What is Temple?

Located in Jerusalem, the Temple is the center of Jewish religious culture. Pilgrimages are made to the Temple several times a year for certain feasts, such as Passover, and foreigners are forbidden from entering. The Temple was first built by Solomon in the tenth century BC, and after it was leveled in 586 BC by the Babylonians, it was rebuilt 70 years later. At the time of Jesus’s birth, Herod had recently renovated and expanded the Temple, and thus it served as a symbol of Judaism and the evil king himself. Jesus begins his message in the Temple when he overturns the money changers’ tables.