt around it. Lastly, he put on his turban.

The Kohen Gadol would dress in his pants, tunic and belt. Afterwards, he placed the me’il over these. He then dressed in the ephod tying it at the waist. He would then attach the breastplate to the ephod and tie its waistband. He would then place his turban on his head. Finally, he would place the headband on his forehead.

9. Not only were the Kohen’s garments manufactured and worn according to exacting standards, but they were to be maintained to high standards as well. This was true to such an extent that if the garments were ill fitting, torn or soiled, the service performed while they were worn was rendered invalid. The garments of a regular Kohen, which became unsuitable for the service, were made into wicks. The pants and belts were used for the large oil lamps of the Outer Courtyard and the tunics for the Golden Menorah. The used garments of the Kohen Gadol were put away, never to be used again.

10. There was no footwear in the Temple. The Kohen’s feet had to be in direct contact with the floor of the sanctified areas. As with Moshe at the burning bush and Joshua in God’s presence, wherever the Shechina, the Divine Presence is manifest, it is necessary to go without shoes.

11. The Kohen’s garments had spiritual qualities in themselves. Each garment was in itself an atonement for the sins of the people. The tunic atones for wrongful shedding of blood. The pants atones for immodest behaviour. The turban atones for arrogance. The belt atones for improper thoughts. The wearing of these unique garments was a necessary requirement for the Temple Service.

Only when a Kohen was dressed in his proper uniform was he permitted to serve in the Temple and any service performed by an improperly dressed Kohen was invalid.

D. Requirements for Kohanim to do service in the Temple.

1. The Sanhedrin HaGadol, the Supreme Court of the Jewish People, was located in the Temple complex. Among their main activities were to rule on topics connected with the Temple Service and to determine the genealogical suitability and fitness for service of the Kohanim. If the Sanhedrin, upon concluding its investigation, did not disqualify a Kohen, “he would dress in white and wrap himself in white (garments of a Kohen) and enter the Sanctuary to serve with his brother Kohanim.”

“A celebration would be made on a day that the Sanhedrin found no disqualifications among the Kohanim. thus they would say ‘Bless be God, blessed be He, that no disqualification has been found in the sons of Aharon. Blessed be He who chose Aharon and his sons to stand and serve before Him in His most Holy Temple’” (Mishna Midot, 5:4).

2. Disqualifying Physical Blemishes
a. a Kohen, as a representative of God before the People and of the People before God, needed to be physically whole and without blemish to serve in the Temple. The Temple was a place of perfection, of raising physical life to the spiritual plane. Therefore, the Kohanim, as agents of this process, needed to be free of physical imperfections as well. Just as the service vessels had to be whole and undamaged, so too the Kohen.
b. source – “He who has a blemish shall not approach to make offerings to God” (Vayikra 21:17).
c. both permanent and temporary blemishes disqualified the Kohen from serving. If a blemished Kohen did serve inside the holy area of the Temple, his service was disqualified and he was liable to be lashed.
d. If a Kohen who, although genealogically sound, was found to possess a physical blemish, he was assigned the task of checking wood outside the Inner Temple area. He was nonetheless entitled to a full share in eating the Kohens’ portions of the Offerings.
e. The list of disqualifying blemishes was a extensive one. According to Maimonides, based on the Mishna and Talmud, there was a total of 140 disqualifying blemishes: 90 unique to man and 50 which also disqualified sacrificial animals. The general principle was that any abnormality of any bodily feature, even one involving a part of the body which is usually covered, would disqualify a Kohen. Only external blemishes would disqualify a Kohen, but not an abnormality in an internal organ.
f. In addition to such obvious conditions as a missing or deformed limb, bodily disqualifications include, for example, a completely bald head, a complete lack of facial hair, mismatched features, and a nose which is too long or too short. Generally, the right sized nose is equal to the length of the person’s little finger.
g. Also a defect in some physical features, such as missing teeth, may disqualify a Kohen due to the problematic appearance it creates. It is told of Rabbi Kahaneman, a Kohen and the founder of the Ponevitch Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, that even at the age of eighty, he refused to have a painful tooth removed, not wanting to create a possible disqualifying blemish, in the hope that the Temple Service would be restored in his lifetime.

3. The list of factors which invalidate the Temple Service is not limited to the genealogy and the physical condition of the Kohen. According to Maimonides, the Temple Service is invalid if it is performed by:
a. one who is not genealogically a Kohen
b. one who has practiced idolatry
c. one who has one of the 140 specific physical blemishes
d. one who not circumcised
e. one who is spiritually impure
f. one who, having purified himself, must still wait until sunset before serving
g. one who, having purified himself, must still bring his required sacrifice
h. one who is involved with the burial of a close relative
i. one who is intoxicated
j. one who is lacking one of the required garments
k. one who is wearing more than the required garments
l. one whose garments are unkempt or disarrayed
m. one in need of a haircut
n. one who has not properly washed his hands and feet
o. one who performs the Service while sitting
p. one who has any object between his bare hands and Service vessels
q. one who has any object between his bare feet and the Temple’s floor
r. one who performs the Service with his left hand.

E. Gifts to the Kohen

1. Source – Devorim 18:3,4. “And this shall be the Kohanim’s due from the People: (portions) from the slaughtered animals…, the first of your grains, wine and oil; the first fleece from your flock – give to him”.

2. The Torah requires the Jewish people to give the Kohanim twenty-four classes of gifts. Most of these were connected with the Temple and the service of the Kohanim at the Temple. Others were given to any kosher and mitzvah-observant Kohen.

3. The descendants of Levi, unlike the other tribes of Israel, have no inherited portion in the Land. The cities of the Levi’im, which served as refuge areas, were scattered throughout the tribes. Therefore, to allow the Kohen and the Levi to be free to perform their Holy Service in the Temple and to serve as teachers and leaders, it was necessary to provide them with a source of sustenance.

4. Support of the Kohanim by the people created a direct bond between the people and the Temple through the Kohanim.

5. The giving of these gifts gave the people an opportunity to elevate the fruits of their labour by returning a portion of their bounty to the service of God. Thus, they were encouraged to focus on God’s involvement in their daily lives.

6. Each Kohen had an equal right to receive the gifts, though the giver could choose the Kohen to whom he would give them.

7. A Kohen also removed the gift portions from his produce after which he could take the gifts for himself.

8. The following is a list of the twenty-four gifts given to the Kohanim.
a. The gifts which must be given in the Temple area were certain portions of the following:
i. an animal brought as a sin-offering
ii.a bird brought as a sin-offering
iii. a burnt-offering
iv. an offering for uncertain guilt
v. a peace offering
vi.the olive oil offering of a metzora
vii. the two loaves of bread brought on Shavuot
viii. the showbread
ix. the mincha offerings
x. the Omer
b. The gifts which must be given within the walls of Jerusalem were:
xi. the firstborn of any domestic kosher animal
xii. the bikurim – first fruits
xiii. the inner organs of certain offerings
xiv. the skins of certain offerings
c. The gifts given also outside Jerusalem were:
xv. tru’ma – a portion of the Harvest
xvi. tru’ma ma’aser – a tithe of the Levi’s tithe
xvii. challah – a portion of bread dough
xviii. the first shearing of the sheep
xix. the right front leg, the jaw, and the stomach of all non-sanctified ritually slaughtered domestic animals
xx. pidyon HaBen – five silver sheqels for the redemption of a firstborn Israelite son
xxi. a sheep or goat given for the redemption of a firstborn donkey
xxii. a property or possession dedicated to the Temple without specifying to which use it is to be given
xxiii. inherited fields which were dedicated to the Temple and not reclaimed
xiv. theft repayment to a convert who has died leaving no heirs.

F. A life of Purity

The life of the Jewish nation, and particularly that of the Kohanim, Levi’m and their families, was and will be considerably different with the Temple standing. All Jews are required to come to the Temple at least three times a year, Pesach, Shavuot and Succot, to bring holiday offerings and to rejoice with all of Israel in God’s presence. Kohanim and Levi’im served in the Temple at least twice a year besides on the holidays. The City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount were filled with people making the pilgrimage and bringing their Offerings. Throughout the year, Jews needing to bring a Sin or Guilt-Offering or wishing to offer a Peace or Elevation-Offering would travel to the Temple.

In order to enter the Temple, and particularly to bring an offering, a person had to be in a state of spiritual purity. As one came closer to the holy areas of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Temple Courtyard and the Inner Courtyard, increasingly stricter requirements of spiritual purity were in force.

The Torah outlines the particular situations which cause tumah, spiritual impurity. These can be broadly classified as resulting from:
a. contact with death, human or animal
b. bodily discharges and skin conditions
c. ritual actions which cause impurity

The entire subject of tahara and tumah, ritual purity and impurity, is one of Divine decree beyond full comprehension on the mundane level. Generally, impurity is related to the loss of life-giving potential, causing a seeming void of spiritual presence, a seeming negation of Divinity. Therefore, a person needs to rectify his condition before he can approach the Temple or other sanctified objects.

Some conditions of tumah are strong enough to spread a secondary or tertiary level of impurity. This contamination can be passed either by touching, carrying, being under the same roof, walking over, swallowing, or through sexual relations, depending on the source of the tumah. People, vessels, clothing, food and dwellings are all liable to tumah, again depending on the source of the impurity.

Each of these tumah conditions has its specific remedy. For many tumah conditions, the required remedy is immersion in a mikveh, a body of water from a natural source. At the time of the following sunset, a tahor state was regained. A person or object which became impure through contact with a dead body, the most severe level of tumah, was required to undergo a seven-day procedure which required the application of the ‘waters-of-purity’, a special purifying solution containing the ashes of a red heifer. He then immersed in a mikveh and with the sunset of the seventh day, became tahor once again.

Another function of the Kohen related to the problem of tumah is that of determining the existence of tsarat, a spiritually caused condition which affected people’s skin or hair as well as clothing and dwellings. It was only a Kohen who could declare the condition of tsarat. He also performed the purification procedure and it was he who could declare the condition as passed, restoring a status of ritual purity.

The life of the Kohen at the time of the Mikdash was greatly affected by the laws of taharah. A Kohen could not serve in the Mikdash if he was in a state of tumah. The Truma, offerings of food from the people which were given to the Kohanim, had to be kept ritually pure and could only be consumed by a Kohen or members of his household who were in a tahor state. This applied also to kodshim, the meat of animals sanctified as offerings.

To live a life of ritual purity, it is necessary to have available the waters-of-purity, to have a mikveh available, and to avoid places and people which might cause impurity.

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Nobody can fight against G-d and His prophetic endtime plans to redeem His people, Israel, to rebuild His house on the same holy hill, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, that He gave to His people, Israel. Both day and night the eyes, heart, and attention of the G-d of Israel are on His people and on His land that He gave to Israel, Jerusalem and the most holy site in the world, the Temple Mount as He promised in His Word.

Many powers and nations under the judgement of G-d have completely disappeared from the platform of history. Who can fight and challenge the Almighty G-d of Israel and His decision and determination of thousands of years to protect and take care of His people, Israel, and the holy land that He gave to them in an eternal covenant? The G-d of Israel advises them to leave the Temple Mount alone and to remove themselves from the holy site of G-d and His Temple.

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Genesis 2:10-14 “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.”

Genesis 2:11 The Pison River was in the area of Saudia Arabia. The boundaries of the Garden of Eden stretched all the way from the Nile River to the Tigris River. If you take a map and put Jerusalem in the middle and put the headwaters of these rivers in a diamond shape (North to South) you get a 1500-mile square diamond with Jerusalem in the center of it.

Genesis 2:13 tells us that it starts in Ethiopia or Cush which is the old name for Ethiopia. It doesn’t start in Egypt but in Ethiopia and runs upward into Egypt and it ends in the Mediterranean ocean there.

Genesis 3:7-10 “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:14 “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:”

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:17-18 “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;”

Genesis 3:24 “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Genesis 4:1-8 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

Genesis 14:18-20. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

Genesis 17:1. “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”

Genesis 22:2. “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.”

Genesis 22:14. “And Abraham called the name of that place as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.” This is the place that became Jerusalem.

Deuteronomy 12:5 “But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:” 12:11 “Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:” 12:21 “If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.” 14:23-24 “And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:” 14:26 “And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,” 16:2 “Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.” 16:6 “But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt.”

Numbers 6:24-26, The blessing: “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

Ezekiel 28:13-14 “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

Isaiah 27:13 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.”

Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”

“I [G-d] will Bless those who bless you [Israel] and curse those who curse you [Israel], and through you [Israel] will be blessed all the families of the earth.”

This is a clear message to the entire world and if we reflect on the history of the world and its attitude towards the descendants of Jacob [Israel]; the nation of Israel and all Jews of the world, then we have the answers as to why we live in chaos and suffer the consequences of our deeds and actions.

Perhaps it is time for the world to wake up and trust in the Divine Authority and the laws that He has applied to the world.