The Supreme Court has rejected a petition requesting that Jews be enabled to offer the Passover Sacrifice this coming Monday, the eve of the holiday.
Similar petitions have been submitted and rejected in recent years.
Tuesday evening, a rally demanding “freedom of Jewish worship” on the Temple Mount was held in downtown Jerusalem. The organizers also demanded to be allowed to celebrate this coming Passover holiday on the site of the Holy Temple by offering the Paschal sacrifice.
They noted that according to Jewish Law, the Holy Temple does not need to be built in order to resume the sacrificial offerings. They emphasized accordingly that the Temple Mount organizations are not trying to change or make modifications to any existing structures on the Mount, but rather aim to receive permission to build a temporary altar, which would be dismantled immediately following the Passover Offering.
The Court ruled, however, that because of feared Arab violence, such an act could not be permitted. “It's true,” the ruling states, “that the basic point of departure is that every Jew has the right to the Temple Mount and pray there… However, these rights are not absolute and their implementation can be limited in view of the public interest… In light of the centrality and importance of the Temple Mount for many other religions, too, the danger arising from a flare of violence is not only a local threat… What happens on the Temple Mount affects political considerations and foreign relations of the state.”
Responses
Rabbi Yehuda Glick, head of the Organization for Human Rights on the Temple Mount, responded with sorrow: “The Land of Israel is acquired through pain – sadly, much pain.”
Yosef Rabin, Liaison to North American Communities on behalf of the Organization for Renewal of the Temple, took a harsher tone: “The heart of every Jew should shudder at this ruling, which is reminiscent of the decree of the evil king of Israel, Yeravam ben Nevat, who also did not allow the Jewish People to ascend and worship on the Mount.”
Symbolic Ceremony
In 2004, the Temple Institute conducted a symbolic Passover sacrifice.