בַּיִת רִאשׁוֹן (בַּיִת שֵׁנִי)

ביטוי (אנגלית)

The First (and the Second) Temple

הגדרה (אנגלית)

“The First Temple” refers to the First Temple in Jerusalem, and “the Second Temple” refers to the Temple that followed it. The First Temple was built by King Solomon and existed roughly from the 10th century BCE until 586 BCE. According to tradition, the Second Temple was built about 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple, in 516 BCE, and was destroyed in 70 CE.

("Many of the priests and Levites and heads of ancestral houses, the elders who had seen the First Temple when its foundation was laid, wept aloud when they saw this Temple, while many shouted joyfully" – Ezra 3:12; and: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept when we remembered Zion—this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed David the destruction of the First Temple and the destruction of the Second Temple" – Gittin 57b; and: "I fear dissension. For this is the stumbling block that destroyed our two Temples, the First Temple and the Second Temple, and cast us into a great downfall from which we have not risen to this day" – Y. Burla, Kisufim, p. 293)