The Temple Institute

31/05/2026

THIS WEEK: PARASHAT SHELACH: "SEND OUT MEN TO SCOUT THE LAND"

This week we read perhaps the most troubling parashah in the entire Torah - Shelach, (Numbers 13:1-15:41), in which a simple, straightforward assignment to "Send out men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel," (Numbers 13:2) is fatally botched. The twelve men, hand selected by Moshe with specific instructions to fulfill, manage to return after forty days in Canaan with a factual report of what bounty awaits the children of Israel, but also with the defeatist attitude that the local inhabitants are too strong to be conquered. Their evil report overwhelms the people with uncontrollable despair:

"All the children of Israel railed against Moshe and Aharon. 'If only we had died in the land of Egypt,' the whole community shouted at them, 'or if only we might die in this wilderness!'” (ibid 14:2) The nation's utter lack of faith in HaShem infuriates G-d and the punishment the people receive is devastating: One year in the wilderness for every day of the spies' forty days in Canaan. The entire fickle generation will die in the wilderness before their children eventually enter the land.

Only two men of their generation, Calev ben Yephunneh and Yehoshua ben Nun, who fiercely rejected the defeatist words of the ten other spies, will merit entering Canaan.

An iconic image of the spies' experiences in the land of Canaan is captured in the verse:

"They reached the wadi Eshcol, and there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes — it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them — and some pomegranates and figs." (ibid 13:23)

31/05/2026

HATIKVA - THE HOPE THAT NEVER DIES!

Hatikva - 'the hope" - the national anthem of Israel is proudly sung on the Temple Mount accompanied by seven Israeli flags! Good things are happening on the Temple Mount!

31/05/2026

SHAVUA TOV FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT!

Once upon a time, not long ago, if you brought an Israeli flag to the Temple Mount you would be arrested and banned from the Mount until the police decided to allow you back. Today you can freely unfurl the blue and white flag of Israel without fear of arrest or banishment. When we fight for our rights things do change! May Jews soon achieve full freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, the holiest place on earth, where the Beit HaMikdash - the Holy Temple - the House of the G-d of Yaakov - is destined to stand!

Shavua tov - have a good week! שבוע טוב

29/05/2026

“ARISE, HASHEM! MAY YOUR ENEMIES BE SCATTERED!" (Numbers 10:35)

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"When the Ark was to set out, Moshe would say: Arise, HaShem! May Your enemies be scattered, and may Your foes who hate You flee from before You! And when it rested, he would say: Return, HaShem, among the myriads and thousands of Israel!" (Numbers 10:35-36)

The twelve tribal encampments, each one a unique unit in the army of HaShem, guarding over, and being guarded over by the Tabernacle, located in the center of the Israel encampment, the beating heart of the nation, filled with the presence of HaShem, have received their marching orders. Nourished each morning with a breakfast of manna, heavenly bread delivered to each family's doorstep directly from HaShem's kitchen, and clear, pure water, provided by a traveling well, by the merit of Miriam the prophet and sister of Moshe and Aharon. Protected from the harsh rays of the desert sun by the clouds of glory which hover over them day after day, and a pillar of fire at night, keeping at bay predatory beasts. The people lack nothing. All is good and is only going to get better. Israel is just weeks away from entering into the longed for promised land, flowing with milk and honey, with mountains and valleys and fresh water springs, with fields of wheat and barley, olive trees and pomegranates, grape vines and fig trees and dates, all awaiting their rightful owners to enter and partake thereof. Perfect!

And then: "The people took to complaining bitterly before HaShem. HaShem heard and was incensed: a fire of HaShem broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp." (ibid 11:1) To truly understand Israel's precipitous fall from grace, we need to examine the original Hebrew: "Vayehi ha'am - and the people - ke'mitanenim - acted as complainers!" The people posed as complainers! That is, they had nothing to complain about. Nevertheless they made a conscious decision to conjure up a complaint. They were cosplay complainers! And what imaginary complaint did they take up? Hunger, of course, and not real hunger because they were very well fed. They complained about a lack of delicacies, describing imaginary morsels that they allegedly consumed in Egypt, where they had been enslaved. (Perhaps they forget about that.) “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all! Nothing but this manna to look to!” (ibid 11:4-6) What insolence! What a lack of gratitude! For sure, the complaining originated with the asafsaf - "the riffraff" who "felt a gluttonous craving." (ibid 11:4) But soon the gluttonous craving spread throughout the entire encampment.

The sheer chutzpah of their imaginary complaint angered G-d and exasperated Moshe, who called out to HaShem: “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me? Did I produce all this people, did I engender them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a caregiver carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers?" (ibid 11:11-12) When the people first left Egypt with limited provisions and found themselves in an uninhabitable wilderness, their crying out for food and water was legitimate, and G-d responded swiftly and generously. But now it is simply complaining for complaining sake. When things were so good, when all the stars seemed to be aligned and the road forward was clear of any and all obstacles, why did this happen?

Were things too good? Was life too easy? Had the people become so accustomed to the pampering they received by G-d, Who provided them with their every physical and spiritual need possible that they forget that just one year ago they were suffering under the whips of their Egyptian overlords? Apparently so. We hardly need to search far to find a mirror phenomenon taking place today all throughout western societies. It's not the workaday hard working people struggling to put food on their tables and pay their mortgages who are rioting in the streets and teaming up with nefarious and dangerous partners in order to wreak havoc, but the well to do, university educated elite who are cosplaying victimhood and lashing out at alleged oppressors. Bored of life? Self centered? Self obsessed? There are many reasons behind our current societal breakdown. Certainly not every catalyst behind today's crisis has its parallel in our desert saga. But one lesson we do learn from Israel's crisis in the wilderness, is that what starts out bad only gets worse. The wanna-be gourmands of parashat Beha'alotcha were just the beginning of Israel's woes. From this high point, where the holy Ark of the Covenant was leading Israel to glory, things only went downhill, and fast. This week's Torah reading concludes with the unflattering account of Miriam's lashon hara - evil speech - against her brother Moshe. This too seems to have come out of nowhere. But apparently, negativity and imagined grievances are contagious.

Israel would soon hit rock bottom, and as a result, their stay in the desert will be extended an additional thirty nine years. The promised land will have to wait. Fortunately an eternal covenant with HaShem, Who, despite it all, will never abandon His people, and the selfless leadership of Moshe ultimately pulled Israel out of her self inflicted morass. But what about our world today? G-d still cares, but are people listening? Are people so steeped in their idolatrous cult of grievances and imagined oppression that they will never wake up? Do we have leaders today with the patience and sagacity to lead us out from under our self inflicted dumpster fire? G-d has a plan and we who place our trust in G-d must rise to the occasion. We still can right our wave tossed ship. We have no other choice.

SHABBAT SHALOM!שבת שלום

29/05/2026

WHAT IS HOLINESS?

We achieve holiness by embracing the world which G-d created and elevating it. Not by escaping from it. Hence the sin offering of the nazirite.

We achieve holiness by embracing the world which G-d created and elevating it. Not by escaping from it. Hence the sin offering of the nazirite. 39 YEARS of t...

29/05/2026

TEMPLE TALK: AHARON KINDLES THE GOLDEN MENORAH!
https://youtu.be/2mZTZDnSmg0

EVERY PERSON IS COUNTED & EVERY PERSON COUNTS!

SHAVUOT - THE WEEK-LONG ONE DAY HOLIDAY!

Parashat Beha'alotcha places us, once again, on the first day of the Tabernacle service in the wilderness, as the Levites are sanctified in preparation for their work in the Tabernacle, and Aharon is given the honor of kindling the golden menorah for the very first time.

28/05/2026

HAFTARAH FOR SHABBAT PARASHAT BEHA'ALOTCHA

Zachariah 2:14 - 4:7

"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, behold! I will come and dwell in your midst, says HaShem. And many nations shall join HaShem on that day, and they shall be My people; and I will dwell in your midst and you shall know that HaShem of Hosts sent me to you. And HaShem shall inherit Judah as His share on the Holy Land, and He shall again choose Jerusalem. Silence all flesh from before HaShem, for He is aroused out of His holy habitation."

"And He showed me Yehoshua, the Kohen Gadol, standing before the angel of HaShem. And Satan was standing on his right, to accuse him. And HaShem said to Satan: HaShem shall rebuke you, O Satan; and HaShem shall rebuke you, He who chose Jerusalem. Is this one not a brand plucked from fire? Now Yehoshua was wearing filthy garments and standing before the angel. And he raised his voice and said to those standing before him, saying, 'Take the filthy garments off him.' And he said to him, 'See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I have clad you with clean garments.' And I said, 'Let them put a pure miter on his head,' and they put the pure miter on his head. And they had clothed him with garments while the angel of HaShem was standing. And the angel of HaShem warned Yehoshua, saying, So said HaShem of Hosts: If you walk in My ways, and if you keep My charge, you, too, shall judge My house, and you, too, shall guard My courtyards, and I will give you free access among these who stand by. Hearken, now, O Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol - you and your companions who sit before you, for they are men worthy of a miracle-for, behold! I bring My servant, the Shoot. For, behold the stone that I have placed before Yehoshua. Seven eyes are directed to one stone. Behold! I untie its knots, says HaShem of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. On that day, says HaShem of Hosts, you shall call - each man to his neighbor - to come under his vine and under his fig tree."

"And the angel who spoke with me returned, and he awakened me as a man who wakes up from his sleep. And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I saw, and behold there was a candelabrum all of gold, with its oil-bowl on top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; seven tubes each to the lamps that were on top of it. And there were two olive trees near it; one on the right of the bowl, and one on its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, 'What are these, my lord?' And the angel who spoke with me answered, and he said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' And he answered and spoke to me, saying, 'This is the word of HaShem to Zerubbabel, saying: 'Not by military force and not by physical strength, but by My spirit,' says HaShem of Hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbavel you sink to a plain! He will bring out the stone of the main architect, with shouts of grace, grace to it.'"

28/05/2026

WHAT IS HOLINESS?

We achieve holiness by embracing the world which G-d created and elevating it. Not by escaping from it. Hence the sin offering of the nazirite.

28/05/2026

PARSHAT BEHA'ALOTCHA: ELDAD AND MEDAD

Once the Israelite encampment was organized into tribal units arrayed around the Tabernacle and instruction were given by HaShem as to how and when the entire camp would pull up stakes and advance toward the land of Canaan, it would appear that Israel was only weeks away from entering into Canaan. but then we read:

"The people took to complaining bitterly before HaShem. HaShem heard and was incensed: a fire of HaShem broke out against them, ravaging the outskirts of the camp." Numbers 11:1)

The particular Hebrew grammar used in the verse leaves no doubt that the people contrived to complain. Unlike earlier occasions when they justifiably complained about thirst or hunger, there was no justification now for their complaints. They were a free people and they were being well fed with manna straight from heaven. Blessed with food from heaven and a source of water that accompanied them in the wilderness, and clouds of glory that protected them and with G-d leading them through the desert, Israel took for granted her blessings and complained for no reason. This is what incensed HaShem.

This outburst by the people nearly broke Moshe's spirit:

"And Moshe said to HaShem, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of this people upon me? Did I produce this people, did I engender them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a caregiver carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers?" (ibid 11:12)

HaShem responds by telling Moshe that Moshe should gather together seventy of the elders and G-d would temporarily bestow upon them the spirit of prophecy. However, we are told that

"Two of the men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in camp; yet the spirit rested upon them — they were among those recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent — and they spoke in ecstasy in the camp." (Numbers 11:26)

When news of their prophesying was brought to Moshe, Yeshoshua called for their confinement. Midrash tells us that Yeshoshua was alarmed because the two men had prophesied that Moshe would not enter Canaan. Moshe, however, seems to be relieved to be able to share the burden of prophecy:

"But Moshe said to him, “Are you wrought up on my account? Would that all HaShem’s people were prophets, that HaShem inspired them!”" (ibid 11:20

28/05/2026

PARASHAT BEHA'ALOTCHA: ONE ARK, OR TWO?

We read in parashat Beha'alotcha:

"They traveled a distance of three days from the mountain of HaShem. The Ark of HaShem’s Covenant traveled at a distance of three days ahead of them, to prepare for them a place to settle." (Numbers 10:33)

Rashi explains: "The Ark of HaShem’s Covenant traveled at a distance of three days ahead of them. This was the Ark that went out with them to war, in which were placed the broken pieces of the first set of tablets. It preceded them a distance of three days to prepare a suitable place for them to camp."

Was this the same Ark that the sons of Kehat of the tribe of Levi were assigned to carry from encampment to encampment, covered with a blanket of techelet (blue) dyed wool and a tachash skin, which resided permanently within the Holy of Holies?

Or was this, as some of our sages have postulated, a second Ark?

We are told in the book of Exodus that the master craftsman, Betzalel built the golden Ark of the Covenant.

And yet, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moshe, himself, says:

"At that time, HaShem said to me, 'Hew for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to Me onto the mountain, and make for yourself a wooden Ark, And I shall inscribe on the tablets the words that were upon the first tablets which you shattered and you shall place them into the Ark. So I made an ark of acacia wood, and I hewed two stone tablets like the first ones, and I ascended the mountain, with the two tablets in my hand.' And He inscribed on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which HaShem had spoken to you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly, and HaShem gave them to me. And I turned and came down from the mountain, and placed the tablets in the Ark which I had made, and there they were, as HaShem had commanded me." (Deuteronomy 10:1-5)

This Ark is described as a simple wooden box, with no elements of gold. Were there, in fact, two distinct Arks of the Covenant within the Israelite encampment? One, fashioned by Betzalel, made of acacia wood and gold, which never left the Holy of Holies except when it was being transported by the Levites across the wilderness, and a second, simpler Ark, made of wood only, constructed by Moshe, which is the Ark being referred to as having "traveled at a distance of three days ahead of" the Israelite to scout out a proper camp site?

Some sages certainly think so, adding further that clearly, as stated above, the Ark of Moshe contained the second set of tablets of the Law, while the Ark made by Betzalel contained the first set of broken Tablets.

We are further told in Numbers that, following the sin of the spies, when a breakaway faction tired to take on the Amalekites by themselves, that:

"They defiantly ascended to the mountain top, but the Ark of the Covenant of HaShem and Moshe did not move from the camp." (Numbers 14:45)

That is, the Ark that would be carried into warfare to guarantee an Israelite victory did not accompany them, thereby sealing their doom. Was this the Ark of the Covenant of HaShem that Moshe made?

Later in the book of Numbers that Ark did, if fact, accompany Israel to battle against the Midianites:

"Moshe sent them the thousand from each tribe to the army, them along with Pinchas the son of Eleazar the kohen to the army, with the sacred utensils and the trumpets for sounding in his possession." (Numbers 31:6)

The "sacred utensils" all our sages agree, included the Ark of the Covenant. Yet, Israel was in camp and not traveling. Therefore the golden Ark made by Betzalel would have remained in the Holy of Holies. The Ark that went to war would seemingly be the Ark made by Moshe.

While some sages opine that there were, in fact, two Arks, (and one opinion holds that there were three Arks!), others insist that there was but one Ark. Their opinion would seem to be bolstered by the story told in the book of I Samuel, which took place hundreds of years after Israel entered Canaan, in which the Ark of the Covenant was taken from the Tabernacle in Shiloh and brought to war against the Philistines, who captured the Ark. This Ark, which was eventually returned to Israel after it wreaked havoc for the Philistines, and was later brought by King David to Jerusalem, is definitely the golden Ark made by Betzalel.

The Ark of the Covenant, the most sacred of all the Temple vessels, which went missing sometime during the era of the first Temple, and whose trail has long vanished, inspiring many leads and legends as to its whereabouts, leaves us with many, many mysteries. Yet it should hardly surprise us that something so holy and unearthly should confound our ultimately limited understanding of G-d's works.