Watchman Newsletter

New Revelations Concerning the Origin of the Temple Mount Wall

Bridges For Peace (Link) - Isranet (November 23, 2011)

In archaeological excavations alongside the ancient drainage channel of Jerusalem, a very old ritual bath (mikveh) was recently discovered that challenges the conventional archaeological perception which regards Herod as being solely responsible for the construction of the Temple Mount wall. Recently, reinforcement and maintenance measures were implemented in the pavement of Jerusalem’s main street dating from 2,000 years ago and used by pilgrims when they went up to the Temple Mount. This was done as part of the project to re-expose the drainage channel that passes beneath the street, running from the Siloam Pool in the City of David to the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden near the Western Wall.

In an excavation beneath the paved street near Robinson’s Arch, sections of the Western Wall’s foundation were revealed that is set on the bedrock—which is also the western foundation of Robinson’s Arch—an enormous arch that bore a staircase that led from Jerusalem’s main street to the entrance of the Temple Mount compound.

According to Professor Reich [assistant to the director of the excavation] “It became apparent during the course of the work that there are rock-hewn remains of different installations on the natural bedrock, including cisterns, ritual baths and cellars. These belonged to the dwellings of a residential neighborhood that existed there before King Herod decided to enlarge the Temple Mount compound.

Conference Emphasizes Yearning for the Holy Temple

Israel National News (Link) - Elad Benari & Hezki Ezra (November 19, 2011)

The Holy Temple Conferences by the Movement for Temple Renewal, with the participation of leading temple-oriented organizations, took place in the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The conference included lectures on different matters connected to the Temple Mount and to the rebuilding of the Temple.

“We’re dealing with matters of the press, the government, matters related to the ascent to the Temple Mount by women,” Baruch Ben Yosef, Chairman of the Movement to Restore the Temple, told Arutz Sheva.

Following the lectures, a general meeting was held inside the Great Synagogue, where participants heard more lectures and music related to the Temple. They then ate what is called the Seudat Hamikdash – the Temple Repast.

“This is all in order to raise awareness of the Holy Temple, the Temple Mount, and its significance to the Jewish people,” explained Ben Yosef.

Radical Islamists Trying to Take Over Temple Mount

Israel National News (Link) - David ben Yacov (July 28, 2011)

On the 90th anniversary of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the vast Islamic Caliphate regime which fell in 1921 after WWI, thousands of members of the Radical Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir rallied on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. They called for Muslims to unite and embrace the Caliphate rulership once more.

The rally took place in early July. Demonstrators flew banners bearing inscriptions such as “The Ummah (Muslims) Want Muslim Caliphates.” A giant banner was put up in the Al Aksa mosque courtyard on the Temple Mount. Other banners said “No to Democracy, Yes to Caliphates.” The crowd controller, using a microphone, soon had the crowd chanting over and over, “O Muslim armies, awaken to help Muslims.”

The Hizb ut-Tahrir (‘Party of Liberation’) website calls for the Muslim armies to forcefully lift the Gaza IDF naval blockade with military action, making it serve “as a tight noose” around Israel.

Caliphates were a totalitarian system of Muslim government established by Mohammed, who made himself the first Caliph, reigning until 632 C.E. The Caliph was a religious and political leader, who made the Koran’s prescriptions, now developed into the legal body known as Sharia law, the law of the land. The Ottoman Empire embraced the idea of a caliphate, and was governed this way until its dissolution.

‘Absolutely sure’: 2nd Jewish Temple ‘waiting to be unearthed’

WorldNet Daily (Link) (June 5, 2011)

One of the most prominent Israeli archaeologists declared today that remains from the First and Second Jewish Temple period – including the Second Temple itself – lie underneath the Temple Mount surface, just waiting to be excavated.

Dr. Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University accused the site’s Islamic custodians of destroying Jewish artifacts while attempting to turn the Temple Mount into a “giant mosque.

“I think we will find all the remains starting from the First Temple period and remains of the Temple itself,” said Mazar, a third-generation archeologist. “I mean, no one took it out, it’s there.”

Mazar said she is “absolutely sure” remains from the First and Second Temple periods, including “the Second Temple itself,” as well as later remains from the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, are just under the surface of the Temple Mount.

First Time: Temple Mount Priestly Blessing on Jerusalem Day

Israel National News (Link) - Hillel Fendel (June 2, 2011)

Hundreds of religious Jews from all streams were able to happily commemorate the 44th anniversary of the first-ever entry of Israeli soldiers onto the TempleMount.

For the first time in the history of Israeli restrictions on Jewish entry to the Temple Mount, the recitation of the Priestly Blessing was permitted there. It happened on Wednesday, Jerusalem Reunification Day, when hundreds of visitors – all of whom immersed in a mikveh (ritual bath) prior to coming and took other precautions required by Jewish Law – were allowed to enter the Temple Mount in groups of 30-40.

Among them were several Cohanim (descendants of Aharon the Priest). They spread their hands in the customary manner and recited, “May G-d bless and watch over your… May G-d shine His countenance upon and show you grace… May G-d raise His countenance towards you and grant you peace” (Numbers 6, from the portion to be read aloud this week in synagogues throughout the Jewish world).

Rabbi calls for sacrifice on Temple Mount

YNet News (Link) - Kobi Nahshoni (April 5, 2011)

The annual attempts to resume the Passover sacrifice received a first significant rabbinical backing recently. Safed’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, a prominent religious Zionism leader, has called on the public to perform the sacrifice mitzvah on the eve of the Jewish holiday, in about two weeks.

Speaking during a Halacha lesson in Jerusalem last week, the rabbi warned that Jews evading the mitzvah were risking “Kareth” - a supernatural punishment for transgressing Jewish Law.

According to Rabbi Eliyahu, there is a halachic, legal and public possibility to offer a Passover sacrifice these days. During the lesson, he quoted senior rabbinical authorities, adding that Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalisher – one of the founders of modern and religious Zionism – had asked the Turkish sultan to allot an area on the Temple Mount for the erection of an altar for a Passover sacrifice.

Temple Institute Reveals First Blueprints For Portion Of The Third Temple

Prophecy News Watch (Link) - The Temple Institute (February 11, 2011)

In his recent USA speaking engagement tour, (January 2011), Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute revealed to the public for the very first time detailed construction plans for the Chamber of Hewn Stone: the seat of the Great Sanhedrin which is a central component of the Holy Temple complex on the Temple Mount. These complete and highly intricate plans constitute the first stage of an historical undertaking of the Temple Institute: the drafting of blueprints for the entire Holy Temple complex. These plans, drawn up by a top Israeli architectural firm hired by the Temple Institute, take into account the specific requirements of the Sanhedrin assembly hall, known historically as the Chamber of Hewn Stone. At the same time these plans incorporate modern technological infrastructure necessary to a twenty-first century facility: this includes internet ports, wireless communications systems, computer data storage, elevators, air conditioning and underground parking. All these modern amenities, and many more, have been integrated into the Sanhedrin structure without compromising the integrity of the great assembly’s physical or spiritual character.

No land can be prepared, no foundation can be laid, no wall can be erected without a detailed architectural plan first being drawn up, approved by engineers and presented to the appointed site manager. The plans you are viewing on this page fulfill every requirement necessary for the immediate commencement of work on this aspect of the Holy Temple complex.

Israel Police brace for possible Temple Mount unrest amid Egypt turmoil

Haaretz (Link) - Nir Hasson (February 4, 2011)

Jerusalem police said on Friday that they were increasing the state of preparedness surrounding the Temple Mount in the Old City due to a fear of riots that they suspect may occur as a result of the uprising in Egypt.

Police said that entrance to the Temple Mount will be open on Friday only to men 50 years of age and older who have a blue identity card, signifying that they are Israeli citizens, and to women of all ages.

In Egypt on Friday, riots and protests calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign are expected to continue unabated into their 10th day. Although Egyptian protesters are demanding that Mubarak leave the government immediately, he has continued to insist that he will stay until elections are held in September. Protesters apparently plan to march to Mubarak’s presidential palace on Friday.

‘UFO’ Hovers Over Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock Shrine

Fox News (Link) - The Sun (February 3, 2011)

A glowing orb filmed hovering over the skyline of Jerusalem has left UFO experts dumbfounded.

The circular object was seen descending slowly over the holy city’s iconic Dome of the Rock before flickering and shooting skyward like a rocket. Similar clips have been seen before and debunked as hoaxes. But this latest sighting has proved more difficult to dismiss -- as it was recorded from four different perspectives.

Some UFO enthusiasts believe the videos -- which have taken the Internet by storm -- are final proof that aliens exist, while others say the unidentified object was the Hebrew god Elohim.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that flying over the Dome of the Rock landmark -- an ancient Islamic shrine -- is forbidden.

Two witnesses at the Armon Hanatziv panoramic lookout near Mount Zion filmed the object at 1am on Saturday. A little after one minute into the clip, the object descends slowly, almost to ground level.

The craft hovers there for a short while and then flickers before shooting upwards at an incredible speed.

Digging completed on tunnel under Old City walls in East Jerusalem

Haaretz (Link) - Nir Hasson (January 25, 2011)

The Israel Antiquities Authority has completed an archaeological dig of a tunnel that will enable visitors to cross under the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, not far from the Temple Mount.

The tunnel, which was uncovered during excavations conducted over the past few months, was formerly used for drainage and dates back to the Second Temple. It links the City of David in Silwan with the Archaeological Park & Davidson Center, which is located near the Western Wall.

The Antiquities Authority stressed that the newly uncovered tunnel does not come near the Temple Mount and that it has no plans to dig in that direction.

The digging had been going on for seven years and was delayed for about a year by order of the High Court of Justice, after Silwan residents filed a petition claiming the dig was damaging their homes.

Hareidi Religious Rabbis Flock to Temple Mount

Israel National News (Link) - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (October 13, 2010)

The hareidi religious community has been visiting the Temple Mount in larger numbers than ever, according to Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick.

Rabbis are divided on whether Jews are allowed to ascend to the holy site in modern times, 2,000 years after the Second Temple was destroyed. Many Zionist rabbis support ascent to the Temple Mount but some very prominent ones do not, citing the Nation of Israel's current state of impurity. Those who support ascent insist that the visitors first undergo ritual immersion in a mikveh, remain along the outer perimeter of the grounds and stay outside of areas where Jewish law forbids them to go, although their is a controversy over their whereabouts.

Rabbi Glick said the increasing number of hareidi religious rabbis on the Temple Mount is a new phenomenon, coinciding with a similar interest from other streams of Judaism.

Jew Arrested on Temple Mount for Daring to Seem to be Praying

Israel National News (Link) - Elad Benari (September 27, 2010)

A Jewish man in his 30s, who took advantage of the holiday of Sukkot in order to visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, was arrested on Sunday morning simply because an Arab security guard suspected that he was praying during the tour of the complex.

David Ha’ivri, Executive Director of the Shomron Liaison Office, who was on the scene of the incident, told Arutz 7 what had taken place:

“At 7:30 this morning I had the privilege of going up to Temple Mount with 20 other Jews,” said Ha’Ivri and added that Israeli police officers as well as inspectors from the Waqf accompanied the Jews who took part in the tour of the area. Among their responsibilities, explained Ha’Ivri, is to ensure that no Jew violates the instructions he receives upon entering the complex, which include a prohibition to pray at Judaism’s holiest site.

“After the checkpoint at the Mugrabi Gate, a police officer gives a list of guidelines in a cold and dry voice,” described Ha’Ivri. “Do not pray. Do not tear a garment. Do not prostrate yourself. It is forbidden to take any action that the Muslims may see as a religious act.

Thousands attend Priestly Blessing in Jerusalem

YNet News (Link) - Kobi Nahshoni (September 26, 2010)

Some 15,000 people participated in the traditional Priestly Blessing in the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Among the worshippers were Israel’s Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar as well as Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall. The rabbis noted kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in their prayer and prayed for his quick and safe return.

The three greeted the many attendees in a sukkah set up at the site.

Jerusalem Police deployed large forces in the Old City, the neighboring villages and around the Temple Mount following recent clashes in east Jerusalem and in order to maintain order. No irregular incidents have been noted as of yet.

For the past 40 years a mass prayer has been held in the Sukkot and Passover intermediate days at the Western Wall. Hundreds of Kohanim wrapped in prayers shawls bless the thousands of worshippers who flock to the holy site from all parts of the country, saying: “May God bless you and guard you; may Adonai make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; may Adonai lift up his face onto you and give you peace.”

Tisha B’Av and Sovereignty on the Temple Mount

Koinonia House (Link) - Chuck Missler (July 20, 2010)

All public transportation silenced, all restaurants closed in Jerusalem on Monday evening as the sun set. The Hebrew day of great tragedies, Tisha b’Av, fell at sundown. In remembrance, tens of thousands of Jews gathered at the Western Wall to pray and petition the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.

Tisha b’Av is simply Hebrew for the 9th day of the month of Av, and it completes the Three Weeks of mourning that began with the Fast of Tammuz. Many disasters have befallen the Jews on the 9th of Av throughout history. According to Jewish tradition, this was the day that God told the Children of Israel they were prohibited from entering the Promised Land because of disbelief. They were forced to wander in the desert forty more years until that adult generation had died out. That tragic day was just the beginning…

On the 9th of Av in:

• 586 BC, Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonian captivity began;

• AD 70, the Second Temple, which stood during Christ’s ministry, was destroyed by the Romans precisely as Jesus predicted in Luke 19;

• AD 135, the famous Bar Kokhba revolt was squelched when Bethar, the last Jewish stronghold, fell to the Romans;

• AD 136, the Roman Emperor Hadrian established a heathen temple to Jupiter on the site of the Jewish Temple. Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city, and renamed the land as Palestina, to distance its Jewish heritage. The date when the Temple area was plowed under by the Romans was the 9th of Av.

The day has continued to be associated with grief for the Jewish people throughout history. For example, Pope Urban II declared the Crusades on the 9th of Av in 1242. The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 on this day, and in 1942, the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were mass deported to the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland. Thus the 9th of Av, Tisha B’Av, has become a symbol of all the persecutions and misfortunes of the Jewish people, for the loss of their national independence and their sufferings in exile. Above all, it is a day of intense mourning for the destruction of the Temple.

Half the Public Wants to See Holy Temple Rebuilt

Israel National News (Link) - Hillel Fendel (July 18, 2010)

Half the Israeli public wants the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) to be rebuilt. This is the main finding of a poll commissioned by the Knesset Television Channel and carried out by the Panels Institute.

The poll was taken in advance of this Tuesday’s national day of mourning, known as Tisha B’Av, on which the two Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed, 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, respectively.

Forty nine percent said they want the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, while 23% said they do not. The remainder said they were unsure.

The public is about evenly split on whether they believe it will happen, with a slight edge – 42% to 39% – to those who believe the Third Holy Temple will be rebuilt.

Should the State of Israel take active steps towards the reconstruction? Forty-eight percent said no, while 27% said yes.

Muslim Riots Reach Temple Mount

Israel National News (Link) - Gil Ronen (February 28, 2010)

The riots that began in Hevron last week reached the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on the morning of the Purim holiday (Sunday). Four police officers were lightly hurt, as were at least 15 Arab rioters.

The riots started Monday after the government decided to include the Cave of Patriarchs in Hevron – Judaism’s second most holy site – in a list of national heritage sites to receive extra funding, as well as the Tomb of Rachel the Matriarch near Bethlehem.

About 30 Arab Muslim youths threw rocks at visitors to the Temple Mount Sunday. A police force reacted by entering the mosque compound and the Arab attackers fled into the Al Aqsa mosque.

The Temple Mount mosques’ public address speakers broadcast calls of incitement in the morning hours, including anti-Jewish phrases, calls for ‘jihad’ (holy war) and cries of “allahu akbar” - “Allah is great.”

There has also been ongoing violence between police and Arabs in the alleys of the Old City. Muslim youths have attacked police with rocks at the “Antonia Gate” entrance to the Temple Mount. One suspect was arrested near the Ecce Homo arch. A group of some 100 female rioters attempted to march in the Sultan Suleiman area of eastern Jerusalem.

Two Jewish activists were allowed to visit the Temple Mount early Sunday afternoon, after restrictions were placed on Muslims wishing to enter the site because of the violence. They braved the heavy rain to visit the Temple Mount “so that it should not be empty of Jews,” according to one of them, Yosef Rabin.

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Islamic Jihad urges escalation of conflict in West Bank Ynet News - Ali Waked

The Islamic Jihad movement has called for a step up in clashes with Israeli security forces across the West Bank in light of recent events at the al-Aqsa Mosque.

“The movement calls on all of the forces among our people to step up the conflict with the enemy. We call on the (Palestinian) Authority to cease arrests of militants and halt the oppression of rage rallies in the West Bank,” s statement issued by the organization read.

Will Rockefeller build 3rd Temple?

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Aaron Klein (February 3, 2010)

A Rockefeller is raising capital to rebuild the Jewish Temple, said the news release published on CNN Money’s Internet site and other news sources.

The plan would include a united Jewish and Palestinian Arab state. A Jewish group promoting the rebuilding of the Temple was reported to be cooperating.

The story spread virally through the evangelical Christian blogosphere. But it was all part of an elaborate hoax.

The release, filed with MarketWire and republished at CNNMoney.com, claims “Supriem David Rockefeller” is director of a company, Kinti Holdings group, which is working with a Jewish Temple organization to rebuild the Third Temple.

States the release: “Kinti Holdings will be raising funds to go towards building the Third Temple in Jerusalem in strict coordinance with The Temple Institute, Rabbi Hiam Richman and The Palestinian National Interest Committee (PNIC) and supporting Husam Bajis for President of Palestine.”

Richman, international director of the Temple Institute, a Jewish Temple activist group, told WND the release is a “scam.”

What Has Changed That Enables Us To Offer The Korban Pesach Now?

KorbanPesach.org (Link) (January 11, 2010)

Recently, the Jewish people have begun to reassert their rights to the Temple Mount. They have been aided by technical progress and archaeological discoveries in solving the once insurmountable problem of determining the areas that can be visited by Jews even in a state of impurity, and which areas remained off limits. Modern technology such as laser cutting tools can solve the problem of constructing an altar without metallic tools.

However, the most important development has not been technological, but spiritual. The emergence of a Jewish religious leadership in the form of a renascent Sanhedrin Initiative has provided the breakthrough. A group of rabbinic leaders has summoned the courage to revive Jewish legal thought and authority in the framework of a renewed Jewish sovereignty. The new Sanhedrin Initiative is in the forefront of the drive to renew the Korban Pesach. It assumes responsibility for ensuring that the commandments is performed in conformity with Jewish religious law, and will also coordinate the practical details with the appropriate Israeli governmental authorities.

A Low and Dishonest Decade

Caroline Glick (Link) - Caroline Glick (January 1, 2010)

Upon returning from Cairo on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu proclaimed, “It’s time to move the peace process forward.”

The most sympathetic interpretation of Netanyahu’s proclamation is that he was engaging in political theater. It was a low and dishonest statement uttered at the end of what has been, in the immortal words of W.H. Auden, “a low and dishonest decade.”

Everyone with eyes in their heads knows that there is no chance of making peace with the Palestinians. First of all, the most Israel is willing to give is less than what the Palestinians are willing to accept.

But beyond that, Gaza is controlled by Hamas, and Hamas is controlled by Iran.

For its part, Fatah is not in a position to make peace even if its leaders wished to. Mahmoud Abbas and his deputies know that just as Hamas won the 2006 elections in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, Hamas would win elections today. To maintain even a smudge of domestic legitimacy, Fatah’s leaders have no choice but to adopt Hamas’s rejection of peaceful coexistence with the Jewish state.

Clearly, now is not the time “to move the peace process forward.”

No less than what it tells us about Netanyahu, his statement is notable for what it tells us about Israel. Our continued willingness to ensnare ourselves in the rhetoric of peace processes demonstrates how little we have progressed in the past decade.

Temple model to open this Hanukkah

YNet News (Link) - Tzofia Hirschfeld (December 11, 2009)

Aish HaTorah center in Jerusalem to open 1.2 ton model of Second Temple to visitors this Hanukkah. Model, built out of original materials, including gold, marble, stone, faces Temple Mount.

The Second Temple will be open to visitors next week. Albeit in a different location, and a smaller size, not allowing much room for people to enter. Still, it is certainly the next best thing at the moment.

This Hanukkah the Aish HaTorah Jewish studies center in Jerusalem will inaugurate the largest model of the Second Temple to be built to date. The model, which was built on a scale of 1:60, and weighs 1.2 tons, is made of the original materials, namely, real gold, marble and stone, and was placed on the third floor of the center's building, facing the Western Wall.

The model was placed facing the Temple Mount in hopes of giving the visitors a feeling as close as possible to that felt by visitors back in the days when the structure, described as one of the most beautiful of its period, was standing. The place where the Jewish heart once stood, and, with its destruction, became a site of constant longing.

"We knew that our building was in the most beautiful place, and that you can see the entire Temple Mount from it," Aish HaTorah director Ephraim Shore said, "It was clear to us that such a place should be used to illustrate the experience of being there.

Jews raise millions to be ready for coming of the Messiah

The Sydney Morning Herald (Link) - Jason Koutsoukis (November 14, 2009)

Yehuda Glick is a 44-year-old American-born Jew who spends most of every day preparing for the arrival of the Messiah in Jerusalem.

Since he became the executive director of the Temple Institute, Mr. Glick's main task has been to supervise the manufacture of the utensils the high priests will need when the day arrives.

Crowns and other instruments made of solid gold fill glass cases in the Temple Institute museum in Jerusalem's Old City.

Other artifacts include an array of copper urns, trumpets made of silver and garments to be worn by the High Priest, woven from golden thread.

Musical instruments, including hand-made harps and lyres, lie ready to be brought to life upon the Messiah's appearance.

So, when can we expect this momentous event? ''That is a very good question,'' Mr. Glick told the Herald.

''All that we know is that we are now living in the age of miracles and all of those miracles are predicted in the Book as happening on the eve of the end of days. It could well be tomorrow, but it might be another 100 years, or even 400 years.''

UN Secretary-General's message to the Jerusalem International Forum

Secretary-General Office of the Spokesperson (Link) - Robert H. Serry, Ban Ki Moon’s Personal Representative to the PLO and the PA (October 28, 2009)

I send my greetings to the leaders gathered in Rabat for this international forum on Jerusalem. I thank His Majesty, King Mohammed VI, the Chair of the Jerusalem Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the Yasser Arafat foundation for hosting this event.

For Muslims, Jews and Christians, for Israelis and Palestinians, and for peoples around the world, Jerusalem represents a place of faith and longing, a symbol of aspirations for nationhood, and a sacred space that must be open to all. As we are constantly reminded, events in Jerusalem can undermine trust on the ground and be felt in distant lands. It is for this reason that we must ensure that the holy city becomes a true symbol of peace, bringing people together and marking a new, more positive era for the whole region.

As has long been agreed between Israelis and the Palestinians, Jerusalem is a core issue that must be resolved through negotiations, along with all other core issues. The international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem, which remains part of the occupied Palestinian territory subject to the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention. If peace is to be achieved, the goal must be for Jerusalem to be the capital of two States living side-by-side in peace and security, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all. This is the road to the fulfillment of both the vision of Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, and the yearning for peace of people from all over the world.

Rabbis Convene, Call for Ascent to Temple Mount

Israel National News (Link) - Gil Ronen (October 25, 2009)

At a special conference Sunday night at Heichal Shlomo in Jerusalem, Zionist rabbis are calling for Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount and for an end to the use of the Temple Mount as a platform for Muslim incitement.

The rabbis participating in the conference include Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, Rabbi Yaakov Madan and Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich. Also participating are Knesset Members Uri Ariel, Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union, MK Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) and Kadima's Otniel Schneller. Jerusalem Deputy Mayor David Hadari and Moshe Feiglin are also among the scheduled speakers.

The chairman of the conference, Temple Institute Director Yehudah Glick told Arutz Sheva that the conference's date was chosen because this is the anniversary of the visit by Rambam (Maimonides) to the Temple Mount.

“There is a worrisome phenomenon that every time two or three rocks are thrown [by Arabs], the Jews are distanced from the Temple Mount,” he said. “The Arabs learned this and they behave accordingly.” Glick said that the police's decision to close down the Mount to Jews during the Sukkot holiday week was a move that could not go unanswered.

Many Zionist rabbis support ascent to the Temple Mount but some do not, citing the Nation of Israel's current state of impurity. Those who support ascent insist that the visitors first undergo ritual immersion in a mikveh, remain along the outer perimeter of the grounds and stay outside of areas where Jewish law forbids them to go.

Encouraging Jewish Ties to Temple Mount

Israel National News (Link) - Hillel Fendel (October 19, 2009)

A large-scale gathering will take place in central Jerusalem next week featuring rabbis and public figures calling on the Jewish public to visit the Temple Mount “in purity.”

The event will be held on Sunday, the 7th of Cheshvan, a day after the anniversary of Maimonides’ visit to the Temple Mount in 1166. Maimonides, the renowned Torah giant known as the Rambam, later wrote of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, "We left Acco for Jerusalem under perilous conditions. I entered into 'the great and holy house' [the Temple Mount] and prayed there on the sixth day of the month of Cheshvan.”

The Rambam further wrote that he visited the Machpelah Cave on the 9th of Cheshvan, and that he vowed to make both those dates “a special holiday [to mark the occasions] on which I will rejoice with prayer, food and drink.”

The event is being held on the backdrop of the closure of the holy site to all Jews throughout the weeklong Sukkot holiday, when many had planned on visiting. The police explained that they had no choice but to close it because of the Arab riots in the area. Hundreds of Jews visited the site after the holiday.

Jews in Israel Preparing for Service in the Rebuilt Jewish Temple

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Jimmy DeYoung (October 12, 2009)

A group of religious Jews who live in the Jordan Valley near the ancient city of Jericho are taking practical steps to prepare for the building of the third temple in Jerusalem by preparing descendants of the Kohanim, the priests, and the Levites for service in this next temple. These Jewish leaders have established a training center where temple priests can learn exactly how to conduct the daily temple services and offer the required sacrifices as dictated by the Jewish laws from the Biblical book of Leviticus.

The training center will include an exact replica of the temple where the student-priests can learn to do their duties which are required and this training center, the organizers believe, comes at an historic time marking the beginning of the work for the third temple.

Temple Mount Tensions Rise; Fatah, Hamas Call Muslims to Act

Israel National News (Link) - Maayana Miskin (October 9, 2009)

Thousands of police officers have deployed in Jerusalem Friday in advance of Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount. Police are on high alert following a week in which Muslims rioted in and around Jerusalem, as Muslim and Arab leaders accused Israel of attempting to harm the al-Aksa Mosque atop the Mount.

In an attempt to reduce the chance of riots, police have limited access to the Temple Mount to Muslims only - only females, or men who are under age 18 or over 50. In addition, only those with Israeli or Jerusalem identity cards will be allowed in, while foreign Muslims will be told to pray elsewhere.

Tensions remained high on Thursday. While relative quiet was maintained in Jerusalem's Old City, attacks on Jews were reported in the nearby neighborhood of Mei Shiloach (Silwan) and across Judea and Samaria.

Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Movement call to 'Defend Al-Aksa'

As Israel attempts to reduce tensions, Hamas, Fatah and the Israel-based Islamic Movement have each called on Muslims to “defend al-Aksa.” Hamas declared Friday a “Day of Rage” and called on followers to protest, while Fatah called for a general strike on Friday on behalf of the al-Aksa mosque.

Like it or not, the Temple Mount is key to Israeli-Palestinian peace

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Marvin Hier & Abraham Cooper (October 7, 2009)

Here we go again. As Jews celebrate in their tens of thousands the festival of Booths, Succot, religious extremists like Sheikh Raed Salah incite Palestinian masses to recapture Jerusalem with "blood and fire." Not to be outdone, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah rushed in to pour fuel on the fire as it protests a "plan by Jews to perform religious rituals" on the Temple Mount,' and called on the international community to "force Israel to put off its attempts to take over Jerusalem."

So as Israel struggles to stop the stone throwers' verbal assaults, and the next spate of resolutions, it's worth reminding the world that ever since the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem, millions of people have safely streamed to the Western Wall to offer their prayers and insert hand written supplications to the Almighty. While most visitors shedding their tears adjacent to Judaism's holiest site - the Temple Mount - are Jews, not all pilgrims are. Witness Pope John Paul II inserting his own kvittel (written prayer) within the Wall's cracks; pilgrims from Africa, tourists from Indonesia, Swamis from India, Evangelicals from the Americas, Buddhists from across Asia - all come and go to the Wall.

The only price of admission: donning a cardboard yarmulke or scarf. Presidents and prime ministers flock to the Western Wall as well, armed with the latest great hope for peace in the Holy Land. From the Oslo Accords to the Quartet Middle East road map for peace, every official, regardless of religious denomination, or lack of one, finds a welcome private moment of silent prayer or reflection at the Western Wall.

AND YET earlier this week, in the midst of the Jewish High Holy Days, French tourists on the Temple Mount were pelted by irate Palestinian worshipers who "mistook" them for Jews. And the stones, and orchestrated crescendo of violence have continued unabated. During this seemingly annual exercise, has any diplomat, foreign minister, religious icon, or political pundit asked himself, or better yet the Palestinians, one simple question - why? Why can we all pray in peace at the Western Wall, but the very notion of a Jew praying on the site of Solomon's Temple begets only violence, denial and threats?
The centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people was never lost on friend or foe.

Obama Plan: Temple Mount Under Arab-Muslim Sovereignty

Israel National News (Link) - Gil Ronen (August 23, 2009)

The Middle East peace plan that United States President Barack Obama will unveil soon involves the creation of a Palestinian Authority state by 2011 and the transfer of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem [presumably including the Temple Mount – ed.] to Arab-Muslim sovereignty, Saudi newspaper Al-Ukaz has learned.

According to the report published Sunday in Al-Ukaz, the Obama plan also includes the following elements:

• Some parts of eastern Jerusalem [presumably Neveh Yaakov, Pisgat Ze'ev and the like - ed.] would be transferred to Israeli control.

• There would be an international presence in the Jordan Valley and other parts of Judea and Samaria.

• The Palestinian Authority terror organizations would be disbanded and turn into political parties.

• The large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria would not be dismantled.

• The fate of smaller Jewish settlement areas would be decided in a three-month-long negotiation period.

A reporter for the Saudi newspaper received the information from Hassan Harisha, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Authority Parliament. Harisha told him that the U.S. has handed over a draft of the peace proposal to the PA and other Arabs for their perusal.

The plan also calls for Judea and Samaria to be demilitarized and for its airspace to remain under Israel control. Israeli-Palestinian Authority security coordination would be strengthened, and the Palestinian Authority state would not be allowed to strike military treaties with other countries in the region.

Jews Detained for Kneeling on Temple Mount

Israel National News (Link) (August 2, 2009)

Two Jews were detained by police and held for hours on Sunday morning for the simple act of kneeling while on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The two, Yosef Ben-Avraham of Shilo and Yekutiel ben-Yaakov of Kfar Tapuach, were on the Mount as part of the Holy Temple Festival held in Samaria beginning on Saturday night.

While Jews are allowed to visit certain areas of the Temple Mount under strict police supervision, they are not allowed to pray or to make any visible gestures expressing their Jewish belief, for fear of inciting Muslim riots. Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov spoke to Israel National News following his release from custody and explained that it was the feeling of humiliation caused by this rule that ultimately led to his decision to defy regulations.

After waiting for an hour to enter the Temple Mount, the group was finally allowed in, only to see Muslim and Christian tourists wandering freely while they were restricted and closely watched, Ben-Yaakov recalled. The discrimination against Jews was “the type of thing that we would call blatant anti-Semitism if it took place in a foreign country... I felt like a worm,” he said.

64% of Israelis want Temple rebuilt

WorldNet Daily (Link) (August 1, 2009)

Nearly two-thirds of Israelis say the time is right to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, according to a Ynet-Gesher survey.

Even half of non-religious Jews favor rebuilding the Holy Temple – an idea politically unthinkable in Israel just 10 or 20 years ago.

The poll was release on the saddest day on the Jewish calendar – the fasting day of Tisha B'Av, or the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av. It commemorates a series of tragedies that befell the Jewish people all on the same day, most significantly the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, which occurred about 656 years apart on the same day. Jewish tradition calls for the reading of Lamentations.

Aside from the destruction of the Jewish Temples, a remarkably large number of massive calamities befell the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av. Jewish rebellion leader Bar Kokhba's famous revolt against Rome failed in A.D. 136. Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, the razing of Jerusalem occurred the next year. The first crusade pogrom against Jews in Palestine began on that date in A.D. 1096.

The Jews were expelled from Britain on Tisha B'Av in 1290 and were expelled from Spain that same day in 1492. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was crushed by the Nazis on that day in May 1943, resulting in the slaughter of about 50,000 Jews.

Nationalists in Israel also mourn the removal of Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which began the day after Tisha B'av.

The book of Lamentations, written in poetic verse, mourns the desolations brought on Jerusalem and the Holy Land by the Chaldeans.

The rebuilding of the Temple is an extremely controversial idea in Israel because currently Jewish access to the Temple Mount is restricted by the Muslim Waqf, which was granted administrative authority over the Jews' holiest sites, which are occupied by Muslim shrines.