JERUSALEM, July 7: In a stuffy basement off an Old City alleyway in Jerusalem, tailors using ancient texts as a blueprint have begun making a curious line of clothing that they hope will be worn by priests in a reconstructed Jewish Temple—the spiritual centre of Judaism destroyed by Roman legions two millennia ago.

The project, run by a Jerusalem group called the Temple Institute, is part of an ideology that advocates making practical preparations for the rebuilding of the ancient Temple on a disputed rectangle in Jerusalem sacred to both Jews and Muslims.

Jews call the site the Temple Mount and venerate it as their holiest place. The Temple itself was destroyed by Roman legions two millennia ago. For the past 1,300 years, the site has been home to Islam’s third-holiest shrine, the Noble Sanctuary, including the golden Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

These conflicting claims lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and past efforts to upset the status quo have erupted into violence.

The Temple Institute has made priestly garments in the past for display in the small museum it runs in the Jewish Quarter, but those were hand-sewn and cost upward of $10,000 each. The institute recently received rabbinic permission to begin using sewing machines for the first time, bringing the cost down and allowing them to produce dozens or hundreds of garments, depending on how many orders come in.

If you are a descendant of the Jewish priestly class, a full outfit, including an embroidered belt 32 biblical cubits (48 feet, 15 meters) long, can be yours for about $800. “Before, the clothes we made were to go on display. Now we’re engaged in the practical fulfillment of the divine commandment,” said Yehuda Glick, the Temple Institute’s director, at a ceremony marking the workshop’s opening last week.

The thread, six-ply flax, was purchased in India, and the diamond-patterned fabric was woven in Israel. The blue dye, which the Bible calls “tchelet,” is made from the secretions of a snail found in the Mediterranean Sea, and the red colour comes from an aphid found on local trees.

The priests, made up of descendants of the Biblical figure Aaron, were an elite group entrusted with the Temple and its rituals, such as sacrificing animals and making other offerings to God. The memory of belonging to that class has been preserved by Jews through the centuries. Their most common family name is “Cohen,” meaning priest.

The Temple Institute and similarly minded believers think those modern priests will soon have to resume the rituals of their ancestors in a rebuilt Temple, and that by preparing their garments they are bringing that day closer.

However, Adnan Husseini, formerly the top Muslim official at the site and now an adviser on Jerusalem affairs to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the work of such groups a “provocation”. “If they talk about building the third Temple, what does it mean? It means they will destroy the Islamic mosques,” Husseini said.