1. The Great Dismount:
Appeasement and Cowardice regarding the Temple Mount
Giving Up the Temple
Mount?
Posted By
Steven Plaut On July 16, 2013
The
Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the holiest place on
earth according to Judaism. It
is where both Biblical Temples stood, whose destruction is commemorated this
week with fasting and mourning on the Ninth day of the month of Av according to
the religious calendar. The Western Wall is considered holy only because of
its proximity to the Temple Mount. Jews everywhere in the world pray while facing the
Temple Mount, and if they were to pray on the Mount itself they would face the
Holy of Holies, the singularity point in between the cherubs that were
positioned on top of the Temple Ark inside the Temple. While God’s presence is
everywhere, according to Judaism, its most intense concentration is
at that point. The Western
Wall is simply the guard wall around the perimeter of the Temple Mount, and is
of Herodian (Roman) origin standing upon earlier Hasmonean
foundations.
The
site has religious significance for
Christians as well. After the
destruction of the Second Temple, churches were sometimes erected there. When
the Muslims conquered the area, they followed the practice of building mosques or proclaiming
as sacred to Islam the
religious sites of other religions. The Muslim general Umar bin al-Khattab was
the second Caliph and led the armies of Islam. In his writings he expressed
scorn for Jerusalem and never acknowledged its sanctity. When a temporary
mosque was erected on the Temple Mount (long pre-dating the current Al-Aqsa
mosque structure), it was placed in the southern edge of the Mount. A general
in the armies of Umar, an ex-Jew who had converted to Islam, pointed out to Umar
that placing the mosque in the northern section of the
Mount would allow Muslims to pray while facing both the
Holy of Holies of the Jews and Mecca. Umar insisted that it be placed on the
southern margin so that Muslims would pray facing Mecca
but with their backsides toward the Holy of Holies. That is where the Al-Aqsa
mosque stands today.
Thus, the southern edge of the Mount, that located above
the ruins of what archeologists call Solomon’s Stables, has religious
significance for Muslims. In the center of the Temple Mount is another
structure known as the Dome of the Rock, famous for its golden domed roof. Some
refer to it mistakenly as the “Mosque of Omar.” But the structure is not a
mosque at all and has no special religious significance for Muslims. The
problem is that this structure sits exactly on the spot that most (but not all)
experts, archeologists and rabbis, believe is where the Holy of Holies once
stood. It also contains the “Foundation Stone,” which has religious
significance for Judaism.
The
Israeli army conquered the Temple Mount in 1967 in the Six Day War, when Israel
liberated Jerusalem from the illegal Jordanian occupation. At the time Israel
should have dismantled the “Dome of the Rock” and moved it elsewhere, while
leaving the Al-Aqsa mosque in peace. Muslims could then continue to
control and administer
everything associated with the mosque. But doing so did not require Israel to
relinquish control over every inch of the Temple Mount. The Israeli government
nevertheless decided to pursue tranquility through appeasement and cowardice
(sound familiar?). Not only would the Muslim religious authority be granted
de facto hegemony over the entire Temple Mount, they would also be
granted the power to prohibit or restrict entry to it for
Jews.
This
has been the status quo ever since. Jews are often prevented altogether from entering the Mount. At other times, Jews are
permitted some limited access, but under condition that they do not pray while on the Mount. Jews whose lips move quietly while
on the Mount have been arrested and
evicted, motivating a few to
learn ventriloquism. Anyone daring to prostrate
themselves while on the
Mount in the direction of the Holy of Holies is treated even more harshly. So
here we have the spectacle of the Israeli government backing a prohibition on
Jews praying in the holiest site of Judaism for fear of upsetting
Muslims.
Meanwhile, serious collateral damage from Israel’s
cowardly decision to maintain Muslim control of the Mount has been the systematic destruction of
artifacts and antiquities
uncovered on the Mount by the Muslims, particularly in cases where the artifacts clearly point to the ancient Jewish
presence on the Mount. Islamic radicals, including the “moderates” from the Palestinian Authority, have long denied that there ever were Biblical temples on the
site, mountains of overwhelming
archeological and historic evidence notwithstanding. They have destroyed
priceless evidence to the contrary. UNESCO has never uttered a word in protest. It should be noted that
radical Muslims also object to Jews praying at the Western Wall, which they also
deny has religious significance for Jews. Jews at the Wall are regularly
assaulted by stone-throwing Muslims on the Mount.
The status of the Temple Mount and the question of public
access to it for Jews is further complicated because of some seemingly bizarre
and esoteric features of Jewish religious law. Rabbinic law prohibits Jews from
entering the grounds where the Temples stood while they are in a “state of
impurity.” The notion of “state of impurity” is a Biblical one, where one
becomes “impure” by having any contact with a dead body, including being present
in a cemetery or funeral. This impurity is not a moral judgment, and in some
cases indeed one is commanded to make oneself “impure” (such as attending a
relative’s funeral or burying a corpse found in public space), but merely serves
as a basis for prohibiting entrance into the Temple for ritualistic purposes.
The Biblical “cure” for the impurity using ashes from a special red heifer
cannot be used today because no such bona fide animals are available. The
bottom line is that according to Jewish rabbinic law itself, Jews may not enter
the grounds where the Temple stood, and especially not where the Holy of Holies
stood.
On the one hand, the Jewish religious restrictions upon
Jews make the politics of the Temple Mount seemingly easier to surmount.
Religious Jews do not seek access to the center of the Mount for religious
purposes, the area where the Dome of the Rock now stands. On the other hand,
most of the Temple Mount is clearly outside the grounds of the Biblical Temple,
in areas where the “impure” may enter, and there is no reason why Jews cannot
enter these and conduct prayers there. (No one is seeking to conduct Jewish
religious activities inside the Al-Aqsa mosque!!) But radical Muslim
hegemonists consider this an affront to Islam. Not only must Jews be denied
access to the Temple Mount to “defend” the Mosque, but Jews should be denied any
sovereignty or presence in Jerusalem altogether.
All of
the above puts some results from a recent public opinion poll into proper
perspective. As published in Makor Rishon, July 12, 2013, the vast
majority of Israelis oppose construction of a new Temple now, and opposition
among religious Jews is even stronger. Those who say they favor building of
the New Temple may actually mean they’d like the Messiah to show up and order
such a move, not that government bureaucrats do so. No one seems opposed to
“preparing” for the coming Messianic Age by doing things like tailoring garments for
Temple priests, forging Temple trumpets, or learning the rabbinic laws
concerning conduct of Temple ritual. Even the most ornery atheist can find
nothing in such things objectionable. A minority of Israeli Jews favor some
preliminary construction for a new Temple building, presumably including
dismantling and relocating the Dome of the Rock, but no such proposal is being
seriously considered by the government.
Interestingly, a full 72% of Israeli Jews favor
partitioning of the territory of the Temple Mount so that Muslim control and
administration is restricted to the Al-Aqsa mosque, and where Jews would have
access to other parts of the grounds. A large plurality favor legal initiatives
that protect Jewish rights of access to the Mount, including the right to
conduct prayers there.
More generally, the entire legal status quo for
the Temple Mount, under which Israel relinquishes control to the Muslim
religious authorities, serves as yet another reminder that Jewish self-abasement
and cowardice do not win Israel any tolerance or goodwill. The time has come
for Israel to make it clear that it will no longer seek peace via gestures of
debasement of Jewish dignity nor by auto-suppression of the legitimate religious
rights of Jews. If the Muslim world should ever wish to come to terms with
Israel and seek an actual modus vivendi, then it will have to do so with
an Israel that insists on the defense of legitimate Jewish religious rights,
including their right of access to (at least) parts of the Temple
Mount.
2.
Afterword:
Israel
has not only turned over control of the entire Temple Mount to the Muslim Waqf
but also to the Mufti of the Temple Mount, the man who carries on the terrorist
tradition of the Grand Mufti Hajj Amin al Husseini (who was an ally of Hitler in
World War II). The current Jerusalem Mufti has been involved in
violence and rioting (see http://www.jta.org/2013/05/08/news-opinion/police-question-jerusalem-grand-mufti-over-temple-mount-disturbance).
So why
has the Attorney General of Israel, Yehudah Weinstein, done nothing about
this? You know, the leftist Attorney General who continues to
serve even under a Netanyahu government, and who seeks to impose his leftist
agenda on the country by means of politically selective prosecution and
unconstitutional interference.
Well, the same Attorney General just ruled that Rabbi
Shmuel Eliyahu (the rabbi of Safed) is ineligible to run for Sephardic Chief
Rabbi in Israel. Why? Because he once called on
Jewish landlords not to lease apartments in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods
to Arabs. He also spoke against Jews marrying Arabs and other
non-Jews. Eliyahu's views may be deemed controversial by some and
might have induced some members of the panel that selects the Chief Rabbi to
vote against him if they had been allowed to vote. But they are
not allowed to vote for or against Eliyahu. The unelected
Weinstein has simply decreed.
Let us
also note that Attorney General Weinstein was the person who blocked the efforts
to proclaim the terrorist Hanin Zoabi ineligible to run for the Knesset.
Zoabi had participated in the terrorist flotilla and had in engaged in
its violent attacks on Israeli soldiers. She ran for the Knesset
as a representative of one of the Arab fascist parties. Weinstein
refused to prosecute her (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4165649,00.html
). Weinstein thinks that SHE is as kosher as
Manischewitz!
Thus unlike with regard to Zoabi or the Mufti in Jerusalem,
the Attorney General and wannabe dictator of Zion has proclaimed Eliyahu
ineligible because he is a "racist." See http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-s-ag-urges-eliyahu-to-drop-inappropriate-bid-for-chief-rabbi-in-light-of-anti-arab-remarks.premium-1.535948
Weinstein "had chosen to conduct a field court martial trial for Rabbi
Eliyahu and has turned himself into the prosecutor, judge and hangman," and in
an "unprecedented step, without authority, without a hearing, and without
verifying the allegations, created a new reality in which a candidate that is
not favored by the legal elite will not receive a [legal] defense from the
authorities," Eliyahu's office added.
By the way, Weinstein ALSO
prohibited Knesset debate on that recent bill that would grant a wide range of
affirmative action preferences to Israelis who have served in the
military. Weinstein considered that bill
"unconstitutional." You know, in contrast with every OTHER
country on earth where army vets get preferences and
perqs.
So now the bill's sponsor, Yair Levin
from the Likud, is promoting a reworded and amended version of the same
bill. So we await Weinstein's newest dictatorial diktat and
judicial "innovation."
3. News item for the
Ninth:
Israeli archaeologists dig up artifact from time of Kings David and Solomon
Fragment of ceramic jar found near the Temple Mount bears earliest sample of written alphabetical text found in Jerusalem.
By Nir Hasson |
Jul.15, 2013 | 8:44 AM
|
|
Israeli archaeologists last week
discovered a fragment of a ceramic jar they say dates back to the time of Kings
David and Solomon and bears the earliest sample of written text ever found in
Jerusalem.
The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless
ceramic jar found during excavations at the Ophel site, near the southern wall
of the Old City.
Researchers say the text is in the Canaanite language and dates to
roughly 250 years before the earliest known Hebrew inscription from Jerusalem
(the Siloam inscription) from the eighth century BCE.
The meaning of the inscription is unknown, but it contains eight letters,
which could be part of the name of the jar’s owner or a description of its
contents. Reading from left to right, the text contains a combination of
letters, approximately 2.5 cm tall, which translate to m, q, p, h, n, (possibly)
l, and n.
The inscription was engraved near the edge of the jar before it was
fired, and only a fragment of it has been found, along with fragments of six
large jars of the same type.
An analysis of the jars’ clay composition indicates that they are all of
a similar make, and probably originate from the hills near
Jerusalem.
The dig is headed by Dr. Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University’s Institute
of Archaeology in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel
Nature and Parks Authority and the East Jerusalem Development Company, with
funding from donors in New York.
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