WhatsappEvery Jewish prayer service contains liturgy that consistently speaks about Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.
“Chabad has been pushing in a pretty subtle way, unless you look carefully, for the reconstruction of the Third Temple.” — Tucker Carlson, March 4, 2026
If this year, former Fox News host and current podcaster Tucker Carlson were to attend a traditional Passover seder, like the one my family and I celebrate, he would learn that Chabad’s yearning for the building of the Third Temple is not something outside of mainstream Jewish thought. It lies at the very core of it and has done so ever since that darkest of days when the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans.
Every single synagogue on the planet faces towards Jerusalem and the site of the holy Jewish Temple. When Jews pray, whether in synagogue or at home, they face Jerusalem. At the close of the last prayer of the most holy day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, attendees at every synagogue proclaim in unison, “Next Year in Jerusalem!” Also, at the conclusion of every family’s Passover seder celebration, that same “Next Year in Jerusalem!” declaration is made.
In reality, this means “Next Year on the Temple Mount,” where Passover offerings will be made in the future Third Temple.
Our heartfelt prayers for the Third Temple are hardly just a part of Passover. No part of Judaism leaves this out.
When every Jewish couple begins their life together as married individuals, their wedding ceremony ends as the groom stomps on a glass, and all attendees proclaim mazel tov!
The reason he breaks it is to remember the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. In a tradition that dates to antiquity, the groom recites, “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem … ,” the timeless vow from Psalm 137:5.
The last remaining part of the Holy Temple complex is the Western Wall that sees hundreds of thousands of Jews from the world over visit every single year: the strictly religious and the non-observant, the Zionist and the non-Zionist.
Every Jewish prayer service contains liturgy that consistently speaks about Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.
For century after century, the spiritual center of the Jewish people was the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, first built by King Solomon and later rebuilt after the Babylonian exile. Known historically as the First and the Second Temples, these massive worship structures were the focal point of Jewish sacrificial service, pilgrimage and national identity.
Although the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. during the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Jewish holidays continue to preserve its memory and mourn the tremendous loss of destruction. Nearly every major Jewish festival contains traditions and liturgy that recall the Holy Temple’s rituals, sacrifices and the Jewish longing for its restoration.
Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, but it was also one of the three biblical pilgrimage festivals. During the time the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Jews traveled to in order to bring the Passover sacrifice, the Korban Pesach. The Passover seder we have today includes symbolic foods that echo Temple-era practices, and the Haggadah is replete with sections dedicated to recalling the Temple.
Shavuot, the festival celebrating the giving of the Torah, was also a pilgrimage holiday tied closely to the Holy Temple. Farmers would bring their first fruits as an offering known as bikkurim. These offerings were presented with ceremonies in Jerusalem, reinforcing the temple’s role as the spiritual heart of Jewish life.
Sukkot was in many ways the most Temple-centered festival. Pilgrims filled Jerusalem for elaborate celebrations including the Simchat Beit HaShoeva, a joyful nightly ceremony connected to water offerings performed at the altar. Even today, Sukkot prayers include references to these ancient rituals.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are also strongly connected in every way to the Temple. On Yom Kippur, the High Priest once performed the most sacred Temple ceremony, entering the Holy of Holies to seek forgiveness for the nation. Modern holiday liturgy carefully re-enacts this service in prayer, preserving detailed descriptions of the Temple sacrifices and ritual.
Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple after it was liberated from Syrian-Greek control during the Maccabean Revolt. The holiday remembers the miracle of the victory and that a small amount of oil miraculously lasted eight days in the Temple’s menorah. Lighting the menorah symbolically recalls the Temple’s sacred candelabrum.
Tisha B’Av focuses directly on remembering the Temple’s destruction. Jews fast, recite the entire biblical book of Lamentations (Eicha), and mourn the loss of both Temples and ancient Jerusalem.
The Purim festival was celebrated in Jerusalem the same day as Tucker’s revolting. Purim liturgy includes reminders of Jerusalem and the Temple. Traditional prayers ask for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the restoration of sacrificial worship there.
Together, Jewish festivals and holy days form a yearly cycle that continually reconnects Jewish communities to the Holy Temple and Jerusalem. Through prayers, rituals and observances, Jewish tradition ensures not just memory of the Holy Temple—and the fervent pleas for its restoration—remains central to the Jewish people in every generation.
Tucker cannot take that away.
