The Third Temple: Why It Isn’t Ours to Build — Yet

Less than 2,000 years ago (70 CE), the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were exiled from their land. For centuries we wandered through many countries and endured persecution, but survived. As our sources foretold, we eventually returned to the Land of Israel in an unprecedented way after roughly two millennia of exile, and established a state that many traditional voices regard as Atchalta De’Geulah — the “beginning of redemption.” One of the few remaining steps to complete that redemptive process (alongside the coming of Mashiach) is rebuilding the Beit Hamikdash.

If Modern Engineering Can Do It, Why Don’t We Just Build It?

Given today’s advanced tools and construction tech, it seems obvious that rebuilding — even in a form more magnificent and sophisticated than the First and Second Temples, would be technically feasible. Why don’t we start now? Why do we still mourn its destruction, especially during the Three Weeks and on Tisha B’Av, instead of laying foundations?

More Than a Building: What the Temple Represents

“The Temple is not merely an impressive architectural structure,” explains Rabbi Eli Amar. “It is the place of the Divine Presence (Shechinah). God was the architect of the sacred House and the entire Temple system is aligned with a higher spiritual system. When Israel was worthy, the Shechinah rested in the Temple; when not, the Shechinah departed. When Titus destroyed the Temple, the Divine Presence had already left. A heavenly voice declared, ‘You destroyed a ruined house’ — meaning that he destroyed stones; the Shechinah was no longer there.”

Would a Man-Made Third Temple Be Holy?

Rabbi Amar explains: “Even if we built a Third Temple today, it wouldn’t solve the core issue. If our deeds are worthy, God Himself will bring down the Temple ready-made from Heaven. We therefore cry on Tisha B’Av — not over a building (you can always build another), but because each of us faces a spiritual blockage. It’s harder now to connect with God than it once was. In Shlomo Hamelech's (Solomon’s) time, even a non-Jew praying in the Temple could be heard, whereas today, a person can pray and their request may not be accepted. The Talmud teaches that since the Temple’s destruction, an iron wall separates Israel from their Father in Heaven. That barrier arose from the Temple’s absence. Human construction therefore won’t resolve it; we seek the reopening of the spiritual dimension, which we haven’t yet merited.”

Past Attempts and a Zoharic Principle

There have been small, non-decisive initiatives to rebuild. “The Zohar (Part III, 220) tells of a learned gentile who argued to Rabbi Eliezer that God would never again build the Temple,” notes Rabbi Amar. “Rabbi Eliezer replied: the Third Temple will be built only by God. That’s why we say in Tehillim (Psalms 147), ‘The Lord builds Jerusalem.’ The Zohar adds that the First Temple, ideally, was to be built by God, but due to the people’s sins Shlomo Hamelech built it. David Hamelech (King David) had already written (Psalms 127), ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.’ The Third Temple will never be destroyed because it will be built by God. Human beings can’t generate that spiritual system.”

How a Rebuilt Temple Would Change Human Life

What would it mean for daily life? “It’s hard to fathom,” says Rabbi Amar. “It’s like asking a blind person to describe life after sight is restored. Spiritually, the heights would be limitless. The soul would expand in a Godly way, our relationship with the Divine would flow more deeply, and we would better understand — and, so to speak, ‘converse’ with God.

“Now, we’re in a profound spiritual blockage. Ideally, humans were meant to grasp the ‘language’ of birds and animals, to receive higher-level signals, to sense others’ spiritual states (like awe of Heaven), to ‘see’ from one end of the world to the other. Today however we see only the wall in front of us, comprehend only languages we already know, and our senses are confined to a narrow, physical range. Our inner system is shallow compared to human potential. In the era of redemption, a spiritual opening will occur, that will also bring far-reaching physical significance.”

The question isn’t whether we can rebuild, but if rebuilding now would restore what the Temple actually is. According to classic sources, the Third Temple arrives when humanity — beginning with the Jewish People, merits a renewed, unblocked connection to the Divine. Until then, mourning isn’t about stones, but about longing for that spiritual reopening.