Jews demand right to pray on Temple Mount
Pastor Dale Morgan
Jews demand right to pray on Temple Mount*
Israeli law forbids non-Muslim worship while Hamas broadcasting from
Judaism's holiest site
Posted: December 25, 2007
News from Israel
JERUSALEM – Rabbinic leaders and Temple Mount activist groups here today
demanded the Israeli government allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount –
Judaism's holiest site.
Israeli restrictions forbid Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount and only
allow Jews to ascend for certain hours on some days while the Mount is
open to Muslims yearlong. Muslim prayer services take place throughout
the day on the many mosques and Islamic religious schools situated on
the holy site.
"We demand the Government of Israel allow the Jewish people to have
freedom of religious expression on the Temple Mount. This will serve as
a preliminary step in confirming the Jewish people's inexorable
connection with the Temple Mount, location of the Holy Temple, under the
sovereignty of the people of Israel," states a letter to Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert signed by the leaders of the New Jewish Congress, the
Sanhedrin and the Holy Temple and Temple Mount movements.
The Congress is a group of religious Zionist leaders here while the
Sanhedrin consists of prominent rabbinic leaders who in 2004 reformed
the ancient group of Jewish judges that previously constituted the
legislative body of Israel. The reformed Sanhedrin has been a subject of
debate within some Jewish communities.
The rabbinic leaders and activists demanded the Israeli government move
toward allowing non-Muslim worship by initially establishing special
days for Jewish communal prayer in fixed locations on the Temple Mount.
They demanded Olmert allow prayer on the Mount on important Jewish
holidays, including Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur,
the first day of Hanukkah and on the Israeli national holidays of
Jerusalem Day and Israeli Independence Day.
Not all rabbinic figures allow Jewish prayer on the Mount although many
schools do as long as entry and prayer is restricted to outer areas of
the Mount, which can be measured by a change in the kind of foundation
stone.
According to Jewish law, the sanctity of the Temple Mount is structured
in concentric circles. In the innermost circles, where the Holy of
Holies was said to be located, the restrictions of Jewish access are the
greatest. Jewish tradition and literature relates that during Temple
times, only the kohen gadal, or high priest, was allowed to enter the
most restricted area, and this happened once a year on Yom Kippur. The
outer layers are less restricted.
The rabbis' and activists' letter to Olmert was prompted by an episode
last week – reported exclusively by WND – in which Israeli forces closed
the Mount to Jews during an important Jewish fast day mourning the First
Temple's destruction while the Hamas terror organization broadcast from
the Mount's Al Aqsa Mosque, which Muslims say is their third holiest site.
"In light of the broadcast of Hamas from the Temple Mount and the
serious implications of this situation, we demand that the Government of
Israel allow the Jewish people to have freedom of religious expression
on the Temple Mount," stated the rabbis' letter to Olmert.
Hamas Wednesday exclusively broadcast Muslim prayers from the Mount's Al
Aqsa Mosque on the group's official radio station, Al Aqsa Radio. The
services are broadcast alongside anti-Semitic commentary, including
incitement against Jews.
The official Hamas radio network announced last week it would continue
airing exclusive daily streams of Muslim morning services from the
Temple Mount, and, indeed, the broadcasts continued yesterday as
scheduled. Hamas radio is heard throughout Palestinian cities in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"Our broadcast is a victory for the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is suffering
from Judaization efforts imposed by the Zionist government. Broadcasting
daily radio is a way to bring Al Aqsa to the Gaza Strip and challenge
the siege imposed on us by the Zionist entity," said Rami Kaoud, a
manager at Al Aqsa Radio.
All broadcasts from the Mount must be approved by the Waqf, which guard
the Muslim entrances to the Temple Mount along with the Israeli police.
Broadcasts in theory must also be approved by the Israeli police, but
cameramen and reporters routinely enter the site from Muslim gates to
broadcast without prior police approval as long as Waqf agents allow the
entry.
While Israel again has not yet acted to halt Hamas broadcasts, for most
of last week it barred all non-Muslims from ascending the Mount, even on
a Jewish holiday held last Wednesday.
Last Wednesday marked the start of Muslim holiday of Ein ul-Adhaa, which
commemorates the Islamic belief of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice
his son Ishmael for Allah. According to Jewish and Christian tradition,
Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, not Ishmael.
Also last Wednesday, Jews commemorated the Jewish fast day of the Tenth
of Tevet, mourning the First Temple's destruction and the siege placed
on Jerusalem leading up to Temple's destruction during the reign of the
Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar.
Jewish organizations and Temple Mount activist groups here were planning
visits to the Temple Mount in observance of last Wednesday's Jewish day
of mourning. Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the international
department at Israel's Temple Institute, a Mount activist group which
planned to lead a tour of the site this week, said Israeli police
informed his group earlier this week that they had decided the Mount
would be closed the rest of the week to non-Muslims for fear of
offending Muslims on the Islamic holiday.
Due to Israeli restrictions, the Temple Mount is open only to
non-Muslims Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30
p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays
or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf, the Mount's Islamic
custodians.
The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000,
when the Palestinians started their intifada by throwing stones at
Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon
visited the area.
Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the
Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian
traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.
The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003, but only on
select days for certain hours.
The First Jewish Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century
B.C. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple
was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian
captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in A.D. 70.
Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries.
The Jewish Temple was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed
the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said
to be the area upon which God's "presence" dwelt. The Al Aqsa Mosque now
sits on the site.
The Temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices
and was the main gathering place in Israel during Jewish holidays.
The Temple Mount compound has remained a focal point for Jewish services
over the millennia. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem have been uttered
by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish
tradition. Jews worldwide pray facing toward the Western Wall, a portion
of an outer courtyard of the Temple left intact.
The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed around A.D. 709 to serve as a shrine
near another shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic
caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark where Muslims came to believe
Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven.
The letter to Olmert called the Temple Mount "the holiest place in the
world for the Jewish people, yet Jews are denied the right to pray in
groups, and even as individuals ... they are granted no opportunity for
any religious expression whatsoever on the Temple Mount."
"However, let it be known that the Jewish people will never accept the
total refusal of Jewish communal prayer on the Mountain," the letter
states.