The police are preparing for a large gathering of Moslems - possibly 50,000 of them from the Galilee and the Triangle (between Hadera and Afula) - on the Temple Mount tomorrow afternoon. Organized by the northern chapter of the Islamic Movement, the event will feature prizes for Koran Quiz participants. Israeli Public Security Ministry officials say that Sheikh Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement, has increased his efforts in raising Temple Mount awareness among his followers.
News of this nature is painful for some Jews. "To hear a Moslem leader talk about 'Temple Mount awareness' is like a dagger to my heart," says Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. "We are just around the corner from Tisha B'Av and the mourning period for the Temple, and we Jews love to mourn. But the Temple Mount is more than mourning, and it's more than just the Three Weeks; it's all year round. It's Har HaBayit [lit., mountain of the house], it's home. How can we forget that?"
Rabbi Richman told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson today that the Moslem efforts towards this holy site "substantiate what we've always known, that everything that's going on [the war, etc.] centers around the Temple Mount - our heart and soul. It's a cliche already, but everyone knows that whoever controls the Temple Mount controls the whole land... I have no problem with Islam; they are always direct, and have been quite open about their demands. But where is *our* Temple Mount awareness? Why are many of our rabbis not raising this issue? ... When we made such an issue - and a video - about the destruction the Moslems were causing on the Mount, people said to me, 'Why do you care about sticks and stones? Soon the whole Temple will be rebuilt!' I feel that this is an arrogant stance. Don't we care about what is happening to G-d's Honor and G-d's Home?"
News of this nature is painful for some Jews. "To hear a Moslem leader talk about 'Temple Mount awareness' is like a dagger to my heart," says Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. "We are just around the corner from Tisha B'Av and the mourning period for the Temple, and we Jews love to mourn. But the Temple Mount is more than mourning, and it's more than just the Three Weeks; it's all year round. It's Har HaBayit [lit., mountain of the house], it's home. How can we forget that?"
Rabbi Richman told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson today that the Moslem efforts towards this holy site "substantiate what we've always known, that everything that's going on [the war, etc.] centers around the Temple Mount - our heart and soul. It's a cliche already, but everyone knows that whoever controls the Temple Mount controls the whole land... I have no problem with Islam; they are always direct, and have been quite open about their demands. But where is *our* Temple Mount awareness? Why are many of our rabbis not raising this issue? ... When we made such an issue - and a video - about the destruction the Moslems were causing on the Mount, people said to me, 'Why do you care about sticks and stones? Soon the whole Temple will be rebuilt!' I feel that this is an arrogant stance. Don't we care about what is happening to G-d's Honor and G-d's Home?"