Destruction And Rebirth Rebirth Temple Replication A Tale of Two Brothers Once there were two brothers who inherited a farm. They worked the farm together for years in brotherly love. After a time, one of them found a wife, so the brothers divided up the farm. The married one built a new house and lived with his wife, while the single brother lived by himself in the old building. The brothers continued to work their farms and they flourished and made a lot of money. The one who had a wife eventually had some children. A large family, ten children. And the other brother was still looking for a wife; he was alone. One day, the fellow who was alone thought to himself: "I've got this whole farm and all this money, but I only have myself to take care of. My brother has the same amount as me, but he has twelve mouths to feed." So in the middle of the night he took some bundles of wheat, climbed up the hill that separated the two farms, then over into his brother's farm - putting the wheat in his brother's silo. One night the married brother was thinking to himself, "You know, I've got ten kids, I've got a wife. My world is rich. But my brother, he's all alone. What does he have? All he has is his wheat." So, in the middle of the night, he took a bundle of wheat, climbed the hill, and carried it over to his brother's silo. Back and forth each of the brothers went. Every night each one would climb the hill, pass over to the other side and put wheat in the other's silo. And the next morning each one always wondered, how come I have the same amount of wheat? One night, while they were passing over to bring the other their bundles of wheat, the two brothers met at the top of the hill. And immediately they understood what had been happening. They fell into each other's arms, hugging and kissing. It is on this site that the Almighty chose to build the Holy Temple. Because when a human being loves another human being, the Almighty is with us. Wherever we are. Because that is what living is really about. Foxes in the Temple When When Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva approached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. They began crying and Rabbi Akiva laughed. In explanation for his laughter he said to them, "surely the prophecy of Zacharia will be fulfilled. For he said 'old men and women shall yet again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem... and the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets' (Zachariah 8:4) - (Makkot 24b)." At the end of Masechet Makkot it mentions that a fox will be seen walking amongst the ruins of Jerusalem , and Rabbi Akiva made the connection between that prophecy come true, and the prophecy of the Temple being rebuilt. A Sustained Hope The Book of Our Heritage - It is told of the Emperor Napoleon of France that he once passed the entrance of a synagogue in Paris on Tisha B'Av. At seeing Jews seated on the ground, weeping and lamenting over the destruction of the Temple and the land, as if calamity had befallen them only yesterday, he stood in amazement and said: I vow that this people is destined for a successful future in its own land. For where can we find a similar people which kept alive similar mourning and hope for thousands of years? Click here for legends of destruction! Our sages tell us that the temple was destroyed because of "sinat chinam" (unwarranted hatred) in that generation. Our sages tell us also that with "ahavat chinam" (unwarranted love), the temple will be rebuilt!