The Mishnah in tractate
Yoma mentions a stone situated in the Holy of Holies that was called and had been revealed by the early prophets (i.e. David and
Samuel). An early
Christian source noting Jewish attachment to the rock may be found in the , written between 333 and 334 CE when Jerusalem was under
Roman rule, which describes a "perforated stone to which the Jews come every year and anoint it, bewail themselves with groans, rend their garments, and so depart." According to the sages of the Talmud, it was from this rock that the world was created, itself being the first part of the Earth to come into existence. According to the Talmud, it was close to the Foundation Stone, on the site of the altar, that God gathered the earth that was formed into
Adam. It was on this rock that Adam—and later
Cain and Abel and
Noah—offered sacrifices to God. Jewish sources identify this rock as the place of the
Binding of Isaac mentioned in the
Bible, where
Abraham fulfilled God's test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son. The mountain is identified as Moriah in Genesis 22. It is also identified as the rock upon which
Jacob dreamt about angels ascending and descending on a ladder and consequently consecrating and offering a sacrifice upon. The Roman-era
midrash sums up the centrality of and holiness of the site in Judaism: When, according to the Bible, King
David purchased a threshing floor owned by
Araunah the
Jebusite, it is believed that it was upon this rock that he offered the sacrifice mentioned in the verse. He wanted to construct a permanent temple there, but as his hands were "bloodied", he was forbidden to do so himself. The task was left to his son
Solomon, who completed
the Temple in .
Toledot Yeshu reports that "It was called
Shetiyya because God placed it there (שת אותה יה; cf.
Zohar, Vayechi 43), and this is the stone which
Jacob libated with wine. On it were written the letters of the
Explicit Name, and anyone who knew them could perform magic to his heart's desire. The Sages feared lest youths obtain the Name and destroy the world, so they set two iron hounds at the gate, which would bark at any comer to cause him to forget what he had learned. In the words of the , "The world was not created until God took a stone called and threw it into the depths where it was fixed from above till below, and from it the world expanded. It is the centre point of the world and on this spot stood the Holy of Holies."
Role in the Temple Situated inside the Holy of Holies, the Foundation Stone is believed to have been the rock upon which the Ark of the Covenant was placed in Solomon's Temple. During the
Second Temple period when the Ark of the Covenant was not present, the stone was used by the High Priest who offered up the incense and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on it during the annual
Yom Kippur service.
Commemoration in Jewish law The
Jerusalem Talmud states: Citing this, the rules that not only are women not to prepare or attach warp threads to a weaving
loom, but it is forbidden for anyone to make, buy or wear new clothes or shoes from the beginning of the week in which Tisha B'Av falls until after the fast, and that people should ideally not do so from the beginning of Av. This period is known as
The Nine Days. In further commemoration of the Foundation Stone, it is also forbidden to eat meat or drink wine from the beginning of the week in which Tisha B'av falls until after the fast. Some have the custom to refrain from these foodstuffs from Rosh Chodesh Av, while others do so from the
Seventeenth of Tammuz.
Liturgical references In the days when
Selichot are recited, in the days leading up to
Rosh Hashanah until
Yom Kippur, the supplications include the following references: During
Sukkot, the following references to the Foundation Stone are mentioned in the
Hoshanot recital: ==Islamic significance==