The Third Temple

Who will rebuild God's most holy temple, and at what cost?
In a near-future Jerusalem, harrowing omens plague the city: a desecrated altar, an unbearable stench, a rampant famine. Shaken but devout, Jonathan, the royal family's third and youngest son, continues to hold services and offer animal sacrifices at the prophesied Third Temple, built to celebrate the founding of the new Kingdom of Judah. His father, Israel's self-appointed ruler, will surely restore peace and order. But when an angel of God appears and torments Jonathan with warnings of the king's sacrilege, the foundations of the young priest's faith-and then his world-begin to give way.
Winner of the prestigious Bernstein Prize, The Third Temple plunges readers into a tempest of fanaticism, betrayal, and destruction. Where does the power of man end, and the power of God begin? With chilling resonance, this vivid novel from one of Israel's leading authors sounds an unforgettable warning amidst rising extremism.

Yishai Sarid was born in Tel Aviv in 1965 to Dorit and Yossi Sarid, a prominent Israeli left-wing MP and cabinet member. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces for six years as an intelligence officer, Sarid studied law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and later earned a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He is an active lawyer and arbitrator, practicing mainly civil and administrative law. To date, Sarid has published eight novels that have been translated into a dozen languages and awarded numerous accolades, including the Bernstein Prize, the Brenner Prize, and the Levi Eshkol Literary Award for Hebrew literature, and in France, the Grand prix de littérature policière. Sarid lives in Tel Aviv with his wife, Rachel Sion Sarid, an intensive care pediatrician, and their three children.