I speak as an outsider.

A wandering Jewess.

One who belongs everywhere and nowhere at once.

One who did not grow up wrapped in certainty, but in questions.

And yet — Jeremiah lives in my bones.

So I ask, humbly but unapologetically:

May I speak to my chosen people?

And may I dare call the State of Israel the Third Temple?

Before some jump at my throat, bear with me.

In classical Jewish theology, the Third Temple is clearly defined:

a physical Beit HaMikdash,

built on Har HaBayit,

with renewed sacrificial service,

and bound to messianic redemption.

By that definition — and I say this plainly — the State of Israel is not the Third Temple.

But Judaism has never been a faith of stone alone.

When the First Temple fell, we did not disappear.

When the Second Temple burned, we did not dissolve into history.

We adapted — not by abandoning holiness, but by carrying it.

At Yavneh, Torah became a portable sanctuary.

The Jewish home became a mikdash me’at, a small temple.

Jerusalem remained our spiritual axis — even when it stood in ruins.

Judaism learned how to survive without walls, without altars, without........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)