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time until the construction of the Temple by Solomon, only one generation passed. So it will be
with us.”
In December, 1970, a special school called “Yeshiva Avodas Hakodesh” founded by Rabbi
Hirsh Ha-Cohen (Cohens have been identified as the descendants of the priests in the original
Jewish temple), was established to train students from the tribe of Levi in the ancient ritual of
animal sacrifice. It was dedicated during the Feast of Dedication (Chanuka). Only students who
can trace their lineage back to Aaron can be admitted. Motti Dan (Ha-Cohen), who is said to be a
descendent of the priestly line, studied all the rules in regard to the Temple service, and
established the “Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva” in the 1970’s as a religious school to educate and train
others, of similar descent, for the priesthood.
In 1978, Hebrew University began offering a two-year course in the restoration of animal
sacrifice, including all methods and Old Testament requirements. The first class graduated on
June 1, 1980, and among their graduation exercises, was to perform the ancient rite of animal
sacrifice. An episode of “60 Minutes” in March, 1985, in a segment called “One Step in
Heaven,” indicated that rabbinical students in Jerusalem were studying the Jewish rites of animal
sacrifice under Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the former Chief Rabbi of the Israeli Defense Forces, who
had said in a November, 1981 Newsweek interview that the secret of the location of the Ark
would be revealed just prior to the third Temple being built. The animal sacrifices will resume
when the Temple is rebuilt.
The Institute for Talmudic Commentaries, run by Rabbi Nahman Kahane (a descendent of
the priestly line), which is located in the Young Israel Synagogue, is involved in the study of the
Temple rituals and ceremonies, and have been involved in research to catalog all known cohanim
(priests) in Israel. The Atara L’yoshna (“restoring the crown to its original form”), a branch of
Kahane’s group, has established a Study and Tourist Center near the Western Wall, where they
have models of the Tabernacle, the two original Temples, the new Temple, the Ark of the
Covenant, a menorah, as well as other Temple implements.
A group called the Temple Mount Faithful (or the Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful
Movement), started by Gershon Salomon, a professor of Oriental Studies at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem, sought to take sole control of the Temple Mount to rebuild the Temple.
It was a reactionary movement to protest the move by Moshe Dayan, the Israeli Defense
Minister, who allowed the Muslims to maintain control of the Temple Mount area in 1967. He
went to court in 1987 with claims by physicist Dr. Asher Kaufman, and archaeologist Dan Bahat,
that the Arabs were destroying valuable archaeological evidence from the first and second
Temples. The group has also made attempts to lay a special 4-ton cornerstone on the Mount.
The Temple Institute was esablished in Israel, in 1988, by Rabbi Israel Ariel, who in 1967,
was the first paratrooper to reach the Western Wall. Time magazine printed a two-page article on
the group in October, 1989, and ABC-TV’s news show “20/20” televised a segment on them. On
October 18, 1989, the first bi-annual Conference on Temple Research was held. This joint
venture between the Temple Institute and the Ministry of Religious Affairs brought together
rabbis, scientists, archaeologists in an attempt to better coordinate their efforts in making the
Temple a reality.
Outside the Temple Institute, a sign in Hebrew reads: “Exhibition of Temple Vessels” (while
a sign in English says “Treasures of the Temple”). Based on years of research, historical tradition
and the Scriptures, the Temple Institute has produced the actual items which will be used in the
Temple when it is rebuilt. Many of the 103 items which were used in the original Temple have
been produced, or are in various stages of fabrication, including the gold crown of the high