by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Public Security Minister Avi Dichter announced on Tuesday the government's official policy regarding Jewish prayer on the site of the Holy Temple: "Jews may pray on their holiest site - but only in their heart; no lip-moving allowed."
Dichter explained that government policy on the Mount is dictated by the wish to ensure that bloodshed not occur. He said that Jews moving their lips in prayer on the Mount, which the Moslems have sanctified as their own, can be seen as a Jewish provocation that could lead to bloodshed.
Knesset Members Aryeh Eldad and Uri Ariel - both of the National Union party and both residents of Kfar Adumim in the Jordan Valley - had submitted a request to pray on the holy site, and Dichter's response was the result.
Though the two had pledged not to perpetrate "group prayer" or "demonstrative prayer," both of which have been banned for Jews at the Temple Mount, Dichter said that the "outer trappings" of private prayer - namely, moving of lips - render even that forbidden. In his response to the MKs, Dichter noted that the only option for Jews who wish to pray on their most sacred site "is to exchange thoughts with his G-d in his heart."
The New Jewish Congress responded with barely-controlled fury, issuing this statement:
"Minister Dichter's comments demonstrate his, and this government's, total disconnect from the reality of the Temple Mount, from the Jewish people, and from the government's obligations towards both. This is yet another indication that the government of Ehud Olmert has ceased to be a Jewish government altogether, having not the slightest connection with the Jewish people."
Just two weeks ago, the government did nothing when Fatah allowed Hamas to broadcast its anti-Jewish incitement directly from the Temple Mount. The New Jewish Congress noted the irony of the juxtaposition of the loud and clear Hamas broadcasts and the banned silent Jewish prayer emanating from the same site - that of the Holy Temple.
"In reality," the statement continued, "the Jewish people enjoy freedom of religious expression, including prayer and Torah study, everywhere - except on the Temple Mount, their only holy site."
"Minister Dichter's comments convey hatred and discrimination towards the Jewish people," the New Jewish Congress stated. "In due time, this government will be held accountable for its actions and will stand trial in a Jewish court of justice that will be established by the Jewish people."
Request for Communal Jewish Prayer
Just last week, four top Temple Mount activists and New Jewish Congress leaders - Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, Rabbi Yosef Elbaum, Prof. Hillel Weiss, and Rabbi Chaim Richman - penned a letter to Prime Minister Olmert asking for specific days on which Jews would be allowed to pray atop the Temple Mount.
The letter states that while now, Jews are degraded on the Temple Mount, "it is our position that if the stature of the Jews on the Temple Mount were to change positively, then the standing of the State of Israel would immediately improve. This would effect a positive change for the benefit and security of all its citizens."
Noting that the very day of mourning prayers for the six million Holocaust victims was also the day on which Hamas incitement to violence and death to Jews emanated from the Temple Mount - "we view [this juxtaposition of] events as a horrific failure of this government" - the signatories wrote, "We demand that the Government of Israel allow the Jewish people to have freedom of religious expression on the Temple Mount. Additionally, the government must establish special fixed days for Jewish communal prayer in fixed locations on the Temple Mount. This move will serve as evidence of Jewish sovereignty on the Mount."
The specific days on which the Jews should have rights to pray communally atop the Temple Mount, according to the writers, are: Passover Eve [a day on which Jews are commanded to bring the Paschal lamb - a right that Israel's High Court of Justice has recognized, in case #2955/07], Passover, Sukkot, Shavuot, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Chanukah (first day), Israel Independence Day, Jerusalem Day, and the three fast days commemorating the destruction of Jerusalem (Tisha B'Av, Tevet 10, and Tammuz 17). In addition, once every seven years, at the Hakhel Ceremony concluding the Shemittah (Sabbatical) year, Jews should be allowed to pray at the holy site.
"If you do not accept our appeal and demand," the letter concludes, "we shall understand that the chasm separating the Jewish people - whose values have remained unchanged since time immemorial - and the current composition of the Government of Israel, as reflected by its policies, is immeasurably widening and deepening with each passing day."
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A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Jewish guards prevent Christians and Jews from exercising their religious right to pray on the Temple Mount? That's right! Only Muslims have unlimited access to Judaism's most holy site. Only the Koran is permitted within. The Tanach (Jewish Scripture, known to much of the world as the "Old Testament") and Christian Scriptures (the New Testament) are forbidden. Yet Israel claims to respect the religious rights of all people.
Major Upheaval in Israel?
Will an EARTHQUAKE shake Israel to its foundations and rock the world? Would the destruction of the Western/Wailing Wall and the demolition of the "Dome of the Rock" and Al-Aksa mosques—by an ACT OF GOD—serve further notice that it's time to build the Temple?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
"And let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). This holy command in the Scriptures seems clear enough, so what's the problem? Why has Israel tolerated Jerusalem’s "abomination of desolation" — a Temple Mount without a Temple? Why haven't the religious leaders encouraged the people to do what they can in fulfilling this mitzva?
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Paul, speaking of the imminent Third Temple, the holy TEMPLE OF GOD (the Temple of God - not just of the Jews or any other conspiracy theory that contradicts Scripture), that Europe's wannabe divine emperor will pollute, coveting it since Satan knows (even if some religious folks don't) it is the TEMPLE OF GOD...
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
During a 1995 Root and Branch lecture in Jerusalem, Professor Nahum Rakover, author and then Deputy Attorney General of Israel, publicly agreed with me that it isn't illegal for Christians or Jews to pray upon the Temple Mount, even though it is forcibly prevented by the police.
Restore Israeli Sovereignty Over Temple Mount
The Wakf, the militant Muslim authority that oversees Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site and Islam's alleged third holiest site (following Mecca and Medina) continue to show blatant disregard for Jewish, Christian and biblical history and non-Muslim sensitivities.
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
Something's missing. Rome is synonymous with the Vatican, Mecca with the Kaaba, and Jerusalem's known for its Western Wall. But why should we stand before the wall, letting it obstruct our vision, when we could be praying in a Temple? Why should Jews continue to bow before an illegitimate Gentile decree that tells them where to pray? (Isaiah 10:1).
The Vatican Must Return the Temple Treasures
The Jews have prayed for 2,000 years to again see the Temple upon the Temple Mount. It's past time for prayers alone: ACTION is necessary to put faith into practice!
G-d Doesn't Listen to Jewish Prayers at the Western Wall
Gershon Salomon warned Israel and its leadership that as long as the shameful situation on the Temple Mount continues, and as long as they do not obey the call of G-d, peace will not come to the land. The enemies of Israel will continue to desire her land and will pressure those in power to divide it. Obedience to the call of G-d will bring peace, all of Israel's enemies will be removed and no one will wish to divide or desire the land.
Why Edward Abington, Jr. Must Be Investigated!
"The American Diplomat in Arafat's Corner," published in The Jerusalem Report, came as no surprise to me. It was referring to Edward Abington, Jr., the United States' former consul general in Jerusalem who is now "guiding the Palestinians through the labyrinths of Washington. And his firm is being paid $2.25 million for his expertise."
Israel's Unjust Deportation of David Ben-Ariel
As a Christian-American member of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, I had been privileged to participate in their legal demonstrations during my 10-month stay in Jerusalem awaiting dual citizenship. Israeli television often showed me with my Jewish friends carrying Israeli flags throughout the Old City.
Blow Up the Mosques or An Expired Visa?
Once again, an attempt to spread DISinformation about my unjust deportation from Israel, only provides me with another opportunity to clearly state my case and continue to highlight the plight of the Temple Mount suffering under a Nazi-Muslim occupation...
From Toledo to Jerusalem
You could say I have a God-given love for the Jews and the nation of Israel (Isaiah 62:6-7). That sacred bond has been strengthened over the years by the fact that I've been blessed to have lived all over Israel, getting to know its land and people quite well.
Dangerous Ideas?
During my brief appearance before Israel's High Court, the prosecution charged that I hold "dangerous ideas." I suppose the short-sighted prosecution would ban the Bible if he could since it contains the "dangerous ideas" that millions believe in! What are those "dangerous ideas?"
American Detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound
Nobody arrested me. I was detained when I faithfully reported to the police office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, January 9, 1996 (day before my birthday) the day after The Jerusalem Post published on their front page an article shedding light on what they were doing in the dark: "GSS Seeks to Deport American Citizen for Plot to Blow Up Al Aksa Mosque."
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