They are carefully raised, sheltered behind thick fences and under the watch of surveillance cameras in the Jewish settlement of Shiloh, in occupied West Bank. Five red cows, seemingly harmless at first glance – yet Israeli columnist David Landau referred to them as a “four-legged bomb” back in 2015.
For some Messianic Jews, a very small minority, the ashes of this animal mixed with “living water” are essential for the purification of the site where the third Jewish Temple is to be erected: on the Temple Mount (the Esplanade of the Mosques) in Jerusalem, in place of the Dome of the Rock, the third-holiest site in Islam. This notion is enough to provoke the anger of Muslims, for whom this place is sacred.
The massacres of October 7, referred to as “Al-Aqsa Flood” by Hamas, made the defense of the holy site a part of its rhetoric and unexpectedly brought the red heifer back into the spotlight. Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida mentioned the cows in a statement justifying the attacks on the occasion of the 100th day of war in Gaza: the “aggression reached its peak against Al-Aqsa” with “the arrival of the red cows as the implementation of a detestable religious myth intended to aggress the sentiments of an entire nation.”
Imported from Texas by Evangelicals
For 40 years, the Temple Institute, made up of supporters of a third Jewish Temple, has been preparing the multiple details necessary for the construction of such a structure in Jerusalem, as well as the resumption of worship and sacrifices. The quest for the perfect heifer, the first step in the process, is part of it. Breeders have therefore set out to create it, sometimes resorting to genetics to ensure that the coat would not change color. They explain that according to Chapter 19 of the Book of Numbers, it must be entirely red, two years and one-month-old, and it must never have worked or been injured.
Five “red angus” heifers were finally imported from Texas through evangelical Christians in 2022. Since then, they have been growing under close surveillance in the settlement of Shiloh, a significant site in Judaism before the creation of the first Temple.
Since Abu Obeida’s speech in January, rumors of their imminent sacrifice have spread on the internet, fueled by supporters of the third Temple. A press conference about the red heifer was held in Shiloh on March 27, with one of the presentations showing what the altar for the ceremony could look like. In an interview with the American channel CBS in March 2023, Rabbi Yitzhak Mamo, a third Temple supporter from the Uvne Jerusalem movement, suggested Passover 2024 as a suitable date for the sacrifice.
Since then, Christian religious leaders have been on alert. Describing this sacrifice as “madness,” a declaration signed on April 8 by 36 religious figures from Jerusalem and around the world denounced it as an “invitation to regional, or even global war,” which “will transform the Israeli-Palestinian situation from a political conflict into a religious conflict without a terrestrial solution.”
The Temple Mount, too sacred to be trodden or space to control?
Contacted by La Croix, the Temple Institute denied the imminent celebration of the ceremony. “We still need preparation and rabbinical support,” explained Yitzhak Reuven, director of their international department. As minority sectarians, supporters of the third Temple are far from unanimous: Orthodox scholars reject any attempt to build the Temple before the coming of the Messiah.
“Since the 1990s, we have seen the rise of theories that change the relationship with the Temple Mount – from too sacred to be trodden, it has become a space to control,” explained Tomer Persico, a researcher at the Shalom-Hartman Institute and expert in the evolution of Judaism.
While they intend to construct the third Temple, the Temple Institute loses credibility when it comes to geopolitics: will they simply demolish the Dome of the Rock, even if it means starting a war with Islam? “The Temple is a place of peace. We believe that its construction can be done without bloodshed,” said Reuven. “We will find a peaceful solution.” The red heifers still have time to grow.
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