page_title: Judaism and Mormonism
section_title: Temples
hierarchical_section_title: Judaism and Mormonism / Comparison of Mormonism and Judaism / Temples
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of the Salt Lake Temple Holy of Holies
context_page_description: Mormonism, or the Latter Day Saint movement, teaches that its adherents are either direct descendants of the House of Israel or adopted into it. As such, Mormons regard Jews as a covenant people of God, and hold them in high esteem. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest church in Mormonism, is philo-Semitic in its doctrine.
  Studies have shown that American Jews generally view Mormons more positively than any other religious group, despite often voting on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Explanations for Jews' high regard for Mormons is speculated to come both from their solidarity with other historically abused religious minorities and the philo-Semitism of Mormon theology.
context_section_description: Solomon's Temple held the Ark of the Covenant in a room of the temple referred to as the Holy of Holies. The presiding high priest would enter into this room, said to contain the Shekhina (the presence of God), once a year on Yom Kippur.
  The LDS Church's Salt Lake Temple contains a Holy of Holies wherein the church's president—acting as the Presiding High Priest—enters to fulfill the relationship between the High Priest of Israel and God, in accordance with the LDS interpretation of the Book of Exodus (Exodus 25:22). Hence, this Holy of Holies is considered a modern cognate to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and Temple in Jerusalem.
  Of the 155 temples operated by the LDS Church today, only the Salt Lake Temple has a Holy of Holies; previous to the completion of the Salt Lake Temple in 1893, the Manti Temple housed a Holy of Holies for the use of the President of the Church. While the room itself still exists in the Manti Temple, it was used as a sealing room for marriages for time, but since it is such a small room, it is now only open for viewing by temple patrons.
  Latter-day Saints believe that the Jews will one day rebuild a temple in Jerusalem, and that the Jews will restore the practice of rituals of the Law of Moses within that temple.
caption: The Salt Lake Temple contains a "Holy of Holies."
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