Temple Institute Lays Cornerstone for Sacrificial Altar on Tisha B'Av

On Tisha B'Av, the Temple Institute laid the cornerstone of a sacrificial altar at Mitzpe Yericho, using stones gathered near the Dead Sea and demonstrating how tar would bind them. The planned altar measured three metres square and two metres high, and the Institute said it intended eventually to bring it to its place on the Temple Mount. Work on an altar began on the day Jews mourn the Temple's destruction.