By: Ze’ev Ben-Yechiel – Arutz Sheva

As the Jewish People continue their national return to their ancestral homeland, tailors at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem’s Old City began taking measurements of Kohanim (the priestly tribe designated to run the Temple services) earlier this month in anticipation of an even bigger event — the dedication of the Third Temple.

Yehuda Glick, director of the Temple Institute, presided over the first-ever fitting of Kohanim for their priestly garments. “Today, in this room, Kohanim are being measured for the first time in 2,000 years for the type of garments they will be wearing in the rebuilt Temple,” announced Glick to an audience of rabbis, reporters and cameramen on hand to witness the historic event.

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Yehuda Glick, head of Temple Institute, explains registration process to Kohanim (the Jewish priestly tribe)

Kohanim are required by the Torah to wear a special set of garments while on duty in the Temple, and their priestly attire, known as Bigdei Kehunah, is to be worn only during their Temple service.

The ceremony, inaugurating the Institute’s new “Bureau of Outfitting” on Ma’amadot Israel Street in the Old City, attracted several well-known rabbis who are also Kohanim.

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat has arm length measured by Rabbi Israel Ariel

Rabbi Nachman Kahane of the Old City gets fitted for white priestly Temple Tuxedo

The garments of the Kohanim are described in great detail in the Torah. While scale models of the future Temple can be seen in shop windows and the clothes of the Priesthood can be seen hanging on mannequins, the event marked the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple that real-life Kohanim have been measured for the clothing of their holy work in the Temple.

Yehuda Glick registers Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Rabbi Riskin inaugurates new Fitting Center with Mezuzah

At the beginning of the ceremony, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel delivered a speech describing the importance of the occasion. “Just like the animal sacrifices atone for the Nation of Israel, so do the clothes of the Kohen,” he remarked. A man named Aviad Jerufi was on hand to model the full uniform of the Kohen, while each individual garment was described.

Rabbi Riskin: “Head circumference of Kohanim bigger”

Rabbi Nachman Kahane, the first Kohen fitted

Pamphlets were then distributed to each Kohen being measured, containing a Jewish legal description of the clothes they were to receive. Representatives from the Israel Textile Association recorded each Kohen’s head circumference, shoulder width, leg length and other measurements as they were taken before the audience.

Rabbi Ariel kibbitzes with Rabbi Riskin

Rabbi Riskin enthusiastically addresses the crowd

Among the Kohanim being measured were Rabbi Nachman Kahane, brother of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat. Each Kohen measured received a “Kohen number”, with Rabbi Kahane awarded the honorary first number, 1, to much applause, and Rabbi Riskin – number 2.

R’ Ariel Explains Fine Points of Measurement

R’ Riskin: ‘Big Day’ for a Big Rav

According to Yaacov Gutfreund and Yitzchak Shechter of the Israel Textile Association, the clothes for which the Kohanim measured during the special fitting, and which they are to receive, are not intended to be worn during actual Temple service. They are rather meant to be identical in fabric and dimension to the Bigdei Kohanim that they hope and pray to wear when the Holy Temple is rededicated.

The fitting of the High Priest, who has a special set of garments, will have to wait until then.

Photos by Ze’ev Ben-Yechiel, IsraelNationalNews.com

By: Amir Mizroch – The Jerusalem Post

While defense establishment officials sitting in the Kiriya military headquarters in Tel-Aviv ponder the diplomatic-security implications of last night’s attack, a totally different analysis will be taking place this weekend around Shabbat dinner tables across Jerusalem and most West Bank settlements.

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By: Etgar Lefkovtis – The Jerusalem Post

An ancient quarry where King Herod’s workers chiseled huge high-quality limestones for the construction of the Second Temple, including the Western Wall, has been uncovered in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Sunday.

By: Hillel Fendel – Arutz Sheva

(IsraelNN.com) In honor of Israel’s upcoming 60th birthday, the World Zionist Organization has sent an educational kit on the topic to hundreds of Jewish communities around the world.

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By: Hillel Fendel – Arutz Sheva

A group of 150 Israeli citizens have filed a class action suit against the Moslems who run the Temple Mount site for having destroyed Jewish antiquities there.

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By: Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg – The Jerusalem Post

Traditionally the Temple Mount Faithful attempt to set up a foundation stone for the Third Temple on Tisha Be’av, and the police routinely prevent them from doing so.

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By: Moshe Dann – The Jerusalem Post

Jewish historical memory is focused on several fundamental experiences, among them: hurban – the destructions of the First and Second Temples, and korban – ritual temple sacrifice, both of which are grounded in the Land of Israel.

I thought of this when I was recently told of a tour of the Temple Mount on a Sunday morning. I hesitated. The last time I’d been at the site was just after the Six-Day War. I had joined a group of volunteers who came to Israel from all over the world in response to what the Arabs and the media predicted would be another Holocaust.
Israel’s victory turned the situation into a huge party.

Not observant then, I joined thousands of people who thronged into Jerusalem’s Old City for the first time in almost 20 years, walking through dust and rubble to witness the devastation and visit the site that is the center of Jewish consciousness: the Temple Mount.

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