Egypt, the Root of Exile: Understanding Redemption Through the Three Temples

Egypt, the Root of Exile: Understanding Redemption Through the Three Temples.

Egypt, the Root of Exile: Understanding Redemption Through the Three Temples
A teaching from the Secrets of Redemption Course— Rabbi Amichai Cohen

The number three is more than a numeral—it’s a key to understanding how heaven meets earth.

In Aristotelian philosophy, the progression is clear:
1 is a point,
2 is a line,
3 is a surface—a plane of reality.

Kabbalistically, the number three represents harmony and integration. It bridges the divide between two realms and creates a new, higher unity. Heaven and earth. Light and vessel. Creator and creation. Three is the place where opposites fuse.

This mystery of three lies at the heart of Redemption—and of the Three Temples.

The Dwelling of the Divine

The Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, is not merely a building. It is the Divine epicenter of this world—G-d’s "headquarters," the focal point where heaven descends into earth. Its destruction is described in the Zohar and Midrash as the Exile of the Shechina—the Divine Presence cast into hiding.

There have been two Temples in Jerusalem so far, and we await the Third, eternal Temple. Each of the three has a unique role in the cosmic unfolding of Divine revelation.

The First Temple – Light from Above

Built by King Solomon, the First Temple embodied the ideal conditions of peace and Divine revelation. “Solomon” (Shlomo) shares the root with Shalom—peace and wholeness. For 410 years, it stood as a majestic edifice of heavenly beauty, constructed under Divine inspiration. It was a continuation of the Mishkan, the traveling Tabernacle that accompanied the Israelites from the Exodus and through the desert, representing the first attempt at anchoring Divine light on earth.

Spiritually, the First Temple was like the sun—a direct light that shines from above to below. But this light did not fully permeate the lower, dormant aspects of reality. It illuminated, but it did not transform. When its time ended, it was destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Shechina began its descent into exile.

The Second Temple – Light from Below

Seventy years later, led by Ezra and Nechemia, and empowered by Persian kings including Cyrus and Darius (whom some identify as the son of Esther and Ahashverosh), the Second Temple was built.

Though it lacked the open miracles and Divine fire of the First Temple, the Second Temple represented a different kind of light—the light of return, of human effort, of "below to above." It was rebuilt through social will and political complexity. Spiritually, it resembled the light of a candle—a smaller light, but one that pushes against the darkness from within it.

Eventually, the physical structure reached unmatched grandeur under Herod the Great, and the Talmud teaches: “Whoever did not see Herod’s Temple never saw beauty in his life.” Yet, the spiritual core was not the same. After 420 years, this Temple too was destroyed—this time by the Romans, on the 9th of Av.

The Second Temple had a hidden advantage: it sanctified the lower realms. It brought sparks of darkness closer to their source. But it lacked the sun-like inspiration of the First Temple.

The Third Temple – Fusion and Redemption

The Third Temple is not merely a return—it is a transformation. It will synthesize both models of light: the overpowering light from above (sun) and the awakening light from below (candle). It will be the full realization of the number three—a fusion that creates something new and eternal.

This Temple will be built not only in Jerusalem, but also in the collective human heart. It will mark the end of duality—the full integration of material and spiritual, of heaven and earth. The Infinite Light (Or Ein Sof) will shine within the finite. The soul will no longer feel exiled from the body. Every act, thought, and moment will reveal the unity of the Creator.

This is why the Final Redemption is not just a spiritual event—it is the perfection of mankind. A world where there is no longer a split between G-d and creation, between darkness and light.

The Third Temple will not be destroyed because it will be built out of unity itself.

This teaching is part of our "Secrets of Redemption" Series.
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