Sanhedrin to Bush: Declare that Israel belongs to Jews
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sanhedrin to Bush: Declare that Israel belongs to Jews*
Right-wing rabbis pass on small letter to be delivered to US president
on his upcoming visit which asks leader to free convicted spy Jonathan
Pollard, declare Israel belongs to Jews, urge American Jews to make aliyah
Koby Nahshoni
Published: 01.08.08, 14:53 / Israel Jewish Scene
On the eve of US President George W. Bush's visit to Israel, Rabbi Adin
Steinsaltz, the so-called president of the Sanhedrin, has prepared a
small greeting card for the leader in which he requests that president
declare the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews, free convicted US spy
Jonathan Pollard and encourage US Jews to move to Israel.
The letter is to be passed onto the American president by a "very
senior person" that is set to meet with him during the visit.
Revivalist Movement
'Renew animal sacrifices on Mount' says radical rabbi / Yaakov Lappin
Member of Sanhedrin says sacrifices 'were not possible when the people
of Israel were in the Diaspora, but now they are.' Adds: Jerusalem
Temple should be rebuilt, Israeli government standing in our way
Steinsaltz wrote the message in Hebrew and it was translated into
English by Rabbi Chaim Richman, International Director of the Temple
Institute, an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.
The letter opens with praise for Bush as the "president of the West"
and is followed by a list of demands including to declare "in front of
the world that the Land of Israel was given to the Jewish people by the
Creator."
The American president is requested to seize the opportunity of his
visit to Israel to make a proclamation similar to proclamations,
Steinsaltz claims, made by Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE as
well as Englishman Lord James Balfour in 1917: to recognize the right of
the Jewish people over the Land of Israel.
Steinsaltz also asks that the American president work to settle Jews in
"every corner of the Land of Israel" and push America Jews to make aliyah.
"I will urge the Jews in my country and hold the corners of their
garments to bring them to the Land of Israel and settle them there and
to erect the Temple of God in Jerusalem and to push foreigners away from
it."
'Don't trust Israeli government'
According to the signatories, it is the job of foreign nations to
strengthen the Jewish people for the benefit of mankind and world peace.
They also wrote that foreign nations are forbidden from relying on
decisions made by the Israeli government because they stem from a lack
of faith in God and the Torah.
"No Israeli government and no Jewish representatives can change even
the calligraphical ornament of the letter Yud in God's covenant or in
the holy Torah," they wrote.
In a final request, Steinsaltz calls on President Bush to release
former US Naval Intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard who is currently
serving a life sentence for spying for Israel.
The Sanhderin president closed his letter by telling President Bush
that "it is in your hands to be remembered as having an eternal life or
to be etched in (history) as an eternal disgrace."
The letter was signed by rabbis associated with the recent attempt to
revive the Sanhedrin, the ancient Jewish court of law, as well as people
members of the Temple Institute who wrote: "Loyal representatives of the
Jewish people, in the name of God, ruler of the universe."