Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Red Heifer

Showing posts with label Red Heifer. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 02, 2024

🎶🎵"Who's afraid of the big red cow, the big red cow, the big red cow?"🎶🎵

Arabic and even English Arab media are up in arms over the potential slaughter and burning of a purely red cow. As Egypt's Shorouk News reports:

Extremist Temple groups are counting on the fact that holding a ritual of purification by slaughtering and burning the five red cows could open the way for hundreds of thousands of religious Jews to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, who abstain from doing so on this day in compliance with the official rabbinic prohibition.

According to the allegations, once that cow appeared; The time of the “Savior’s” descent will come, and the Third Temple will be built on the ruins of Al-Aqsa Mosque after its demolition, and then it will be slaughtered as the first sacrifice inside the Temple. So that the Jewish people will be prepared to enter it.

Last February, during the war, the Temple Institute published an announcement requesting volunteer priests to train them in the ritual of purification with the Red Cow, and set special conditions for the volunteers. This process is supposed to take place on a plot of land that these groups had previously seized for the purpose of slaughter on the Mount of Olives in exchange for Al-Aqsa.

Another site notes that Hamas leaders are talking about the red cow as well:

The Red Cow and its Relationship to the Flood of Al-Aqsa.
In one of his speeches, Abu Ubaydah, the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, mentioned that Israel's red cows were ready, referring to a news report last July about the most extremist Israeli government importing 5 cows from Texas; USA, signaling the start of building the third temple on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque; according to Torah teachings.

Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, also stated that there was a plan to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged temple by importing five red cows from the United States in order to carry out the Zionist plan and destroy AI-Aqsa as quickly as possible.

A photo illustrating several articles and tweets make a red cow look as sinister as possible:

I think we can do one better:

A Yemeni site adds quite a bit of antisemitism in its Red Cow reporting:

Some of the articles accurately say that many religious Jews refuse to ascend to the Temple Mount without this purification procedure, but chances seem quite low that they would ascend even with it, since they would follow their own rabbis and not the religious Zionist rabbis who are considering slaughtering the red cows next week.

The only difference I can imagine is that the religious Zionists who ascend today to the Temple Mount would be allowed to visit the area of the Dome of the Rock; right now they stay on the perimeter of the Mount when they visit. That is the only practical effect I can see happening.

As far as destroying the Al Aqsa Mosque, I have bad news for the Muslim doomsday prophets: No one cares about the Al Aqsa Mosque. There is no reason to destroy it. Jews could visit there without the ashes of the red heifer because it is on one of the Herodian extensions of the Temple Mount; it is not where the Temple was. That would be the vicinity of the Dome of the Rock.

But no one is going to destroy Al Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock. The Israeli government would not allow it, the police stop Jews from bringing prayer books to the Temple Mount let alone sledgehammers.

For over 100 years Muslims have been warning that Jews are about to destroy the mosques on the Temple Mount. And it is just as much a fiction today as it was when the Mufti made up that libel.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Palestinians really spooked by the Red Cow

The Fort Worth Star Telegram reported last month:

Byron Stinson has always been a man of strong faith.
And recently that faith came into play for a mission. Jewish faith leaders he knew needed a red heifer to replicate a ceremony depicted in the Bible.
“I felt like it was my duty as a Texan to go out and look around Texas and see if I could find some completely red, pure red cows that fulfill the requirements of the red heifer and, if I could, then try to ship them here to Israel,” Stinson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Stinson, of Glen Rose, didn’t just find one heifer. He found five.
Those five, perfectly unblemished red heifers landed in Israel in September 2022, a feat that cost around $500,000 when you factor in the first-class plane tickets for rabbis to come examine the heifers and the American Airlines trip to Israel.
They’re now being taken care of at a secure location, and Stinson and others hope to hold the ceremony they’ll be used for during Passover in 2024. Stinson runs a nonprofit called Boneh Israel that helps build up and revive Biblical sites.

This story has been all over Arab media for the past week as the Muslims are concerned that the Jews will use the ashes of the red heifer to start the purification process that will result in the building of the Third Temple. Al Jazeera notes that while the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and other prominent rabbi s are against Jews ascending to the Temple Mount, if they are purified with the ashes of the Red Cow they could visit even according to them.

The latest story comes from the preacher of the Al Aqsa Mosque:

The preacher of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri , confirmed that the occupation had failed to find any stone indicating ancient Hebrew history through excavations under Al-Aqsa, so today it seeks to promote the imaginary slaughter of cows to obtain international legitimacy and cover up its failure.
Sabri said, in a dialogue session, "He will not allow the Zionists to harm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."
He pointed out that the occupation seeks to impose its hegemony over Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that all the measures it takes are conducive to this goal, including converting Al-Aqsa Mosque into a military barracks to allow non-Muslims to enter it during the morning period, as part of its endeavor to impose the so-called "time division" on it. The imam and preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque stressed that the occupation will not succeed in implementing its goals, and will not obtain any right for it in Al-Aqsa, and that Muslims will remain present in the blessed mosque to thwart these ongoing plans.
Sabri stressed that Al-Aqsa is for Muslims by a decision from the Lord of the Worlds from above the seven heavens, and not by a decision of the United Nations, indicating that all Muslims are obligated to protect, rebuild and defend the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that non-Muslims will not be allowed to pray in it or commit any attack on it.

I'd love to know the Quranic source that the Temple Mount belongs to Muslims, especially since Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran once.

Palestinians are far more afraid of religious Jews linking Jerusalem to Hebrew Scripture than they are of Israel's military. Because they know that Jews were there first, and that religious Jews have an even longer institutional memory than Muslims do.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

01/05 Links Pt1: Why Palestinians Want to Slaughter Jewish Worshippers; Iran reveals death of Qasem Soleimani was major blow to anti-Israel forces

From Ian:

Why Palestinians Want to Slaughter Jewish Worshippers

The Palestinian Authority, which is in charge of security in Nablus, has -- despite official agreements in the Oslo Accords -- nevertheless refused to fulfill its commitment to protect and ensure free access to Joseph's Tomb.

So far, no one has called out the Palestinian Authority for its grave violations of the international commitments signed with Israel ensuring free access to, and the protection of, all holy sites.

Encouraged by the silence of the international community, the Palestinian Authority has been trying to prevent Jews from visiting another holy site, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem... which is abutted by the Western Wall.... This wall happens to be the holiest site in Judaism where Jews are permitted to pray.

Instead of denouncing Abbas for his incitement and the Palestinians for their denial of Jewish links to the holy site, the United Nations General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that disavowed Jewish ties to the Temple Mount.

Without the presence of the Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, Jews would have been attacked and slaughtered every day on their way to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

If the city or these sites were ever to be handed over to the Palestinian Authority, Jewish worshippers would have to visit their holy sites in bullet-proof vehicles accompanied by platoons of soldiers and police officers, as is necessary these days at Joseph's Tomb in Nablus.

The Biden administration and the rest of the international community would do well to wake up to the fact that the Palestinian state they are clamoring for means the continued slaughter of Jews and the denial of their safe access to Jewish holy sites.

Tolerance and freedom of worship are not terms that can be found in the Palestinian lexicon. The Palestinians will be satisfied only when they replace Israel with an Iranian-backed terror state and erase all traces of Jewish history and faith.

Fight over Jerusalem's Temple Mount holy site: Why is it so important to Jews, Muslims and Christians?

Jordan blasted "in the severest terms the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the violation of its sanctity." The Jordanian Foreign Ministry in Amman summoned the Israeli ambassador Eitan Sorkis, who got a dressing down from the Hashemite Kingdom.

It is unclear what Jordan meant by the "storming" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Ben-Gvir did not enter the mosque and his presence on the compound went without friction.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights organization, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital that Jordan is, "The last country on earth to lecture Israel. Jordan destroyed Jewish life in the Old City in 1948."

Jordan controlled the Old City in Jerusalem from 1948 until 1967. Cooper noted that Jordan "barred Jews for 19 years from praying at the Western Wall" and "it is the height of hypocrisy," for Jordan to lash out at Israel.

The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which was designated a foreign terrorist entity by the U.S. and European Union and rules the Gaza Strip, warned the "continuation of this behavior will bring all parties closer to a big clash." Hamas threatened a "religious war" against Israel in September 2022, after Jewish activists visited the Temple Mount.

Rabbi Yishai Fleisher, an advisor to Ben-Gvir, told Fox News Digital, "Freedom to pray at one's holy sites is a basic human right - and that is why Minister Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount today. The fact that Jews are barred from praying or condemned for ascending is racist and discriminatory. This government has shown today that it will not be held hostage to terrorist threats - and will promote the values of religious freedom and freedom of expression for all."

The Israeli organization Beyadenu documented the number of visits in 2022 as 51,483 Jews to the site. Beyadenu said in 2021 that 34,651 Jews visited the Temple Mount.

"There should be no discrimination against Jews visiting the Temple Mount. At the end of the day, visits are not mass prayers anyway, so it cannot be argued that they harm the status quo," Matan Peleg, the CEO of Im Tirtzu, told Fox News Digital.

Peleg said that "After 150 years of conflict, it is time for the Arabs to show some maturity and responsibility and stop their racist incitement, which historically has only hurt them."

Morton Klein: The Biden administration sides with discrimination on the Temple Mount

It is a fundamental American principle that religious and racial discrimination is impermissible, unacceptable and unjust. We Americans do not let threats of violence stop us from changing a discriminatory “status quo.”

Thus, threats from the Ku Klux Klan and other bigots did not stop the U.S. government from ending the longstanding “status quo” of segregated schools, “whites only” drinking fountains and practices that prevented Jews and blacks from living in many neighborhoods.

Instead, we stood up to the racist black-hating terrorists. For example, when nine black children were prevented from entering Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, then-President Dwight Eisenhower sent 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers to ensure that the students could attend school.

But today, the Biden administration is arrogantly demanding that Israel maintain an antisemitic, racist, discriminatory and unjust “Muslims only” status quo on the Jewish people’s holiest site—the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Mount is the site of the First and Second Jewish Temples, which stood for approximately 1,000 years, long before Islam was invented and long before Muslims built mosques on the site.

King Solomon built the First Temple as a place where all people were welcome to pray. Israel’s 1967 Protection of Holy Places Law followed in his footsteps, ensuring free access to all holy sites. But now, Jews and other non-Muslims are denied the right to openly pray on the Temple Mount or even bring prayer books with them. Visiting hours for non-Muslims are severely restricted. Non-Muslims can only enter the site through one of 12 gates, while Muslims can use all the gates. Jews are not permitted to drink from the water fountain on the Mount because some Jew-hating Muslims consider Jews “unclean.” Sound familiar? Jews are not even permitted to silently mouth a prayer.

Meanwhile, Muslims have shown their “respect” for the site and the “status quo” by playing soccer games on the Mount; storing rocks, firebombs and weapons in the Al-Aqsa mosque; destroying literally tons of priceless Jewish antiquities and archeological materials from the Mount; harassing and attacking Jews who visit the site; converting a Second Temple-period structure into a new mosque; hurling rocks at Jews praying at the Western Wall below; and inciting anti-Jewish violence by broadcasting blood libels that Jews are “storming” and “destroying the sanctity” of the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Instead of opposing this unacceptable antisemitic discrimination, the Biden administration is wrongly condemning Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir for briefly touring the periphery of the Jewish people’s holiest site.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides arrogantly stated, “To be very clear—we want to preserve the status quo and actions that prevent that are unacceptable. We have been very clear in our conversations with the Israeli government on this issue.” Nides said this even though Ben-Gvir’s visit did nothing to change the Mount’s so-called “status quo.”

Similarly, during the U.S. State Department’s Jan. 3 briefing, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said, “We oppose any unilateral actions that undercut the historic status quo. They are unacceptable. …. This visit has the potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence.” This assertion that a mere visit by a Jew to the Jewish people’s holiest site can “provoke violence” is akin to accusing Rosa Parks of “provoking violence” by not sitting in the back of a bus.

Former Jordanian prime minister says that Jews are working to prepare for the dreaded "Yellow Cow"

Former Jordanian prime minister Taher al-Masri claimed in a speech this week that Israeli plans to dominate the region all started in a conference in 1879.

The First Zionist Congress occurred in 1897, but in this fictional conference that al-Masri is discussing, the "Zionists" set out their goals: "The goal is to create a Jewish state with Jerusalem as its capital, and to build the Temple to be a symbol of the Jewish state. They are now roaming around and under Al Aqsa to prepare the temple for what they call the Yellow Cow."

It turns out that there is an Islamic legend about Moses and a yellow cow - not the red heifer that is part of the Temple service. In this legend Moses requires a yellow cow to slaughter and put its tongue on a dead man to solve a murder case, and the only yellow cow available is from a righteous family who finally agree to sell it for the price of its size in gold.

Al Masri is not too bright.

He went on to say, "The Zionists also decided the Jewish state law, which means that the historic land of Palestine is a state of Jews and its inhabitants are Jews only, and others are strangers and can be deported by the Minister of Interior of Israel at any time. All the Palestinians on the historic land of Palestine, numbering about 6 million people, can be deported. According to the Israelis, the program of deporting Palestinians from the historic land of Palestine is a matter of 100 years, and they think and plan for it and they will get there but when no one knows."

Al Masri went on to claim that the Israelis use several tools to complete their plans, including creating difficult economic and social conditions in the region, especially in Palestine and Jordan, and then offering solutions to impose their will on the region.

The former prime minister also complained that during his travels in Muslim and Western capitals, no one is following up on the Palestinian issue and Jerusalem besides King Abdullah II .

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Yosef Rabin: Restoring Jewish Rights to Our Holiest Place (Judean Rose)

Yosef Rabin is 32 years old, an immigrant to Israel originally from the United States. He served in the IDF, is married and living in Tel Aviv, and works in an online marketing company. He’s also heavily invested in raising awareness of the Temple Mount.

I first came upon Yosef when he tried and failed to get people to show up for a protest. I wrote to tell him why I hadn’t taken the invite as a serious one, and he private messaged me to discuss things. I was impressed with how much thinking he had invested in this protest and in Temple Mount awareness in general.

Since then, I’ve been trying to lend my hand to his efforts by spreading word of events, protests, and articles relating to the Temple Mount among my followers on Facebook. This is kind of an odd experience for me, since I have never ascended to the Temple Mount. My rabbis don’t permit this. But in the privacy of my inner feelings, I wish with all my heart that I could go up there. I support this effort from the periphery, as someone who wrestles internally with the desire to go up there and feels the necessity of making it possible for Jews to reclaim their holiest site and wrest it from the hands of the enemy.

And so, not being able to go up there myself, but hoping that Yosef’s efforts will bear fruit such that someday, I might yet be able to do so, I continue to lend my support to his project. As such, I made the offer to interview him for my weekly column here at Elder of Ziyon, and Yosef readily assented. Which is part of why I am eager to support him. He is the kind of guy who is ready to take advice and do any and every thing to make this happen: to make the Temple Mount a part of every Jew’s life and to reclaim the Mount for our people.

I just like his attitude.

A bit of background: Yosef has been involved with Jewish rights on the Temple Mount since 2004, and has served as director of foreign affairs for the Movement for Temple Restoration (a member of United Temple Mount Movements) since 2006. He is a founding member of United Temple Mount Movements, an organization established in 2009.

Yosef has held correspondence on matters relating to the Temple Mount with UNESCO representatives and diplomats from a number of Tel Aviv-based embassies. He has also served as a guide to many guests touring the Temple Mount, including former Canadian Minister Stockwell Day.

By US Mission Canada (Stockwell Day) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Judean Rose: Everyone who stumps for an issue has a reason. So why the Temple Mount, as opposed to, say, cancer, or child abuse?

Yosef Rabin: Ever since I was very little the recordings from the Six-Day War, the liberation of the Western Wall and the Temple in particular, made a very deep impression on me. It was like hearing the reverberations of prophecy. I for the longest time could not understand why we were not building the Temple and as a child growing up in Chicago, IL I could not understand why Jews were living outside of Israel at all.

Judean Rose: Your surname is Rabin, which I know is a Cohanic surname. Are you a Cohen? Is that part of the fascination you have for the Mount?

Yosef Rabin: I did not know that. My last name was once Rabanovitch. Not a Cohen.

Judean Rose: When did you first go up to the Mount? How old were you? What did it feel like?

Yosef Rabin: The first time I ascended the Temple Mount, it was in 2004 and I was at the time 20 years-old learning in a Jerusalem yeshiva (seminary). I was horrified by the sight of Israeli police escorting Jews to ensure that they would not pray. The police were watching our every move and filming us the entire time. We received constant instructions: “Walk faster, don’t stand in once place, don’t sit down, and don’t move to the right or left.”

The police were not there to protect us, but rather to fulfill the instructions of the Muslim Waqf (religious authority) guards. I felt a mix of awe of God and fear of the police and the Muslim Waqf guards. During that ascent, I promised that I would not rest until Jewish rights were restored to our holiest place.

Judean Rose: I’ve noted that in your Facebook postings you are eager to show that Haredim are, in fact, permitted to ascend to the Temple Mount. Can you explain your reasoning, here?

Yosef Rabin: Ascent to the Temple Mount in the religious Zionist sector is quickly moving from the fringes and going mainstream, but still very fringe in the Haredi community. A picture of one Haredi on the Mount is worth more than 1,000 such photos of Religious Zionists, because with the former there is no political stigma attached. Every time a Religious Zionist goes to the Mount, people just see it sadly as a political statement or “Zionist activism.” When a Haredi goes to the Mount, on the other hand, it is seen in a more puritanical light.

Judean Rose: I have a confession to make: I’d love to ascend to the Temple Mount, but until Haredi rabbanim make it mainstream, I’m not comfortable with going ahead and actually doing this. Do some Haredi women go up there? How many would you say in an average month?

Yosef Rabin: This is exactly why I promote Haredi ascent to the Mount, people see them as “the real deal” more than other religious Jews. In 2009 I made a short video of Rabbi Yosef Elboim, head of Hatenua Lekinun HaMikdash (Movement for Temple Restoration) leading a small visit to the Mount. It made tremendous waves in the Haredi media, so much so, that Rabbi Elboim admitted to me that that one video equaled his decades of work in the field.

It really rocked the Haredi public and within a month, the first large visit of Haredim to the Mount (50 people) was organized. The police were stunned and the Haredim were denied entry, but now we see hundreds of Haredim ascending on a yearly basis. There may be individual Haredi women who ascend, but there are no known groups that I know of. There is a religious-Zionist group of women called “Women of the Mount,” who are very active.

Women of the Mount ascend the Temple Mount

Judean Rose: During Temple times, what sectors of the Jewish population would have been found on the Temple Mount on an average day and in what capacity?

Yosef Rabin: All of the Jewish people came to the Temple Mount. Those who were sprinkled with water-ash mix from the red heifer went into the Temple courtyard and those who were impure could ascend to the outer areas of the Temple Mount, the areas where we ascend today. Of course, on the three major biblical holidays, masses came from all over the country to a bring special sacrifice called the Chagiga.

Probably the biggest ascent of the year was on the eve of Passover, when everyone would come to sacrifice the Paschal Lamb in the Temple courtyard, one representative from every group that would be eating together on Passover evening.

Judean Rose: Why don’t people want to ascend to the Temple Mount? Is it about being afraid to walk in the forbidden areas? Aren’t there some areas we’re sure about, as being safe? Can you outline the issue for us, please?

Yosef Rabin: There is a grave misconception that the entire Temple Mount is off limits, because we are impure from contact with the dead and do not have the ashes of the red heifer to purify ourselves. According to the Torah, one who has been in contact with a dead body is prohibited to enter into the Temple, but is permitted into the remainder of the Temple Mount. Jewish law is very clear, see Maimonides - Laws of the Chosen House chapters 6-7 and Laws of the Entering the Temple, Chapter 3.

As long as one knows the permitted and forbidden boundaries, entering the Temple Mount is the fulfillment of a holy commandment of “fearing the place of the Temple” and giving honor before God. Many Rabbis who forbid their adherents from ascending have no actual knowledge of the forbidden or permitted areas. Even the great Rabbi Ovadya Yosef [z”l, former Sephardi Chief Rabbi], who was very vocal in his opposition to ascending the Temple Mount, wrote in his book Yabia Omer the real reason for his opposition: there is no physical boundary currently present to prevent someone from accidentally crossing from the permitted to the forbidden zones, like there was in the time of the Temple.

It is for this reason that the first few times a Jew ascends to the Mount, he must be accompanied by one who knows the permitted and forbidden boundaries well, because the punishment for entering into the Temple itself is Karet or the cutting off of one’s soul from the Jewish Nation. There is much rabbinic discussion of what this means, but all understand it to be the worst spiritual punishment in the Torah.

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi of Safed blessing those ascending the Mount before they enter: "You represent the Jewish People."

Judean Rose: What is involved with ascending to the Temple Mount practically speaking? One needs to dip in the mikveh, right? And wear white, right? What else do we need to know from a halachic standpoint?

Yosef Rabin: Yes, a man who has had seminal emission must clean his entire body of all impurities and only then immerse in a mikveh (ritual waters). After the immersion he can enter the Temple Mount. One should check to find a male mikveh that is actually kosher for this immersion, because unlike the pre-Yom Kippur dunk this one is a biblical commandment. This is the only time when a man will make a bracha (blessing) before immersing in the mikveh.

A woman cannot ascend to the Temple Mount during her period or when she is a nidda (period of menstruation). After her nidda period, plus the clean day count, she must then clean her entire body and then immerse in a kosher mikveh. Additionally, a married woman who has been together with her husband (during her clean days), should wait a three-day period before ascending the Mount. She must immerse in the mikveh again and only then ascend to the Temple Mount. There is fierce debate if non-married women should immerse for the sake of ascending to the Temple Mount and a serious halachic authority should be consulted.

Non-leather shoes must be worn on the Mount by all, but there is no requirement to wear white.

Judean Rose: Many of us have seen the awful videos of Arabs rioting, throwing things, and yelling “Allahu Akbar” at Jews on the Mount. Is it dangerous to go up there?

Yosef Rabin: The police usually do a good job of securing the general area during the three hours a day Jews are even allowed on the Temple Mount. I have been there many dozens of times and was only hit by a rock one time, and thank God was not injured. Yes, almost every Jewish group has Arabs yelling at them Allahu Akbar and at times police have had to intervene. If the Arabs get rowdy enough the police will simply throw the Jews off the Mount in response to Muslim threats.

Judean Rose: There seems to be some kind of legal distinction between a Jew’s freedom of religion to pray on the Temple Mount and the ability of the police to maintain order. Can you explain the contradiction and how this works in practice? What happens if you get thirsty and need to take a drink? Can you make a bracha on your water or is that going to cause a riot?

Yosef Rabin: This is not a legal problem, but rather an issue of governmental policy. In 1967, after the Six-Day War, the Knesset (Legislative Branch) passed the “Safeguarding of the Holy Places Law,” which protected the rights of everyone to their holy places and even demanded 7 years jail time for preventing someone access to his holy site. The Israeli Government (Executive Branch), however, passed “Regulation 761” in contravention to the law passed by the Knesset: “A Jew wishing to pray at the Temple Mount should be re-directed to the Western Wall.” This sadly has become the law and the police cite it over and over again to defend themselves against lawsuits. The Israeli Supreme court has ruled that Jews have the right “in principle” to pray on the Mount, but defer the matter to Israeli police for “security measures”.

In terms of the water fountains, sometimes the police allow [Jews to drink] and sometimes they don’t, just do not make a bracha or you will be arrested. People have been arrested for simply citing a biblical verse in the context of a tour on the Mount.

Some 4 years of ago on Jerusalem Day. Yosef Rabin, together with a large group, actually prayed for about 20 minutes on the Temple Mount. All of them were banned from the site for a year, but World War III did not break out!

Judean Rose: Is it an awful thing that Arabs pray on the Temple Mount? They aren’t idolaters according to the Torah, right? So is it a profanation to allow them to have a mosque there?

Yosef Rabin: Technically, they are not idolaters, although the Muslims who control the Mount support the murder of Jews, so they cannot be Noachides either. Al Aqsa mosque is actually not even on the halachic Temple Mount and is in the Herodian additions, which do not have any special halachic status. The Dome of the Rock is sitting on the Holies of Holies, but what can we do about it? Nothing. However, because the building is not used for idolatry there would not be a problem to put up curtains on the entrances and for the Kohein Gadol (high priest) to enter on Yom Kippur and perform the service on the spot of the holies of holies.

Judean Rose: But we are ritually impure from contact with the dead, how can the High Priest or any Jew go into the area of the Temple? You mentioned before, we do not have the red heifer.

Yosef Rabin: This is true, but the Halacha is also clear that when the entire Jewish People are impure, we preform the Temple Service in its entirety in a state of impurity. However, personal sacrifices like a sin offering could not be brought today, only the service that relates to the entire Nation. An example of this is the Passover Sacrifice, which still must be offered in our time, even without the Temple standing. Of course, anyone who is not necessary for the service may not come into the Temple area in our times.

Theoretically, we could fulfill many parts of the Temple Service, while leaving the Muslim structures undisturbed. We would need permission from the Israeli Government to build an altar within the confines of the ancient Temple Courtyard, somewhere on the plaza east in front of the Dome of the Rock.

Judean Rose: What about the general comportment of Arabs on the Mount? We’ve seen boys playing soccer there. Is this a problem?

Arabs regularly desecrate the Temple Mount with soccer games, picnics and mass rallies calling for Jewish blood. It is truly horrible that our government has no respect for us or our religion and allow these hoodlums to control our holiest site. However, the People of Israel are truly at fault for not standing up.

Judean Rose: If the Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, why don’t Women of the Wall want to fight for the right to pray there, in your opinion?

Yosef Rabin: Of course the Temple Mount is the holiest place for the Jewish People. I can only guess that WOW is using the Western Wall as a monthly prop to try to import Reform Judaism into Israel, (WOW Chairwoman) Anat Hoffman was quoted on the BBC stating as such.

Judean Rose: Has anyone mapped out all the known places of relics from the Temple Mount? We know about the ancient beams that were found when they were renovating the mosque. What else is up there that we know about? Are we able to protect these items from further destruction/deterioration?

Ancient beams made from the wood of cypress and cedars of Lebanon trees, discarded as refuse in the Shaar Rachamim compound on the Temple Mount.

Ancient wooden beams set afire on the Temple Mount.

Yosef Rabin: Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Former Chief Rabbi of the IDF and the State of Israel, wrote a very comprehensive book called “The Temple Mount” replete with maps. We have a very good idea of where the Temple stood, there are still slight disagreements as to the angle, but the general area is known. Much of the remains of the Temple have been destroyed or illegally dumped into Kidron valley, but a half million artifacts have been recovered and cataloged with the help of nearly 200,000 volunteers since 2004. BTW those ancient beams have been left to rot under a tarmac.

Yosef Rabin in the place he loves most.

Judean Rose: Why is it so difficult to get Jews to care about the Temple Mount? What can we do to help?

Yosef Rabin: This is a question I ask myself over and over. The Temple was removed from our national reality, nearly 1948 years ago this coming Tisha B’av. Our Rabbis teach us that redemption comes “slowly, slowly, like the coming of dawn” and that baby steps are necessary.

The Prophet Isaiah: “And I will bring them to My Holy Mountain, and will make them happy in My house of prayer, their burnt offering and sacrifices will be welcome on My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations “(56:7) I heard from Rabbi Yosef Elboim a beautiful explanation of this verse. Found within this verse are four stages of the redemption of the Temple Mount.

“And I will bring them to My Holy Mountain” – The first stage is for the Jewish People to simply gather on the Temple Mount. Maimonides, Laws of the Chosen House chapter 7:7 “Even though the Temple is today destroyed…we should only enter into the areas (of the Temple Mount) that are permitted”

“And will make them happy in My house of prayer” – The second stage is for the Jewish People to renew Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount. Maimonides, Book of Commandments Command 5: “The 5th Commandment is to serve God…this is the commandment to pray …Serve Him through His Torah and Serve Him in His Temple, One should pray within the Temple or towards it”

“Their burnt offering and sacrifices will be welcome on My altar” – The Third Stage is the reconstruction of the altar without the standing Temple and the re-institution of national sacrifices. Maimonides, Laws of the Chosen House chapter 6:15: “Therefore we sacrifice all sacrifices, even though the Temple is not standing.”

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” – The process culminates with the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, thus allowing all humanity to unite in worshiping the one true God. Maimonides, Laws of the Chosen House Chapter 1:1: “It is a positive commandment to build a House for God, for the sake of offering sacrifices and rejoicing in it three times a year – as it says “Build for Me a Temple" (exodus: 25:8).

This was the same way that Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the second Temple. They first ascended, then they built an altar and then years later actually rebuilt the Temple. Just like the State of Israel was built with the help of the Almighty via active and political Zionism and did not fall down from the sky; The [Third] Temple will also not fall from the sky, and we must be as active as possible, until we or our children, grandchildren or great grandchildren can complete the great task. “It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it” (Ethics of Our Father 2:16). Everyone is encouraged to donate whatever sum they can, to help our movement continue on the slow and sure path of restoring our days as old.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

11/19 Links Pt2: The Third Intifada is About the Post-Two-State Future; Temple Mount Status Quo?

From Ian:

The Third Intifada is About the Post-Two-State Future

The two-state solution is, effectively, dead. It was mortally wounded long before today’s terror attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, which marks a third intifada. The final straw came with the Gaza war this past summer, when Hamas rockets and tunnels showed why it would be insane to let Palestinians to rule more than a portion of the West Bank. The Obama administration’s addiction to pressuring Israel has also destabilized diplomacy.
But the attack on the synagogue in Har Nof sends a different message: namely, that Jews and Arabs may not be able to live together easily even in the same country. There are areas of coexistence–in Haifa, for example, where locals joke that they get along because Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed never came there. There are also Arabs who serve with distinction in the Israeli military, and at the highest levels of the Israeli government.
Yet that could be more difficult in future. David Brinn of the Jerusalem Post wrote candidly today: “When two of the regular staffers entered my office in the afternoon to empty the trash bin and replace it with a new nylon bag, I found myself for the first time tensing up and watching their every move out of the corner of my eye.” His feelings are, no doubt, shared by many well-meaning Jewish Israelis–and reciprocated by Arab Israelis, too.

Sweden’s Gaza refugee contradiction

Now that Sweden has assessed that Palestine meets the criteria of a state, is it prepared to address this longstanding Palestinian refugee narrative, along with UNRWA’s role in perpetuating it? The way to do so would be to issue a clear statement that Palestinians living in Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza) would no longer be recognized as “refugees.”
If the Swedes fail to take this simple and logical move, the implication would be that their recognition of Palestine is intended not to promote peaceful co-existence between Israel and Palestine, but rather to perpetuate dangerous and irredentist policies that have long characterized the Palestinian narrative, not to mention the refugee agency that purports to speak in its name.

Spanish Parliament Recognizes 'Palestine' After Jerusalem Terror Attack

The lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Congress of Deputies, passed a resolution Tuesday to recognize a Palestinian state. The vote came in the wake of a gruesome Palestinian terror attack Tuesday morning that targeted Jews praying at a synagogue in West Jerusalem, which drew widespread international condemnation.
Reuters reports that the resolution received the support of all political parties. The support for Palestinian statehood follows similar resolutions in the UK, Sweden, and Ireland, and is conditional on a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
It is merely symbolic–but on a day of terror, is a potent symbol indeed.

Israel decries Spanish vote on recognizing Palestine

“The declaration of the Spanish parliament only distances the chance of reaching an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, because it encourages the Palestinians to become more extreme in their positions,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.
“It would have been better if the Spanish parliament had instead chosen to do the right thing by condemning the abominable slaughter carried out by inflamed Palestinians in a synagogue in Jerusalem.”
Late on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu accused the international community of ignoring the bloodshed and seeking instead to reward the Palestinians, in a thinly veiled reference to the vote.
“Unfortunately, there are some who are trying even now to give the Palestinians a prize… of a Palestinian state, which doesn’t even recognize the Jewish state,” he said.
“We won’t put up with this.”