2nd Holy Temple

Following many questions and requests from some of you, to provide more detail around the reconstruction of the 2nd Holy Temple, I have found this great video especially for you, with clear and informative subtitles.

Visiting the 2nd Holy Temple is a once in lifetime experience. Join us and BOOK now one of the "ReLive the Bible" Tours.

Please disregard some minor English errors, given this is a very good video. I am sure you will enjoy watching this despite these minor mistakes.

Pay attention to the north-western corner – you can see there the 4 towers of the Antonia Fortress. This is also the 1st station of the Way of the Cross (Via Do Lo Rosa).

The Holy place for the Jews today is the Western (wailing) Wall. Praying is only along 58 meters of this entire Western Wall, which is 483 meters long. These 58 meters were the closest to the Holy of Holies the Jews could get to before Jerusalem was liberated in 1967.

For a more information, on the 2nd Holy Temple period:

With the destruction of the 1st Holy Temple in -586 BCE the leaders and other prominent members of the People of Israel, along with wealthy and educated people were exiled, leaving the less educated and poor behind.

In -539 BCE the Persians took power from the Babylonians and the Persian leader, Cyrus the Great declared that the people of Israel can return from exile and rebuild their temple. Their exile lasted 70 years.

Upon their return at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the 2nd Holy Temple was built in the exact same place as that of the 1st Holy Temple.

In -37 BCE the Romans appointed a King in Israel – Herod the Great. He was an Edomite and wanted to be liked by his Jewish subjects. He was a megalomaniac and is famous for his magnificent construction of palaces, fortresses, Caesarea Martima, Masada, Herodium and more which we are able to see to this day.

He also decided to renew the 2nd Holy Temple in a lavish majestic style along with incredible architecture. The Romans said that “if you did not see the temple Herod built you have never seen a beautiful structure in your life”. This temple served the people of Israel until 70 AD. This means that Jesus also came to this temple.

In 70 AD, in the middle of the “Big Revolt”, the Romans destroyed the 2nd Holy Temple and burnt Jerusalem.

So far as the 2nd Hoy Temple is concerned, you have the luxury during our tour, to be able to touch with your own hands and see with your own eyes the stones and boulders from Herod and those of the 2nd Holy Temple that have been standing there for more than 2,000 years.

These stones and all the remains that were uncovered are still alive and tell us the dramatic story of the Jewish people. We will get to see, feel and touch this story and others during your visit here in one of the “ReLive the Bible” tours.

You can read what other people thought about tours like this: TripAdvisorSam.

If you are interested in archaeology, history, holy sites, you are welcome to more videos and posts here.

I’d like to thank Yehuda Vinograd for this video which is based on the research of Dr. Joshua Peleg from Bar-Ilan University.

Enjoy the video.