Climate change is killing off the Lebanese cedar. There are only about 1,000 hectares of the cedar left in two reserves in the Shouf and the Tannourine areas. The survival of the trees in the Shouf region is due to Walid Jumblatt, the Druze warlord who planted landmines in the forests.
As known, Solomon used cedarwood to build his temple, supplied by a Lebanese contractor called Hiram. According to the Freemasons, the chief mason working on the temple was Huram Abiff. One of the rituals re-enacts the murder of Huram in the temple by Israelite workmen who wanted to learn architecture from him (apparently it was considered secret). I am thinking that the provision of cedar wood is going to be a serious problem for the rebuilding of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. Climate change has shortened Lebanon’s winters in recent years depriving its cedars of the vernalization required. This November is ending without a cold day or a drop of rain.
But I am less concerned with the approaching cedarwood crisis than the water supply. It seems to me that Shimon Peres's phantasy of Israel selling water to its neighbors is turning out very doable.
3 comments:
What about the Red Heifer? Has climate change affected the gonads of the animals to the extend that such an heifer is an impossibilty? Thank God if that is so. To my the current pattern of usage of the Temple Mount is ideal.
I think some ranchers in Mississippi have bred a red heifer in cooperation with Jews seeking to rebuild the Temple.
Maybe the next temple will not need any cedar at all. Maybe the third Temple will be a postmodern structure made out of glass and steel.
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