Haifa's long-time Chief Rabbi She'ar-Yashuv Cohen, who has taken part in many interfaith conferences and gatherings with Moslem religious leaders, says he's trying to gather support for a synagogue on the Temple Mount.
Rabbi Cohen, son of the late renowned Torah scholar known as the Nazir, Rabbi David Cohen, chairs the Chief Rabbinate Council for the Establishment of a Synagogue on the Temple Mount. Speaking on a special Temple Mount radio program on Voice of Israel's Moreshet (Tradition)-channel this week, he said he is working in the United States to amass support for the project.
Other rabbis have also called for the construction of a Jewish prayer site on the Temple Mount. Former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is among them, though he has not campaigned for this cause. Other members on the Chief Rabbinate committee are Be'er Sheva's Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri and Tzfat's Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.
Jewish Temple Mount supporters greeted Rabbi Cohen's announcement with enthusiasm. The Movement for the Establishment of the Temple declared, "The holiday of Chanukah, commemorating the liberation and purification of the Mount and the Temple, is the perfect time for the establishment of a prayer site for the Jewish People on the Mount. This will be a step towards full Jewish sovereignty over the holy site."
Rabbi Cohen took advantage of the opportunity to call upon the observant Jewish public to visit the site of the Holy Temple. He said this must be done only after taking the prescribed Halakhic [Jewish legal] precautions, such as immersing in a mikveh beforehand and others.
Other Temple Mount News
On Monday, the famous golden Menorah (candelabrum) - suitable for use in the Holy Temple, and familiar to visitors to the Cardo section of the Old City of Jerusalem - was relocated to the landing of the wide staircase that leads down from the Jewish Quarter to the Western Wall. Click here to see photos of the procession. The $3-million, one-half ton Menorah is protected inside the same type of glass structure that has housed it until now. The Menorah's construction was made possible through the generosity of Vadim Rabinovitch, a leader of the Jewish community of Ukraine.
Some 1,500 people took part in the monthly "Temple Mount Gates March" on Sunday night, Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) Tevet. The event was dedicated to the memory of Ido Zoldan, who was murdered last month by Palestinian terrorists; his family took part in the march.
Hundreds of Jews have ascended to the Mount "in purity" - i.e., according to Jewish Law - on the various days of Chanukah. Rabbis of the Movement for the Establishment of the Temple were on hand to provide guidance and explanations.