The recent commotion regarding the Temple Mount brought a three-month-old yeshiva into the spotlight.
The new yeshiva is located on the Temple Mount, and for the first time in thousands of years, Torah studies are being held at Israel's holiest site.
"It's unthinkable that in Israel's holiest place, there is no yeshiva," one of the yeshiva's founders said. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that there is a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount whenever Jews are allowed to be here."
"We are the People of Israel's emissaries."
Though Muslims are allowed to visit the Temple Mount freely, Jewish visitors have set "visiting hours" each day and cannot ascend the Temple Mount without supervision and a security detail.
The yeshiva's students - both married and single - learn the laws of the Holy Temple in a systematic and thorough fashion. The purpose of these studies is to raise the number of Torah scholars who are proficient in the laws of the Holy Temple and ready to get to work as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
During the yeshiva's summer term, students learned the laws of sacrifices, as well as the laws of Temple service according to Maimonides.
"When you arrive at the Temple Mount for the purpose of occupying yourself with matters pertaining to the building of the Holy Temple, you feel a tremendous connection to G-d," the students said. "The laws pertaining to the exact locations of the alter, the Holy of Holies, and the ramps, the courtyard, and the various rooms - it all comes to life, it jumps off the pages and becomes part of your physical life.:
"We always feel like we have special Divine aid. The verse, 'Because Torah will come out of Zion and the word of G-d from Jerusalem,' (Isaiah 2:3) is suddenly a physical reality,."
Yeshiva Dean Rabbi Eliyahu Weber - a haredi man with a long and impressive lineage - teaches the students a daily class on the relevant laws. According to him, all of the yeshiva's students are either haredi or Religious Zionist. And Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior granted the new yeshiva his approval.
Even tourists stop to learn about the Holy Temple," Rabbi Weber said. "Some of them learn more, and some learn less."
Because the Israeli authorities do not allow Jews to ascend the Temple Mount with holy books, all of the learning on the Temple Mount itself is done orally. However, the students are allowed to bring the necessary books to the Temple Mount's entrance.
"Those who ascend the Temple Mount in holiness, all enjoy the fact that we have a yeshiva in this special place," visitors said. "Since the yeshiva's founding, there has been shade, drinks, and light refreshments here - and of course Torah discourse."
"Spending time here is pleasant and spiritually uplifting."