The paradoxes embodied by the temple of Herod would be felt by any Jew, whether one who stressed the exclusive or one who stressed the universal aspect of the Jewish faith.
For here was a building that attracted pilgrims from all nations, but which shut out anyone who was not a Jew.
And here was a building that proclaimed the moral and religious superiority of the Chosen Race to all other nations, but which had been built for them by an ambitious Arab, Herod the Great, with money from the Romans.
A. N. Wilson
Taken from: Mano Chil
