More on Talmudic Temple lore

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: The Importance of Cubits and Shewbread and Everything That Makes Your Eyes Glaze Over. In their faith, Talmudic rabbis kept contradictory thoughts, believing in both the reality of miracles and their unreliability.

The rabbis take for granted that the sanctuary in the Jerusalem Temple followed the pattern of the Tabernacle, which was built by Moses according to the specifications God delivered at Sinai. Then there are details from the book of Kings, which describes how Solomon built the First Temple. But that building was destroyed by the Babylonians in the sixth century BCE, and it’s not clear how closely the Second Temple followed its blueprint. The Temple that emerges in the rabbis’ imagination, then, is a palimpsest, full of contradictory details that have to be reconciled.

Also, where did the Ark of the Covenant end up?

More on the Ark of the Covenant here (and I suppose here) and links. More on legends about the lost Temple treasures here and links.

Earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.