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The Evolution of Jewish Sacred Architecture
The Second Jewish Temple, model in the Israel Museum. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In a letter to James Madison dated Sept. 20, 1785, written from Paris, Thomas Jefferson expressed his fascination with the urban aesthetics of the French capital — and his eagerness to return to the Monticello estate, in Charlottesville, Virginia, so he could incorporate the architectural ideas he had encountered in Europe into his own home. “Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements,” he wrote.
Truthfully, a visit to Monticello has been on my bucket list for years, and yet — somehow — I’ve never made it there. It’s just over two hours’ drive from Washington, DC, and I find myself in DC often enough.
But my visits are usually short, packed with meetings and events, and I’ve never yet managed to carve out the time to detour into Virginia’s rolling countryside to see Jefferson’s famous mountaintop retreat. One of these days, I’ll make it happen. Or at least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
What makes Monticello so compelling — beyond the fact that it was home to the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence and helped shape modern democracy — is that it’s not just a historical site. It reflects Jefferson’s unique mind — his creativity, his obsessions, and, perhaps most of all, his deep love of architecture.
Monticello wasn’t simply a house or a home — it was Jefferson’s lifelong project. He tinkered with it constantly, designing and redesigning, experimenting and innovating. It was, in his own words, his “delight.”
Jefferson wasn’t a trained architect, but he taught himself by studying the works of classical masters like Palladio and Vitruvius, poring over pattern books, and sketching countless designs and plans. Monticello’s neoclassical style — its symmetry, domed roof, and columned portico — reflects Jefferson’s belief that architecture wasn’t merely functional, but philosophical. To him, the form of a building could embody ideals: balance, order, rationality — the very foundations of an enlightened society.
And he never left it alone. The Monticello we see today is actually Version 2.0 — Jefferson tore down large sections of the original structure and rebuilt them to align with his ever-evolving vision. Inside, Monticello is filled with quirky innovations and clever inventions, revealing Jefferson’s obsession with efficiency, design, and technology.
There’s a dumbwaiter cleverly concealed in the dining room fireplace, designed to bring wine directly up from the cellar without the need for servants to interrupt. There are self-closing double doors connected by a hidden pulley mechanism, so opening or closing one would automatically move the other. And in his study, Jefferson used a rotating bookstand that could hold five open books at once — perfect for a man who often researched multiple sources simultaneously.
Jefferson’s bed was tucked into an alcove wall, a space-saving design allowing him to step directly into his study or bedroom, depending on which side he exited. But perhaps the most remarkable feature of all is the Great Clock in the entrance hall, which Jefferson personally designed.
Powered by an intricate system of weights and pulleys, the clock not only told the time but also tracked the days of the week — with the weights dropping through holes in the floor – although Saturday is visible only in the basement, because the ceiling simply wasn’t high enough to accommodate it upstairs. Every room at Monticello tells the story of a man who couldn’t stop inventing — a restless mind, always looking to bring function and beauty into perfect balance.
To Jefferson, building something wasn’t just about creating shelter, it was about expressing values, turning abstract principles into tangible form. And that idea — the notion that a building can be much more than the materials it is made of — echoes through Parshat Vayakhel, where the Israelites begin constructing something that would express divine ideals in the most concrete way possible.
But unlike Monticello, the Mishkan — the portable sanctuary described in Parshat Vayakhel — was designed from the outset for “putting up, and pulling down.” This wasn’t just a practical feature – it was its defining characteristic. As the Israelites wandered through the wilderness, they needed a movable sacred space that could travel with them, be assembled at each stop, and then carefully dismantled and transported to the next location, always ready to accompany them on their journey.
The Mishkan remained unchanged during the 40 years in the wilderness. It clung to its original design — with no tinkering, no updates, and no expansions. But the story took a new turn once Joshua led the Israelites into the Land of Israel. The Mishkan, still at the heart of the nation’s religious life, began to move from place to place, no longer simply following the needs of a nomadic people, but gradually adapting to settled realities.
Eventually, it found a semi-permanent home in Shiloh, located in the hills of central Israel, just north of modern-day Jerusalem. There, the Mishkan took on a modified form — still fundamentally the same structure, but now set upon stone foundations, replacing the original transportable supports. It became more stable, less temporary, yet it was still not a full-fledged Temple — a kind of in-between space, bridging the mobility of the wilderness with the permanence that was yet to come.
Remarkably, the Mishkan remained in Shiloh for 369 years — almost as long as King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, which stood for 410 years. And Solomon’s Temple was, in many ways, a scaled-up version of the Mishkan. While its proportions echoed the original, everything about it was grander, more permanent, and far more elaborate — built with stone, gold, and cedar.
This first permanent temple of the Jews marked a shift from the simple, portable structure of the wilderness to a majestic, enduring edifice, a shift from divine blueprint to royal embellishment.
Centuries later, Herod the Great embarked on his own monumental architectural project: a complete renovation of the Second Temple, transforming it into one of the architectural marvels of the ancient world.
The Talmud (Bava Batra 4a) famously declares, “He who has not seen Herod’s Temple has never seen a beautiful structure in his life.” Its splendor, scale, and symmetry were a far cry from the humble, portable Mishkan of the desert, although it traced its origins to that first sacred space, meticulously crafted according to divine command.
From the Mishkan in the wilderness to Herod’s Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish sacred architecture evolved — from mobile to monumental, from simple to sublime — yet it always remained anchored in core values and ideals, with every detail reflecting a spiritual purpose transcending the material.
The Mishkan was designed to be far more than just a structure — its purpose was to serve as a space filled with prompts and triggers, physical cues that would elevate hearts and minds and lift all who entered to a higher spiritual place. Just as Jefferson infused Monticello with deliberate design elements meant to inspire thought and reflection, the Mishkan was crafted to engage the senses and the soul, transforming the physical into a gateway to the divine.
My fervent hope is that there will soon be a Third Temple in Jerusalem, one that will reflect the Mishkans and Temples of Jewish history, while also incorporating the wonders of modern design and technology — enhancing the original format, recalling its ancient beauty, and becoming an even greater tribute to God and to our enduring faith.
A journey that began in Parshat Vayakhel and has wound its way through history to the present, still awaits its final, magnificent chapter.
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UK, France, Germany Urge Gaza Ceasefire, Ask Israel to Restore Humanitarian Access
People walk among destroyed buildings in Gaza, as viewed from the Israel-Gaza border, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
The governments of Germany, France and Britain called for an immediate return to a ceasefire in Gaza in a joint statement on Friday that also called on Israel to restore humanitarian access.
“We call on Israel to restore humanitarian access, including water and electricity, and ensure access to medical care and temporary medical evacuations in accordance with international humanitarian law,” the foreign ministers of the three countries, known as the E3, said in a statement.
The ministers said they were “appalled by the civilian casualties,” and also called on Palestinian Hamas terrorists to release Israeli hostages.
They said the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians could not be resolved through military means, and that a long-lasting ceasefire was the only credible pathway to peace.
The ministers added that they were “deeply shocked” by the incident that affected the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) building in Gaza, and called for an investigation into the incident.
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Israeli Military Says It Intercepted Missile Fired from Yemen; Houthis Claim Responsibility
FILE PHOTO: Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen on Friday, one day after shooting down two projectiles launched by Houthi terrorists.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it fired a ballistic missile toward Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement in the early hours of Saturday.
Saree said the attack against Israel was the group’s third in 48 hours.
He issued a warning to airlines that the Israeli airport was “no longer safe for air travel and would continue to be so until the Israeli aggression against Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
However, the airport’s website seemed to be operating normally and showed a list of scheduled flights.
The group’s military spokesman has also said without providing evidence that the Houthis had launched attacks against the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.
The group recently vowed to escalate attacks, including those targeting Israel, in response to US strikes earlier this month, which amount to the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. The US attacks have killed at least 50 people.
The Houthis’ fresh attacks come under a pledge to expand their range of targets in Israel in retaliation for renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza that have killed hundreds after weeks of relative calm.
The Houthis have carried out over 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and prompted the US military to launch a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
The Houthis are part of what has been dubbed the “Axis of Resistance” – an anti-Israel and anti-Western alliance of regional militias including Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and armed groups in Iraq, all backed by Iran.
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Columbia University Agrees to Some Trump Demands in Attempt to Restore Funding
A pro-Palestine protester holds a sign that reads: “Faculty for justice in Palestine” during a protest urging Columbia University to cut ties with Israel. November 15, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Columbia University agreed to some changes demanded by US President Donald Trump’s administration before it can negotiate to regain federal funding that was pulled this month over allegations the school tolerated antisemitism on campus.
The Ivy League university in New York City acquiesced to several demands in a 4,000-word message from its interim president released on Friday. It laid out plans to reform its disciplinary process, hire security officers with arrest powers and appoint a new official with a broad remit to review departments that offer courses on the Middle East.
Columbia’s dramatic concessions to the government’s extraordinary demands, which stem from protests that convulsed the Manhattan campus over the Israel-Gaza war, immediately prompted criticism. The outcome could have broad ramifications as the Trump administration has warned at least 60 other universities of similar action.
What Columbia would do with its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department was among the biggest questions facing the university as it confronted the cancellation, called unconstitutional by legal and civil groups, of hundreds of millions of dollars in government grants and contracts. The Trump administration had told the school to place the department under academic receivership for at least five years, taking control away from its faculty.
Academic receivership is a rare step taken by a university’s administrators to fix a dysfunctional department by appointing a professor or administrator outside the department to take over.
Columbia did not refer to receivership in Friday’s message. The university said it would appoint a new senior administrator to review leadership and to ensure programs are balanced at MESAAS, the Middle East Institute, the Center for Palestine Studies, the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and other departments with Middle East programs, along with Columbia’s satellite hubs in Tel Aviv and Amman.
‘TERRIBLE PRECEDENT’
Professor Jonathan Zimmerman, a historian of education at the University of Pennsylvania and a “proud” graduate of Columbia, called it a sad day for the university.
“Historically, there is no precedent for this,” Zimmerman said. “The government is using the money as a cudgel to micromanage a university.”
Todd Wolfson, a Rutgers University professor and president of the American Association of University Professors, called the Trump administration’s demands “arguably the greatest incursion into academic freedom, freedom of speech and institutional autonomy that we’ve seen since the McCarthy era.”
“It sets a terrible precedent,” Wolfson said. “I know every academic faculty member in this country is angry about Columbia University’s inability to stand up to a bully.”
In a campus-wide email, Katrina Armstrong, Columbia’s interim president, wrote that the her priorities were “to advance our mission, ensure uninterrupted academic activities, and make every student, faculty, and staff member safe and welcome on our campus.”
Mohammad Hemeida, an undergraduate who chairs Columbia’s Student Governing Board, said the school should have sought more student and faculty input.
“It’s incredibly disappointing Columbia gave in to government pressure instead of standing firm on the commitments to students and to academic freedom, which they emphasized to us in almost daily emails,” he said.
The White House did not respond to Columbia’s memo on Friday. The Trump administration said its demands, laid out in a letter to Armstrong eight days ago, were a precondition before Columbia could enter “formal negotiations” with the government to have federal funding.
ARREST POWERS
Columbia’s response is being watched by other universities that the administration has targeted as it advances its policy objectives in areas ranging from campus protests to transgender sports and diversity initiatives.
Private companies, law firms and other organizations have also faced threatened cuts in government funding and business unless they agree to adhere more closely to Trump’s priorities. Powerful Wall Street law firm Paul Weiss came under heavy criticism on Friday over a deal it struck with the White House to escape an executive order imperiling its business.
Columbia has come under particular scrutiny for the anti-Israel student protest movement that roiled its campus last year, when its lawns filled with tent encampments and noisy rallies against the US government’s support of the Jewish state.
To some of the Trump administration’s demands, such as having “time, place and manner” rules around protests, the school suggested they had already been met.
Columbia said it had already sought to hire peace officers with arrest powers before the Trump administration’s demand last week, saying 36 new officers had nearly completed the lengthy training and certification process under New York law.
The university said no one was allowed to wear face masks on campus if they were doing so intending to break rules or laws. The ban does not apply to face masks worn for medical or religious purposes, and the university did not say it was adopting the Trump administration’s demand that Columbia ID be worn visibly on clothing.
The sudden shutdown of millions of dollars in federal funding to Columbia this month was already disrupting medical and scientific research at the school, researchers said.
Canceled projects included the development of an AI-based tool that helps nurses detect the deterioration of a patient’s health in hospital and research on uterine fibroids, non-cancerous tumors that can cause pain and affect women’s fertility.
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