What is the Holy Temple in Jerusalem?
The Holy Temple in Jerusalem refers to two destroyed Jewish temples that once stood at the Temple Mount, a flat-topped man-made platform located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Currently, the site is occupied by two Islamic shrines, the Dome of the Rock, built in 691, making it the oldest Islamic structure in the world, and Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on the remains of a shrine constructed as early as 684. Because of the holiness of this site in the Jewish religion, few Jews dare to walk on it. It is the third holiest site in Islam. As you might imagine, the site is a flashpoint of religious conflict. Some Jews expect the eventual construction of a Third Temple, either deeming it necessary for the coming of the Jewish Messiah, or asserting that the Temple will descend down from Heaven in conjunction with the Messiah’s arrival.
