Once, long ago, the Ark with the Ten Commandments rested at Shiloh. King David brought the Ark to Jerusalem, his city, where he longed to build a proper house for it.
 
But God did not approve.
 
"You are man of bloodshed and war," God said to David. "You shall not build a house in My name." So it was that David's son, King Solomon, came to build the House of the Lord.
 
Tens of thousands of men worked for many years to build the Temple. It was built from blocks of the choicest stone and glowed with copper, silver, brass and gold.
 
In the center of the Temple -- in its heart -- was a small, plain room. This was the sacred Holy of Holies in which the Priests placed the Ark with the Ten Commandments.
 
The elders, the Princes of the Tribes and all the people assembled for the Temple's dedication. Solomon praised God and asked Him to be merciful to the people Israel and to hear their prayers and forgive their sins. God accepted the Temple but warned, "If you turn away from Me, you and the Temple will be cast out of My sight." So the people brought offerings and celebrated their festivals at the Temple.
 
Then Solomon died and his kingdom was divided. Ambitious kings murdered their rivals. Priests neglected their duties and the people turned to the adulterous ways of Ba'al. The Prophets warned that punishment would come from God, but the people did not listen.
 
Soon Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, thundered into Jerusalem. He took everything he could carry from the Temple and, on the 9th of Av, his soldiers burned the Temple to the ground. The tablets of the Ten Commandments disappeared. The people understood that because of their ways, the First Temple was destroyed.
 
The Jews were carried off by the Babylonians into exile. Eventually, Babylonia fell to Cyrus, king of Persia, who was called The Anointed Shepherd of the God of Israel. He freed the people, and they returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
 
The Temple they built was small and humble, and in it the people heard Ezra read the Torah. They vowed, once again, to follow God's Law, and brought offerings and celebrated their festivals at the Temple.
 
Years passed.

Antiochus and his troops came and desecrated the Temple but the brave Maccabees cleansed the holy place and rededicated it to the One God.

In time, Herod became King of Judea. To win the favor of the people, he made the Temple larger and even more significant than Solomonís with massive marble pillars and many courtyards. In the center of the Temple was the Holy of Holies, but now it was an empty room. The people brought offerings to the altar and celebrated their festivals there.
 
Presently, the Romans ruled the land and the Jews rose in revolt. They fought the enemy without but there was much dissension and disunity within. Factions feuded. Zealots battled moderates. The sages saw the discord and intolerance and warned that punishment would come from God.
 
Weakened by internal strife, the people could resist no longer. The armies of Titus charged into Jerusalem. On the 9th of Av they burned the Temple to the ground. The Jews understood that because of their baseless hatred toward one another, the Second Temple was destroyed.
 
The people wept and mourned. They sat on the ground wailing lamentations in remembrance of the Temple and of Jerusalem plowed under like a field. And they asked the rabbis, "What shall we do, now that the Temple is no more? Where shall we bring our offerings to God?"
 
And Rabbi Yochanan the son of Zakkai replied, "Now you must bring God acts of loving kindness, for He desires mercy and not sacrifice."
 
Yes, the house built for God is gone.

But be comforted, for the Lord lives everywhere and His spirit rests in everyone.
Each of us is a living Temple.

In our centers, in our very hearts, is a sacred place. And that place is not empty for God's words are in it.

From this place we can follow God's commandments and do what He has asked.

We can remember Him.

We can walk in His ways.

We can bring our offerings of love and kindness and justice to Him and to everything that lives on earth.