DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

After a four-year revolt against Roman oppression (66-70 CE), The Roman general Titus succeeded in destroying the Temple on the 9th of Av, the same day on the Jewish calendar as the First Temple was destroyed. It took some 60,000 men, which was nearly half the Roman army, to crush the Jewish revolt.

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DOME OF THE ROCK

Built by Abdul Malik in 691, it is interesting to note that this gold structure is not a mosque. Instead, it is a shrine erected over the rock where Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven. For the record: Most media-saavy people are aware that the Palestinians are trying to claim Jerusalem as the capital of the state they hope to establish, and they base this, among other things, on the fact that Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam. Interestingly enough, there is no mention of Jerusalem in the Koran. Instead, Al Asq, which is the Arab name for Jerusalem, literally means "the farthest place."

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EZRA and NECHEMIA

With the blessings of the Persian King, these two great Jewish leaders led a massive aliyah from Babylon to the Land of Israel around the year 350 BCE. Then, as now, the rebuilding of the Jewish state was no easy task. Ezra, who arrived first, found the Jewish community in Israel to be rife with ignorance, assimilation and intermarriage--problems that strike an alarmingly familiar chord in our own days.
However, within a short time, Ezra sparked a tremendous resurgence of Jewish life and learning in the Land of Israel--including the rebuilding of the Temple. Such was his stature as a Jewish leader that he is considered to be as great as Moshe in certain ways.
Ezra found a strong ally in Nehemia, who arrived several years later, armed with a Royal Persian edict to continue the efforts to fortify Jewish life in Israel. Nehemia helped to complete Ezra's work and is credited with rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem.
Both men were prophets and members of the Great Assembly, a parliament of sages who led the Jewish people during the century after the destruction of the First Temple until the Greek conquest of Israel.

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HADRIAN: circa 117 CE

As Roman emporer, he began his reign favorably disposed toward the Jews. However, he had a passion for Greek culture and as such, his rule soon became a reincarnation of the same conflict the Jews had with the Greeks. This included the same kind of spiritual suppression of Jewish tradition and way of life. It is said that he wanted to build a pagan temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount.

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HEROD

63 BCE marked the official entry of Rome into the Land of Israel. At the time a civil war was raging between two of the descendants of the Maccabee Kings, Hirkanus and Aristobulus.
Hirkanus, the weaker of the two, had an advisor known as Antipater. A descendent of the Edomites, who had come under Jewish control and were forced to convert to Judaism, Antipater was a shrewd political manipulator and power player. He convinced Rome to "mediate" the conflict between the two warring brothers, and in doing so eventually paved the way for his son, Herod Agrippas, to be placed on the Jewish throne.
The son of Herod Agrippas was also known as Herod, whose tyrannical reign stretched from 37-4 BCE. In an effort to gain credibility with the masses, he married the last female descendant of the Maccabees--only to eventually kill her in a fit of rage. He also executed nearly all of the great Sages of his time.
Later he would try to make amends by renovating and expanding the Temple, and, in fact,the structure that he built was one of the most beautiful buildings of all time. He also embarked on an ambitious construction campaign. Cesaria, Masada and Herodia, were all built in his time.

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MAMELUKES

This tribe of slave warriors rebelled against their Egyptian masters in 1250 and took control of Egypt. From the 1300s until the 1500s they controlled the land of Israel and were responsible for numerous building projects.

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MICHA 3:12

"Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the forest."

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