The Hebrew University was founded on Mount Scopus,
opposite the Temple Mount. Is this the third temple?
Dr. Yair Paz
Published: 03.30.07, 08:39 / Israel Culture
Parashat Tzav specifiess the details of various sacrifices, and
concludes (Leviticus 7:37-3
:
"This is the law of the burnt offering, of the cereal offering, of
the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the consecration, and
of the peace offerings, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount
Sinai, on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring
their offerings to the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai."
One of the exciting intellectual challenges facing modern,
traditional-minded Jews is our response to the substantial parts of
Leviticus that are dedicated to the bringing of animal sacrifices
to the Sanctuary as part of the sacral service and spiritual
transcendence.
One of the interesting examples of the modern attempt to confront
this issue is related to the founding of the Hebrew University on
Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount, and the spiritual ideas
that accompanied the building of the campus on that particular
site.
In 1913, the Zionist Congress discussed the establishing of the
Hebrew University. On one hand, the creation of a university
answered a functional academic need, particularly in light of the
restrictions placed upon the admission of Jewish students to
European universities. On the other hand, the desire to establish
the university in Jerusalem expressed a symbolic national
need.
The two central figures that addressed the issue spoke in similar
terms.
Menachem Ussishkin, one of the leaders of Hovevei Zion and later
the president of the Jewish National Fund, stated in his speech to
the Congress in August 1913:
"
on the ninth of Av this year, we mark two thousand five hundred
years since the foe and enemy came to the holy place and destroyed
our Temple
Two thousand five hundred years ago, our national
temple Gods Sanctuary on Mount Moriah - was destroyed. Now we
come full of faith and hope to build a new national temple, the
sanctuary of wisdom and science on Mount Zion
"
Chaim Weizmann, president of the Zionist Organization, was of two
minds in regard to the address he was to deliver on this subject.
In a letter two his wife Vera, he confided some of his
doubts:
"
I feel a sense of great responsibility in regard to the address
that I must prepare for the Congress
While it is true that the
Hebrew University and the Tomb of Jesus can hardly dwell under one
roof, we cannot relinquish Jerusalem. We must take the risk! This
is the only motto that, I believe, can resonate: The Hebrew
University Die Zionsuniversität auf dem Berg Zion (The Univeristy
of Zion on Mount Zion) the Third Temple!
'New national temple'
There are two salient common threads to these statements. One is
that the university will rise on the heights of Mount Zion, and
the second that it will be a new national temple or Third
Temple.
Ultimately, the university was built atop Mount Scopus, and many
continued to portray it as a new temple in speeches, ceremonies,
and architecture. On the day of its inauguration, even the
newspaper headlines quoted Isaiah 2:2: It shall come to pass in
the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be
established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised
above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it.
But why did a modern nationalist movement turn to the imagery of a
purely religious institution the Temple to reinforce public
consciousness in regard to its modern institutions? And why was it
the university in Jerusalem that warranted metaphoric comparison to
the most elevated religious institution (and perhaps more than mere
comparison?), rather than the legislature or the Supreme
Court?
The answer is complex, but it would appear that one of the sources
may lie in Midrash Tanhuma on the verse with which we began. The
verse reads: zot ha-torah la-olah la-minha ve-la-hatat ve-la-asham
ve-la-miluim u-la-zevah ha-shelamim This is the law of the
burnt offering, of the cereal offering, of the sin offering, of the
guilt offering, of the offering of consecration, and of the peace
offerings.
The midrash, however, understands the preposition la as a separate
word meaning no, thus rendering the verse: zot ha-torah la olah
la minha ve-la hatat ve-la asham ve-la miluim u-la zevah
ha-shelamim This is the law (Torah): Not burnt offering, not
cereal offering, not sin offering, not guilt offering, not the
offering of consecration, and not the peace offerings.
And the midrash concludes: But be engaged in Torah and I will deem
it as if you had brought all of the sacrifices.
In other words, as opposed to the approach that views prayer as a
mere substitute to compensate for the loss of the sacrifices, the
midrash appears to reject sacrifices in favor of a preferred
alternative.
This idea was developed by some of the more innovative Jewish
thinkers, like Maimonides and Rabbi Kook, who were not always
understood by the general public. Similarly, those engaged in the
national enlightenment movement connected the Torah of the modern
temple of knowledge with the Torah of the Temple of old in their
efforts to give modern Jewish cultural significance to their
pioneering efforts.