FINAL WARNING: The Shining Star
resume when the Temple is rebuilt.The Institute for Talmudic Commentaries, run by Rabbi Nahman
Kahane (a descendent of the priestly line), which is located in the
Young Israel Synagogue, is involved in the study of the Temple rituals
and ceremonies, and have been involved in research to catalog all
known cohanim (priests) in Israel. The Atara L’yoshna (“restoring the
crown to its original form”), a branch of Kahane’s group, has
established a Study and Tourist Center near the Western Wall, where
they have models of the Tabernacle, the two original Temples, the new
Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, a menorah, as well as other Temple
implements.A group called the Temple Mount Faithful (or the Temple Mount and
Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement), started by Gershon Salomon, a
professor of Oriental Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,
sought to take sole control of the Temple Mount to rebuild the Temple.
It was a reactionary movement to protest the move by Moshe Dayan,
the Israeli Defense Minister, who allowed the Muslims to maintain
control of the Temple Mount area in 1967. He went to court in 1987 with
claims by physicist Dr. Asher Kaufman, and archaeologist Dan Bahat,
that the Arabs were destroying valuable archaeological evidence from
the first and second Temples. The group has also made attempts to lay
a special 4-ton cornerstone on the Mount.The Temple Institute was esablished in Israel, in 1988, by Rabbi Israel
Ariel, who in 1967, was the first paratrooper to reach the Western Wall.
Time magazine printed a two-page article on the group in October,
1989, and ABC-TV’s news show “20/20” televised a segment on them.
On October 18, 1989, the first bi-annual Conference on Temple
Research was held. This joint venture between the Temple Institute
and the Ministry of Religious Affairs brought together rabbis,
scientists, archaeologists in an attempt to better coordinate their
efforts in making the Temple a reality.Outside the Temple Institute, a sign in Hebrew reads: “Exhibition of
Temple Vessels” (while a sign in English says “Treasures of the
Temple”). Based on years of research, historical tradition and the
Scriptures, the Temple Institute has produced the actual items which
will be used in the Temple when it is rebuilt. Many of the 103 items