Ancient Temple Traditions

Christians say their nuns are derived from Temple Virgins in Jerusalem who never married and performed duties around the temple without ever marrying....is there any truth to this? They also make this claim to support a virgin birth myth, the Mary was betrothed to Joseph to protect her virginity so she stayed pure for temple service.... I'm curious as to any validity of this or if even there was a practice like this in those days, was it even proper or righteous and not some form of goyim influence.

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

No. There was no "department" of female virgins as part of the Temple service. In fact, women were distanced from most areas of the Temple, and furthermore, women were susceptible to being impure due to their monthly menstruation which would disqualify the sacrifices and other matters in the Temple.

The Christian assumption that there is a Jewish source for this is based on out-of-context passages such as the Mishna where it is recorded that there were 82 consecrated virgins who wove the veil of the Temple, as it says, “The veil of the Temple was a certain length in width. It was woven with seventy-two smooth stitches each made of twenty-four threads. The length was of forty cubits and the width of twenty cubits. Eighty-two virgins wove it. Two veils were made each year, and three hundred priests were needed to carry it to the pool” ( Mishna Shekalim 8:5,6).

This has nothing to do with any organized or dedicated group of virgins who worked in the Temple. It is just a specific project which was spearheaded by volunteer women.

Similarly, we find reference to the “women who made the veils for the Temple…baked the showbread…prepared the incense” (Ketubot 106a).

Here too, it has nothing to do with any organized or dedicated group of virgins who worked in the Temple. It is just a specific project which was spearheaded by volunteer women.

In one last possible misconception of a special virgin department in the Temple, is the Midrashic passage where the destruction of Jerusalem is discussed. The passage says: “the virgins who were weaving threw themselves in the flames” ( Pesikta Rabbati 26:6). Once again this is not to suggest any specific department, but rather, the young girls were so distressed about the destruction of Jerusalem that they committed suicide.

I trust the above explains that there was no such virgin department in the Holy Temple.