Wow! Can the rebuilding of the temple be far behind!? School for Priests Opens “He said to me, ‘The room facing south is for the priests who guard the temple, and the room facing north is for the priests who guard the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.’” (Ezekiel 40:45, 46) As children in Israel return to school after the long summer vacation, a new school has opened after a 2,000 year break—a school for Temple priests. The new school will teach Kohanim (Jews of priestly descent) how to perform the Tamid (continual) Holy Temple sacrificial services. (The Temple Institute) It was the first time in two millennia that an actual academy has been established specifically for preparing Temple priests for carrying out the Temple services. The school opened with a dress rehearsal of the actual Temple ceremony, the complete daily service from beginning to end, in a step-by-step re-enactment. Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the founder of The Temple Institute, an organization dedicated to educating the public and new priests about the ancient Temple and preparing for worship in the Third Temple, oversaw the event. According to The Temple Institute, 20 men of Kohanic descent (descendants of Aaron, the first High Priest), performed a simulated Temple worship service starting with the sounding of trumpets. They dressed in replications of the garments that the priests officiating at Temple services wore during the times of the First and Second Temples. The kohanim participated in bare feet since shoes are forbidden by religious law in the Temple in deference to passages of the Bible in which Moses and Joshua are told to remove their shoes in the presence of God. (Exodus 3:1–5; Joshua 5:13–15) Rabbi Baruch Kahana led the Kohanim, carrying out the four daily draw of lots used to assign various tasks. This was all performed in accordance with descriptions of the actual Temple services as recorded in rabbinic texts, such as the Mishna (the oral rabbinic teachings) and other sources.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 00:09:14 +0000
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