The True Temple

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

Here we see Paul emphasizes that, as believers in God, our bodies are sacred because they house the Holy Spirit. The "temple" imagery draws from Jewish tradition, where the temple was a sacred place for God's presence. Paul teaches that since God dwells within believers, their bodies should be treated with reverence and care.

In Torah, the human body is viewed as inherently sacred, crafted by God with intentionality and purpose. This reverence for the body is rooted in the belief that human beings are created b’tzelem Elohim, “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27). This divine image is not simply a physical resemblance but a reflection of God's spirit, wisdom, and creative potential. Thus, every aspect of a person—body, mind, and soul—bears a sanctity that commands respect and care.

The Torah outlines specific commandments (mitzvot) that guide how one should care for and respect the body. This includes laws related to hygiene, diet, and even clothing, all of which serve to preserve the body’s health and purity. The dietary laws of kashrut, for example, highlight that the body is a vessel that should be carefully maintained through mindful eating. The mitzvah to guard one’s health (ushmartem me'od lenafshoteichem, “You shall diligently protect your souls”) underscores the responsibility to safeguard the body as part of our spiritual service. By keeping the body healthy, one is better able to fulfill the commandments and serve God wholeheartedly.

We know the body is sacred because:

The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.

The Torah teaches that our bodies are not our own to use freely without consideration of their divine origin. Our bodies are sacred robes entrusted to us by God, a precious garment loaned by the King on the universe, and we are called to treat them with dignity and care. Practices like fasting on Yom Kippur or abstaining from certain activities on Shabbat remind us of the delicate balance between honoring the body’s needs and elevating it through spiritual discipline. These acts symbolize the body’s role in spiritual practices and the belief that physical actions connect us to God.

The Torah also emphasizes the importance of using our bodies in service to others and in acts of loving-kindness (chesed). The hands, feet, and voice are instruments for doing mitzvot, for acts of generosity and compassion. Through these actions, the body is a channel for divine kindness in the world, expressing God's love and care through human touch, presence, and support.

Ultimately, the Torah’s view of the body calls for a harmonious integration of physical, emotional, and spiritual health. The body is not merely a physical shell but a sacred dwelling for the soul, meant to be treated with reverence. To honor the body is to honor the One who created it, and in doing so, one acknowledges that every part of life, from daily care to acts of service, is an expression of divine purpose.

The Torah teaches that human beings are intimately connected to nature, not separate from it. The creation story in Genesis reveals that we come from the same earth as plants, animals, and every living thing. Adam, the first human, is named from adamah, meaning "earth" or "ground," symbolizing our origins in the natural world. This deep connection imparts a sense of kinship with creation and calls us to respect the natural world as sacred, for it is the very source from which we are formed.

In the Torah, we are taught that God created a harmonious world, declaring it "good" at every stage of creation. This goodness is not merely an aesthetic judgment but an affirmation of the intrinsic value and sanctity of nature itself. The Torah describes how each element—light, land, water, animals—has a specific role in the balance of creation. Human beings, made from the earth, the air, the water, the fire and breathed into with the divine life of the Holy Spirit, are entrusted to care for this balance as stewards and partners with God. This partnership is a sacred responsibility, meant to preserve and honor the earth as our common source and home. Our connection to nature reveals that humans are deeply integrated into Earth's ecosystems, both in terms of our biology and our dependence on the planet's resources. Science reveals that we human beings are not separate from nature but are part of Earth's ecosystems, physically and biologically interconnected with our home Mother Earth.

So when we talk about temples, we must realize that our bodies and the body of our Mother, on whom we depend for life, is the True Temple. We do not need to build temples made by the hands of men powered by the sacrifice of the blood of animals to please God. We need to worship and steward what is sacred and what gives us life. That is the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies.