During its international crowdfunding campaign, the Temple Institute surpassed its initial goal of $100,000 to help finance a modern third temple. The project finished its run on Indiegogo last week, raising $104,814 from nearly 900 backers.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the right-wing organization, which is dedicated to educating world Jewry about the centrality of the Temple Mount to Jewish life and “recreating every aspect of the Holy Temple,” revealed its project received funds from 30 countries.
In a statement, the organization announced, “The funds raised from the campaign will be used to continue the research of the Institute and to commission additional architectural plans. The architects will fuse Jewish law with modern technology to prepare for a fully modern Third Temple, Kosher to the letter of the law…”
International director of the Institute, Rabbi Chaim Richman claimed that the organization turned to crowdfunding after initially finding success with social media platforms YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. “We are constantly looking for ways to include as many people as possible in our mission to rebuild the Holy Temple. This is not about one group or organization – it’s about bringing about the spiritual reunification of mankind. Today, with the help of the Internet, our message is resonating across the globe.”
Richman also added that the Temple Institute’s plans to design, fund and build the new temple began three years ago.
Meanwhile, Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights’ coordinator of advocacy in Jerusalem, Ingrid Jaradat Gassner, stated in a recent interview that the plans for the third temple are “illegal” according to the international law.
“Israel is the only country in the world that considers East Jerusalem to be part of Israeli state territory. Under international law, Israel’s annexation of occupied East Jerusalem is illegal, and no state in the world recognizes Israeli sovereignty there. Numerous UN resolutions affirm that East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its religious sites, are part of the occupied Palestinian territory, where sovereignty belongs to the Palestinian people.”
Gassner even went to Indiegogo to remove the campaign from its platform.
“The project clearly promotes conflict, destruction and hatred, and not peace. Indiegogo should be informed that this is an illegal campaign as defined by their terms, violating international law and human rights, resulting in the destruction of property, inciting for religious intolerance, hatred and violence.”
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