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Tailors Avad Jerufi, left, and Hagai Barashi admire a robe for Cohanim priests made at the Temple Institute workshop in Jerusalem last month. (AP) Last update - 16:17 07/07/2008 Want to be a priest in the new Temple? A Jerusalem shop has just the outfit By The Associated Press Tags: Jerusalem, Jewish Temple  In a stuffy basement off an Old City alleyway in Jerusalem, tailors using ancient texts as a blueprint have begun making a curious line of clothing that they hope will be worn by priests in a reconstructed Temple - the spiritual center of Judaism destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. The project, run by a Jerusalem group called the Temple Institute, is part of an ideology that advocates making practical preparations for the rebuilding of the ancient Temple on the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and the site of the remains of the last Temple, the Western Wall. For the past 1,300 years, the site has also been the location of Islam's third-holiest shrine, the Noble Sanctuary, including the golden Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Advertisement The conflicting claims to this area in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Temple Institute has made priestly garments in the past for display in the small museum it runs in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, but those were hand-sewn and cost upward of $10,000 each. The institute recently received rabbinic permission to begin using sewing machines for the first time, bringing the cost down and allowing them to produce dozens or hundreds of garments, depending on how many orders come in. If you are a descendant of the Jewish priests, a full outfit, including an embroidered belt 32 biblical cubits (15 meters) long, can be yours for about $800. "Before, the clothes we made were to go on display. Now we're engaged in the practical fulfillment of the divine commandment," said Yehuda Glick, the Temple Institute's director, at a ceremony marking the workshop's opening last week. The thread, six-ply flax, was purchased in India, and the diamond-patterned fabric was woven in Israel. The blue dye, which the Bible calls tchelet, is made from the secretions of a snail found in the Mediterranean Sea, and the red color comes from an aphid found on local trees. The priests, made up of descendants of the Biblical figure Aaron, were an elite group entrusted with the Temple and its rituals, such as sacrificing animals and making other offerings to God. The memory of belonging to that class has been preserved by Jews through the centuries. Their most common family name is Cohen, meaning priest. The Temple Institute and similarly minded believers think those modern priests will soon have to resume the rituals of their ancestors in a rebuilt Temple, and that by preparing their garments they are bringing that day closer. "The light of God is coming back, and it's happening before our eyes," Glick said. "By sewing garments for the temple priests, his institute is continuing a process that was neglected for 2,000 years," he said. The Temple Institute does not advocate violent action and says its activities are purely educational. But groups like the institute, however marginal, have played on Muslim fears that Jews plan to destroy their holy sites to pave the way for rebuilding the Temple. Adnan Husseini, formerly the top Muslim official at the site and now an adviser on Jerusalem affairs to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the work of such groups a provocation. "If they talk about building the third Temple, what does it mean? It means they will destroy the Islamic mosques," Husseini said. "And if they do, they will make 1.5 billion enemies. It is God's will that this is a place for Muslims to pray, and they must respect that." The first Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians 2,500 years ago, and the second was leveled by the Romans in the year 70. Since then, Judaism's focus has changed drastically, from a Temple-centered ritual of animal sacrifice led by priests to a faith revolving around individual study and piety taught by rabbis. Most Orthodox Jews see the rebuilding of the Temple as a theoretical event to be undertaken by God when the Jewish people are deemed deserving of it, and Judaism has traditionally forbidden making practical preparations of this kind. But this small group made up of members of a hardline fringe among Israel's religious nationalists, view that thinking as an excuse for inaction. "From the moment we see we're ready here, the clothes will be ready and the priests can get to work when the time comes," said Hagai Barashi, an assistant tailor. He wore a Biblical-looking robe, long sidelocks, and a pair of Nike flip-flops. The first member of the priestly class who came to be measured was Nachman Kahana, a local rabbi. He removed his black jacket, and tailor Aviad Jarufi, a small man in a white robe and horn-rimmed glasses, took out his green measuring tape. The priestly garments can't be sold off the rack - Jewish law specifies that they must be made to measure. Yisrael Ariel, the rabbi who founded the Temple Institute, recited a traditional blessing, thanking God for keeping us alive, and sustaining us, and enabling us to reach this time. Ariel, an expert on Temple ritual who was present as a soldier when Israel captured the Old City from Jordan in 1967, is associated with the extreme flank of Israel's religious settlement movement. In the 1980s, he was the No. 2 man on a virulently anti-Arab parliamentary list that was eventually outlawed for racism. His institute is dedicated to recreating the implements used in the Temple not only as a historical exercise but as a way to prepare for its reconstruction and, if possible, to speed up the process. In its 20 years of existence, the institute has recreated a golden seven-branched candelabra that cost $3 million, as well as harps, altars and containers for incense. Many of the objects are on display in the institute's museum, which also has a gift shop selling Temple-themed souvenirs like puzzles, balsa-wood models and board games. There are also posters depicting the Temple in Jerusalem, standing where the Dome of the Rock does now. Many see the agenda as explosive. "The more awareness you raise, and the more you stress that Judaism isn't real without the Temple, the more you're encouraging conflict over holy space in Jerusalem," said Gershom Gorenberg, an Israeli historian and journalist who wrote, The End of Days, a book about the struggle over the Temple Mount. Related articles: Court nixes Passover lamb sacrifice at Temple Mount Dozens of rabbis ascend Temple Mount in unprecedented visit First Temple artifacts found in dirt removed from Temple Mount Bookmark to del.icio.us   Prisoner exchange Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas. Provocative questions Gaydamak tells TAU student to 'shut up and go to hell' over Angola question.   1.   Marvelous suggestion.... 13:08  |  Esther 07/07/08   2.   Trust Haaretz to minimise the Jewish claim to the Temple 13:12  |  Sammy 07/07/08   3.   What about clothes for the female priests? 15:28  |  Paul Henzen 07/07/08   4.   1.5 billion enemies 15:30  |  Aussie Eli 07/07/08   5.   to #3 paul 17:17  |  Gershon Reed 07/07/08   6.   to Paul from Germany 17:40  |  jackie 07/07/08   7.   Why cite Gorenberg only? 18:00  |  Naftush 07/07/08   8.   #2 Response 18:03  |  Jess 07/07/08   9.   Thanks for portraying these guys as what they are 18:36  |  Daniel Breslauer 07/07/08   10.   Who is a kosher Cohen ? 18:54  |  David 07/07/08   11.   #3 Paul - its not in the tradition 18:59  |  Jon 07/07/08   12.   #6 actually Kohanim are not contaminated. 19:31  |  A Cohen 07/07/08   13.   a report twenty years out of date. 19:37  |  A thinking Jew 07/07/08   14.   Summer heat... 19:39  |  EVH 07/07/08   15.   Esther 19:46  |  Connie 07/07/08   16.   The fear from muslims 20:22  |  ecr 07/07/08   17.   to Jackie from Florida 22:17  |  Paul Henzen 07/07/08   18.   "Jumping the Gun" 23:12  |  Avi Yerushalmi 07/07/08   19.   "Jumping the Gun" part two 23:16  |  Avi Yerushalmi 07/07/08   20.   Maybe they also want to design bathing suits... 20:42  |  Goy 08/07/08

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