Envisioning the Temple: Scrolls, Stones, and Symbols

From the Acknowledgments: "This exhibition and publication survey the role played by the Temple over the course of Jewish history, from the biblical commandment to 'let them build me a sanctuary that I might dwell among them' (Exodus 25:8) up until our own time. Envisioning the Temple takes as its starting point a text attributed to the priestly circles from which the Judean Desert sect emerged: the Temple Scroll. From the point in the Second Temple period when the Dead Sea Scrolls were created, we look back to the biblical period - the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the First Temple - and forward to the subsequent evolution of the idea of the Temple. There can be little doubt that this institution was an essential component of Jewish religious and national identity....We begin this volume with some general words about fundamental concepts such as space, sacred space, and temples. After a brief account of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls comes a detailed exposition of the Temple Scroll and its unique vision of an ideal temple...."