ALTAR COMPLETED DECEMBER 25, 2009! On Tisha Be'av, Temple Altar Construction Began: see this very moving video. More to come.

Temple Altar Construction Begins






Temple Altar Construction Begins on Day of Destruction
Av 9, 5769, 30 July 09 11:47
by Yehudah Lev Kay

(Israelnationalnews.com) The Temple Institute began work on the sacrificial altar Thursday, Tisha B’av, the day the Second Temple was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago.


The Temple Institute has already built several of the Temple vessels such as the Ark and the menorah, and has now embarked on an ambitious project to build the altar, which will ultimately measure 3 meters wide by 3 meters long and 2 meters tall.

During Thursday’s ceremony, which took place in Mitzpe Yericho just east of Jerusalem, the Temple Institute laid the cornerstone for the altar and demonstrated how tar will be used to cement the stones together. The Institute plans on bringing the altar to its proper place on the Temple Mount when the Temple is rebuilt.

“Today, Tisha B’av, is not just a time to mourn the destruction of the Temple,” said Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the head of the Temple Institute. “It is also a time to build.”

Rabbi Ariel thanked the more than 100 people who came to the event despite their fasting for Tisha B’Av, and despite the hot weather. The main force behind the construction of the altar, Yonaton Tzadok, was also on hand to explain why its stones were taken straight from the Dead Sea.

“The altar is supposed to represent going back to our roots, to the time of creation when everything was pure,” he said. “We took rocks from the Dead Sea, where it is likely that they were never touched by human hands.”

During the ceremony, many people who came to watch were surprised when they were invited to take part and pour tar onto the cornerstones. Rabbi Ariel first asked if there were any Kohanim (priests) in the crowd, and asked them start. When a woman requested to join in, Rabbi Ariel said "of course" and emphasized that women are commanded to build the Temple as well.

With the sun setting, Tzadok asked for volunteers to come back another day to help build the altar. “Carrying rocks and pouring tar is a lot of work,” he said. “We could use a few hundred people to help.” More information on the Temple Institute is available at http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.htm.

See also the post

http://israeltruthtimes.blogspot.com/2009/07/bh-on-tisha-beav-in-mitzpei-yericho-530.html ( copy and paste)

for the letter of Prof. Hillel Weiss, and for more information.

Here are some more words from Prof. Weiss, also in Hebrew:

אין לי מלים לבטא את רגשותי בקשר לאירוע של אמש. הסיפור עם המקובל הוא בעיני סיפור ענק....

הופיע בחור ספרדי חרדי ובידו תפילה מודפסת על קרטון שחיבר מקובל לפני שלושה שבועות. הוא אמר את שמו ובה כתוב תפילה ליסוד המזבח החיצון על ידי הקב"ה בתשעה באב זה.
לדעתי איש מאתנו אולי למעט יונתן צדוק לא ידע על הכוונה לייסד את המזבח בתשעה באב. הנושא החל מבחינתי להידון רק לפני כעשרה ימים וההחלטה לקיימו הייתה ביום ראשון האחרון משהו כמו ד' באב....

למי שלא היה היו במעמד לפחות מאתיים אנשים נלהבים.
...

I very much hope to participate in the Korban Pessach of next year, B"H. Maybe Hashem give us LIFE, protect us from our many enemies, and give us the Zechut, the merit, to participate in the first Korban Pessach in almost 2,000 years.

UPDATE:

(IsraelNN.com) The Temple Institute in Jerusalem announced Friday, December 25, 2009, the completion of a model of the biblical altar which G-d, through Moses, commanded the nation of Israel to build at the Mount of Eval (Ebal) overlooking Shechem:  
“And there you shall build an altar unto Hashem your God, an altar of stones: you shall lift up no iron tool upon them. You shall build the altar of Hashem your G-d of unhewn stones.”