"HaShem did for me when I went out of Egypt!"(Exodus 13:8) Nisan 14, 5783/April 5, 2023 The Torah is the story of man, written by G-d. And the Torah is the story of G-d, written by man, created in G-d's image. And on Passover it is time for we the people to place ourselves squarely within these two intertwining stories, front and center, and to tell our own story. This is the essence of the Passover Seder: to tell our own story of redemption, to tell our children just what "HaShem did for me when I went out of Egypt!" (Exodus 13:8) "And it will come to pass if your son asks you in the future, saying, "What is this?" you shall say to him, "With a mighty hand did HaShem take us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." (ibid 13:14) Passover isn't a history lesson and the call and challenge of the Passover Seder is to tell our own story of redemption, of delivery, to our children and grandchildren, to one another. It's not the story of our forefathers we are relating. It is our story. We were there and we are commanded to relive the exodus every year, on this night that is different from all other nights. The korban Pesach - Passover offering - is the wakeup call, the call to attention. It is G-d's tinkling of the wine glass on a grand earth shattering scale, to awaken us, to focus us, to remind us of how we, with the help of the mighty arm of a compassionate G-d, marched out of slavery and into freedom; out from under the thumb of the Egyptian Pharaoh into the warm embrace of HaShem of Hosts. On the Seder night G-d leaves off from storytelling and lets us tell our own story of how we were once enslaved but now are free. On Passover we relive our deliverance, and by doing so we transmit to our children, not just our story of freedom, but freedom itself! The wine that we drink is the wine of freedom. The bitter herbs we eat that reflect the bitterness of slavery sharpens our memory and enhances our story, and the matzah that we eat, the bread of affliction, teaches us that freedom, true freedom, requires nothing but the basics. The Temple Institute wishes to all our friends, followers, supporters, to G-d fearing people everywhere, and to the entire nation of Israel, a very happy Festival of Freedom - Pesach Sameach - a joy and freedom-filled Passover! . |
Passover In The Holy Temple! Learn how Passover was celebrated in the Holy Temple. See Passover like never before through the pure eyes of Shlomo ben Ezra, a young boy who accompanies his family on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, where they present their Passover offering and celebrate Passover with the entire nation of Israel, in the holy city of Jerusalem! In depth and beautifully illustrated! |
The Half-Shekel Offering: Partnership In The Holy Temple! This Shabbat is Shabbat Parashat Shekalim: "HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: 'When you take the sum of the children of Israel according to their numbers, let each one give to HaShem an atonement for his soul when they are counted; then there will be no plague among them when they are counted. This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: half a shekel according to the holy shekel. Twenty gerahs equal one shekel; half of such a shekel shall be an offering to HaShem. Everyone who goes through the counting, from the age of twenty and upward, shall give an offering to HaShem. The rich shall give no more, and the poor shall give no less than half a shekel, with which to give the offering to HaShem, to atone for your souls. You shall take the silver of the atonements from the children of Israel and use it for the work of the Tent of Meeting; it shall be a remembrance for the children of Israel before HaShem, to atone for your souls.'" In these prophetic times when the building of the Holy Temple is nearer than ever, the Half Shekel offering is an unprecedented opportunity to be a partner in the building of the Temple, "a house of prayer for all nations!" (Isaiah 567:7). The current value of the biblical half shekel is $10.00. All half shekel donations made to the Temple Institute will go toward the physical, spiritual and educational preparations necessary for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple! |
The Temple Institute: Bringing The Holy Temple To Life! "Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering..." (Ex. 25:2) Thus begins Terumah, last week's Torah reading, in which HaShem reveals His desire that Israel "make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst." (Ex. 25:8) The Temple Institute is dedicated to making the Holy Temple a reality in our day, and toward this end, the Temple Institute has, for 36 years, been building and planning and researching and teaching and sharing with you our reconstructed sacred vessels and priestly garments, our books and paintings, our red heifer candidates, our teachings and insights and our love for HaShem and the Holy Temple! It is only through the generosity of your hearts that we are able to continue our important work. Only together can we build for HaShem a sanctuary and "a house of prayer for all nations!" |
Tune in to this week's Temple Talk. It's korban Pesach time, as Yitzchak Reuven talks about telling our stories of freedom on the Seder night, and why the 14th of Nisan is the busiest day of the year for Israel! We have been working furiously to get our houses and ourselves ready for Passover, and on the 14th of Nisan we have one last task to do: the Passover offering! The Passover offering is a wake-up call for Israel and the world - and the prelude to our telling our children how we were taken by HaShem out of Egypt, an event which we bequeath to our children by reliving our own participation in the exodus from Egypt. Wishing everyone a very happy Passover - the Festival of Freedom! |
Help To Build The Holy Temple In Our Time! Donate Generously To Help The Sacred Work Of The Temple Institute! Every contribution helps to rebuild the Holy Temple in our Time! |
The Passover Seder contains so many elements: Matzah, bitter herbs, four cups of wine, charoset, the afikoman, and, of course, the Hagaddah - the telling of the exodus from Egypt. But the main ingredient of the Seder experience, the most essential ingredient, isn't seen, nor is it tasted or touched. The main active ingredient of Passover is placing ourselves alongside our ancestors and reliving our own redemption from Egypt. The story of Passover remains just a story, unless we place ourselves within it, making it real, for ourselves and our children, and our children's children. Tzav (Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36)
Parashat Tzav is read on Shabbat:
Nisan 10, 5783/April 1, 2023 |
The Sacred Temple Vessels! Make an online visit to the Temple Institute's gallery of our recreated Temple vessels! Every sacred vessel used in the Temple service has been painstakingly recreated by the Temple Institute, in accordance with Torah commandments and more than 3,000 years of tradition! Each vessel is ready for use in the rebuilt Holy Temple, may it be soon! |
A Temple Mount Moment: The Passover Offering! On the eve of the festival of Passover, the pre-holiday excitement reached a fever pitch in the Holy Temple as thousands of pilgrims brought their Passover offerings to be slaughtered and the blood dashed against the altar. The Levites sang the Hallel songs of praise throughout the happening, and that night, the first night of Passover, families, gathered together in Jerusalem, would conduct their Seder and partake of their Passover lambs - and taste the taste of freedom! The Temple Institute and High on the Har wish everyone a very joy filled holiday of Passover! A Temple Mount Moment is the joint project of the Temple Institute and High on the Har. Temple Mount experts and co founders of High on the Har, Dr. Melissa Jane Kronfeld and Rabbi Yehuda Levi present each week fascinating facts and insights about the Temple Mount and the Holy Temple, its past, present and future! |
The Passover Offering Reenactment, Part 3 This is the third of a series of three posts featuring photos from Sunday's reenactment of the Passover offering, which took place in Jerusalem's Old City, adjacent to the Temple Mount. |
The 14th Of Nisan - Day Of The Passover Offering! Tonight begins the 14th day of Nisan, the day of the Korban Pesach - the Passover Offering! The performance of the Passover offerings takes place in the afternoon of the 14th, just hours before the beginning of Passover and the partaking of the Seder meal, whose main component is the roasted Passover offering itself. |
The Passover Offering Reenactment, Part 2 This is the second of a series of three posts featuring photos from Sunday's reenactment of the Passover offering, which took place in Jerusalem's Old City, adjacent to the Temple Mount. |
The Passover Offering Reenactment On Sunday the Temple Institute participated in a multi-organizational reenactment of the Passover offering, an annual even that takes place every year on the eve of Passover. Led by Rabbis Israel Ariel and Azaria Ariel of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Baruch Kahana, dean of the Temple Institute's Nezer HaKodesh school for Kohanim, Rabbi Shmuel Moreno, Rabbi Uriah Shavor, and Rabbi Yitzhak Yabetz. Also participating in the ceremony were Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King and Councilor Yonatan Yosef, as well as former Minister of Agriculture, Uri Ariel. |
The Thanksgiving (Todah) Offering We have arrived at parashat Shemimi in our weekly Torah readings, the section of Leviticus which deals with the inauguration and opening day of the desert Tabernacle, which took place on the first day of Nisan, at the start of the second year of Israel's journey from Egypt to the promised land Canaan. However, this coming Shabbat is Shabbat Chol HaMo'ed Pesach, the Shabbat of the intermediate days of Passover, and special Passover related sections of Torah are read, pushing Shemini off till the following Shabbat... |
Mikdash Monday - Pesach (Part 5) _“Take heed of the month of spring, when you will celebrate Pesach for Hashem, your G-d; for in the month of spring, Hashem, your G-d, took you out from Egypt at night.” (Deuteronomy 16:1) |
Hamas Terrorist Shooting Attack On Temple Mount Foiled Jerusalem resident arrested for plotting to shoot at bus carrying police officers in the Temple Mount area after receiving orders. A planned terrorist shooting attack in the Temple Mount area has been foiled, it was cleared for publication this morning (Sunday). |
Chag Pesach Sameach From The Temple Mount! Just days before the Passover holiday, (this Wednesday evening), and the excitement here on the Temple Mount is growing! How we long to build an altar on its designated spot on the Temple Mount and offer our Passover offerings as in days of old! May we soon merit to do so! We are looking forward to a very busy week ahead on the Temple Mount, and wishing everyone a very happy Passover Festival of Freedom! |
Red Heifers Arrive In Israel! On Thursday, September 15, 2022, 5 PM, 5 perfect, unblemished red heifers arrived in Israel from the USA. A modest ceremony was held at the unloading bay of the cargo terminal at Ben Gurion airport, where the new arrivals were greeted and speeches were made by the incredible people who have put their hearts and souls and means into making this historic/prophetic day become a reality. |
The five red heifer candidates that were greeted at Ben Gurion airport this past summer, we are happy to relate, are healthy and thriving. One of the five, unfortunately, has grown some non-red hairs and is therefore disqualified from becoming the red heifer which can provide the much longed for ashes. The remaining four, however, are still viable candidates. These recently taken photographs show that they are healthy, happy, and growing! |
Chag Pesach Sameach - Happy Passover - from the holy city of Jerusalem!
Yitzchak Reuven
The Temple Institute |
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