The Temple בית המקדש
The Temple in Jerusalem — the centre of worship, pilgrimage and national life, destroyed twice.
Shlomo built the First Temple in seven years, from 2928 to 2935, on Mount Moriah, on ground David had bought. It stood four hundred and ten years and was burned by Babylon on 9 Av 3338. The Second, begun by those who returned and dedicated in 3412, stood four hundred and twenty years, was rebuilt on a vast scale by Herod, and was burned by Rome in 3828 — again on 9 Av.
There were no images in it; in the Holy of Holies, entered once a year, the First Temple held the Ark and the Second only a stone. Three times a year the whole nation came up; the Mishna records among the Temple's ten miracles that the people «stood pressed together and bowed with room to spare».
Its absence shaped everything after: prayer replaced offerings, the table became an altar, the home a small sanctuary.