Some Background Information about the Temples

The first Temple (in Hebrew: Beit HaMikdash) was built by King Solomon, its completion estimated at 960 BCE. It stood for over 400 years as the dwelling place of G-d's presence on earth, as a symbol of the Jewish people's devotion to the Creator of the Universe and of their steadfast adherence to His Laws. The destruction of the Beit Hamikdash by the Babylonians in 587 BCE was a devastating blow to the Jews.

Construction of the Second Temple began sometime around 538 BCE. Hundreds of years later, in approximately 20 BCE, the Temple was renovated by Herod the Great and was later destroyed by the Romans, along with most of Jerusalem, in 70 CE. The famed Kotel Ha Ma'arivi, also known as the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall, is the only remaining structure of the second Temple. For centuries Jews and non-Jews, secular and religious, alike, have been drawn by the holiness and mystic aura that surrounds this holiest of places.