intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

"Opalescent Palace of Peace"
We frequently wonder how exactly Bayit Shlishi, the Third Temple, will be rebuilt. Our sages are not of one mind as to the chronological sequence. We recall the famous Rashi in Sukka 41a, "The Mikdash of the future - which we anticipate built and complete (Banui Um-shuchlal) will be revealed and come down from heaven."Not surprisingly, the Zohar agrees. "Binyana Dekudsha Brich Hu" - The Holy One Blessed be He will build the Third Temple (Chelek 3:121,1). One Midrash even says that "Mashiach will stand on the roof of the Beit HaMikdash and announce 'Humble ones, the time of your redemption has arrived", i.e., The Beit HaMikdash will be built even before the redemption. But Rambam rules, "Melech HaMashiach will arise and reestablish the Kingdom of David as it was in former times. He will build the Beit HaMikdash and gather in the dispersed of Israel. All the earlier statues will be restored as they were. Sacrifices will be offered… (Hilchot Melachim11:1). Besides, as Rambam emphasizes in the beginning of Hilchot Beit HaBechirah, building the Beit HaMikdash is a great Mitzva. If the Beit HaMikdash descended from heaven "built and complete", would not the Jewish people be deprived of that great Mitzva? Over the centuries, many attempts have been made by Rishonim and Acharonim alike to bridge the gap. Devorah Ahavah Gerszoff of Cherry Hill, N.J. - who obviously belongs to the same school of thought as Rashi and the Zohar - sent me an original poem envisioning her conception of Binyan Bayit Shlishi, the building of the Third Temple. I want to share it with TT readers.

Picture clouds that, instead of floating by,
begin to form a preconceived pattern in the sky.
Opalescent, luminescent mountains of moisture lit by the sun...
See them start to descend to earth, one by one.

As they make their way downward, lower and lower,
they solidify into special stone, gradually, slower and slower.
The Creator-Choreographer does nothing by chance.
This is heaven and earth united in most glorious dance!

These white-clouds-turned-stone, with each taking its place,
are the architect's building blocks for His own special space.
This is final fulfillment, promised and planned!
This is the THIRD TEMPLE - come NOW to take its stand!

G-d does not depend on man. It is the other way around;
Who builds His House on earth, alone, constructs His building on shaky ground.
The only human possession made to last
is trust in G-d and faith that is held unto fast.

G-d gives and gives. The only thing we can give Him
is the light of love and praise that refuses to dim.
As sunlit clouds call our eyes to gaze up and above,
look towards His future House internally lit with supernal love!

Though man has groped in darkness, flirting with chaos, destruction and void,
there will soon exist a Palace of Peace that will never be destroyed!!

This is a an email (slightly condensed) pertaining to my column “Sermons in Stone” (TT 654, Mishpatim, Feb. 4-5, '05) which I received from Josh Even-chen, a guide who works in both the Kotel Tunnels and the Davidson Center.

(1) There seems to be some confusion as to what is east and what is west in your article. Here are some examples: The main commercial street is located to the west, not the east of the Kotel HaMa'aravi. The eastern side of the Kotel is Har Habayit! The remains of Robinson's Arch are to be found both as an integral part of the southern side of the Herodian western wall, and the area due west of it. The shops of the street are the western pier of Robinson’s arch.

(2) I’m sure you’re aware of the partiality of the inscription found on the uppermost corner stone "L'BAYIT HATEKIAH KAHAV/KOF" Although I too assume that your interpretation is correct, it is still not the full inscription…

(3) Most archeologists do not “surmise that Robinson’s arch is a remnant of a bridge…” – this is the description most would give to the great bridge that ends with Wilson’s arch. Although Robinson believed he discovered the remains of a bridge, it was Wilson, 30 years later, who proved… that this was the remains of a great staircase, or overpass, a theory that has been proven beyond doubt by excavations carried out since 1967.

(I wrote, “Most archeologists surmise that Robinson’s Arch is a remnant of a bridge that once led from Har HaBayit to the adjacent residential areas located on the other side of Kotel Drive”, my name for the Herodian Street immediately to the west of the Kotel. I did not intend to give the impression that I was describing a bridge to the Upper City. That theory, as Josh Even-chen correctly notes, has been disproved. TT reader Avraham Greenhaus more accurately describes it as “a mammoth staircase which led up to Har HaBayit” passing over Kotel Drive. However its lower starting point, as I noted, was adjacent to residential areas located on the western side of Kotel Drive”, and on the same level. C.S.)

(4) “…spectacular find: a Mikveh from the time of the Mikdash” – spectacular, true, just like some 50 other mikvaot uncovered in the area of the southern excavations. In my humble opinion, the more amazing discovery is the abundance of mikvaot.

(The discovery of more than 50 Mikva’ot in the area of the southern excavations is indeed amazing. The importance of these Mikva’ot is that they are a monumental demonstration that Am Yisrael strictly observed the injunction of immersing in a Mikveh before entering Mikdash grounds (Yoma 3:3). But what impressed me about this particular Mikveh was the partition on the stairs “because” as the Mishna says, “the way leading down is not the same as the way leading up.” I “saw” Shekalim 8:2 right in front of my eyes! C.S.)

(5) There are “two sealed gates, double and triple in the southern wall” – there is another lesser-known gate as well – known as the single gate.
(6) The “pool and water conduit built by the Chashmona’im in the Kotel Tunnels” – not quite. The conduit is Hasmonian. The pool is Herodian, part of the moat around the Antonia fortress, roofed by Hadrian in the end century.

(7) Last thing, what you call “Kotel Drive” - because of the commercial nature of the street adjacent to the Western Wall, is sometimes called “Wall Street”!
(Excellent. I thank Josh Even-chen for his cogent comments. Mikol Melamdai Hiskalti. C.S.)

Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service

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