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The Third Temple

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Who will rule the Holy Land, and at what cost?

In a near-future Jerusalem, harrowing omens plague the city: a desecrated altar, an unbearable stench, a rampant famine. Shaken but devout, Jonathan, the royal family's third son, continues to hold services and offer animal sacrifices at the prophesied Third Temple, built to consecrate the founding of the new Kingdom of Judah. His father, Israel's self-appointed king, has abolished the Supreme Court. The Torah is the law of the land, and only people of the Jewish faith are allowed in. When war breaks out and an angel of God begins to torment Jonathan, warning him of his father's sacrilege, the foundations of the young priest's faith—and then his world—begin to give way.

Winner of the prestigious Bernstein Prize, The Third Temple plunges readers into a tempest of fanaticism, betrayal, and destruction. Where does the power of man end and the power of God begin? With chilling resonance, this vivid novel from one of Israel's leading authors sounds an unforgettable warning amidst rising extremism.

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    • Kirkus

      Starred review from
      In Israeli writer Sarid's latest novel, an extremist form of Zionist Judaism takes hold in near-future Israel, leading to its downfall. Jonathan is the third son of a priestly royal family. He is in Israel, but it is an Israel post-"Evaporation." A right-wing, religious, Jewish supremacist movement has wiped out the "Amalekites" and their mosques, and the ancient Temple has been resurrected for its third iteration, restoring Jewish life to the period of high priests and sacrifices and inner sanctums. As our narrator sits in prison on the brink of his fate, after the monarchy has collapsed, the conditions that led to this moment unfold through his reflections. Through his chronicles, we gain a fuller picture of his individual struggles, which in the hands of a lesser writer might be overshadowed by the dramatic stakes of the novel's sociopolitical landscape; thankfully, Sarid is as attuned to psychodramas as he is to sociopolitical conflicts. We learn about an injury as a result of a terrorist attack during his childhood that rendered him impotent. We learn of his romantic yearnings and disappointments. We learn of the biblical visions that haunt him. All the while, the fate of Israel hangs in the balance. As in all good dystopian novels, The Third Temple's hyperboles hold up a mirror to reality, forcing us to reflect on which parts of our current world have begun to resemble art more than life. Though the novel was published in Hebrew nearly ten years ago, it is prescient at this moment, serving as a warning about extremism that should ring an alarm for anyone concerned about the situation of the current Israeli state. This propulsive, cerebral novel shines in Yardenne Greenspan's lucid and skillful translation. Just as impressive as the novel's thematic boldness is its deep and broad fluency in Jewish history, religion, literature, and traditions. A cautionary tale of biblical proportions that reads like a parable, or a prophecy.

      COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)

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  • English

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