Third Temple reverie finds crowdfunding
A GROUP with ambitions to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem has turned to internet crowdfunding to raise capital for the project.
The Temple Institute hopes to raise $100,000 (£59k) on the Indiegogo website, where small amounts of money can be invested by members of the public into projects they believe have potential or value.
Almost$20,000(£11k)hasbeenraised since the campaign’s launch on 27 July, and contributions will go towards paying a firm of architects that has already begun work on plans for the building on Temple Mount. The estimated cost of producing detailed plans of the complex is $300,000 (£178k).
The institute, which is run by Rabbi Chaim Richman, offers incentives to those who contribute during the six- week fundraising campaign. For example, a modest donation of $54 (£32) is rewarded with photographs of the garments of the high priest, and has currently attracted 25 donors. A top donation of $50,000 (£29k) offers a preview of the architectural plans as a (so far unclaimed) reward.
Thenewbuildingisenvisaged as a replacement for theSecond Temple, torn down 2,000 years ago, which in turn was built on the site of Solomon’s Temple. The institute says it aims to “usher in a new era of universal harmony and peace” by building “a house of prayer for all nations” on Temple Mount.
However,the schemehasnot met with uni- versal approval. In order for building to begin, the Dome of the Rock, Dome of the Chain and the al-Aqsa mosque wouldneedtoberemovedfrom Temple Mount.
According to the Temple Institute “the most promising, and not necessarily the most far-fetched [scenario] would entail Muslim recognition of the Mount as the intended location for the rebuilt Temple.” It added that the existing structures would be reassembled in an alternative location.
H o w e v e r, t h e Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK said the plans “will have serious repercussions and could lead to a regional war”.