The State of Israel - the Jewish state - should start rebuilding the Beit HaMikdash - the Temple destroyed by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago - right now. There, it's been said.



Now that we've broken through the psychological barrier, we can begin to discuss openly and calmly what, until now, was forbidden to say, or even think...



Maybe it's the excitement of Hanukah coming up. Remember, the holiday that celebrates the victory of light over darkness and the few over the many? Hanukah, when the Jews recaptured their homeland from the Greek imperialists, liberated Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, and reinstated the service there.



Maybe it's over-exuberance from the recent holiday period just past; reading regularly in my prayer book about the Avodah in days of yore; i.e., service in the Holy Temple, including sacrifices, burning incense, singing and Levite bands playing harps, flutes, cymbals, trumpets and countless other musical instruments. Maybe it's the descriptions of week-long "holy" parties, including juggling with fiery torches, dancing and musical processions.



Maybe it's a romantic notion of an ancient nation - Israel - celebrating with its G-d, but I realize that the Jewish People are missing something these days. Judaism is incomplete today. Jewish national life in the Land of Israel is lacking. Israel needs to build the Third Temple right now.



And yet, in contrast to all that, the latest "peace initiative" being promoted by former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called, "The Geneva Initiative - a model for a permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement," calls for the Temple Mount to be given to the Palestinians permanently, with the help of the rest of the world.



According to "The Geneva Initiative" Article 6 - Jerusalem:

Section 5. al-Haram al-Sharif-Temple Mount (Compound)

(a) International Group

An International Group, composed of the IVG [Implementation and Verification Group, to include the US, the Russian Federation, the EU, the UN, and other parties, both regional and international] and other parties to be agreed upon by the Parties, including members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), shall hereby be established to monitor, verify, and assist in the implementation of this clause.



(b) Regulations Regarding the Compound

ii. The state of Palestine shall be responsible for maintaining the security of the Compound and for ensuring that it will not be used for any hostile acts against Israelis or Israeli areas. The only arms permitted on the Compound shall be those carried by the Palestinian security personnel and the security detachment of the Multinational Presence.



Armed Palestinians with their international interlocutors will be occupying Judaism's holiest site, "strangers," just like in the times of the Maccabees, in the Hanukah story. But this "temporary" situation won't continue because according to paragraph (c):



(c) Transfer of Authority

i. At the end of the withdrawal period stipulated in Article 5/7, the state of Palestine shall assert sovereignty over the Compound.



You read it right, "the state of Palestine shall assert sovereignty over the Compound." After 2,000 years of yearning to return to our ancient homeland, "Eretz Tzion, Yerushalayim," - the land of Zion, Jerusalem - as sung in Hatikva the Israeli national anthem; after 2,000 years of yearning to rebuild our fallen "House of the Most High G-d," today there are those who are planning to make sure that we can never fulfill those dreams. They want to give away the Jewish People's Temple Mount. And when will this come about? The text of the agreement is not clear. But the most it could be is in 30 months - two and a half years.



According to: Article 5 - Security, Section 7. Evacuation

(e) Israel shall complete its withdrawal from the territory of the state of Palestine within 30 months of the entry into force of this Agreement, and in accordance with this Agreement.



That's right, in as little as two and a half years, after the signing of the agreement, the Jewish People will give up a 2,000-year-old dream, officially.



It gets me so upset I just want to shout, "Israel, Build the Temple Now!" What about you?



(c) 2003/5764 Pasko