It's no secret that there are a number of Jews in Israel and around the world who would like to see the Jewish Temple rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, there is currently a Muslim mosque there - it would have to be torn down for the Temple to be rebuilt and that would likely set off a religious war. That doesn't deter Jewish extremists, some of whom have built a replica Temple to train priests. Why? Because they hope that someday, and maybe someday soon, there will be a need for trained priests to serve in the Third Temple.

Israel Today reports:

The Jewish community of Mitzpe Yericho , between Jerusalem and Jericho, is home to the model, which is built on a 1:1 scale. Covering an area of 25,000 square meters (269,000 square feet), it will function as a training site to prepare priests (kohanim) for service in the Third Temple in Jerusalem. ... “A man who wants to serve as a priest in the Temple must be extremely responsible,” explained Rabbi Kreuser. “It is not a job for everyone. The Temple priests are the ambassadors of the Almighty on earth.”

Training priests doesn't make much sense unless you expect them to be able to apply that training at some point in their lives - they certainly hope that they will have that chance, otherwise they are wasting their time. Such activity only serves to fuel Palestinian and Muslim suspicions about Israeli intentions in Jerusalem.

The notion that the priests are "ambassadors of the Almighty" is an interesting point where considering. Note that they aren't considered "ambassadors of humanity to God; no, they are representatives of God to humanity. This necessarily places them far above other humans, making it difficult for those mere humans to question, challenge, or critique the actions and decisions made by the priests. This is why so many people are suspicious of priestly power and want to make sure that priests do not also acquire secular, political power - because, once acquired, it can be very difficult to take it away again.

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount , by Gershom Gorenberg