Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., November 01, 2009 Cheshvan 14, 5770 | | Israel Time: 13:10 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 22:02 26/10/2009
Religious Zionist rabbis: Ascend the Temple Mount
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel news, Temple Mount 

Top religious Zionist leaders came together Sunday at a rightist conference advocating Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount.

It's hard to remember when was the last time Israel saw such a unity between its religious Zionist leaders. Political rivals such as MKs Uri Orbach and Michael Ben Ari sat side by side on the center stage; Moderate rabbis 'respectful of the government' like Rabbi Yuval Sherlo and Rabbi Yaakov Medan came together with 'rebellious Haredi nationalists' such as Rabbi Elyakim Levanon and Rabbi Dov Lior.

They all joined together to call upon the Jewish public to ascend the Temple Mount, despite the harsh criticism directed at them from the Haredi sector as well as from some national-religious rabbis.
Advertisement
Rabbi Medan, one of the heads of the moderate Yeshivat Har Etzion, told the conference participants that he recently met with a 'top defense official' and discussed the sparse presence of Jews in the Temple Mount.

"He spoke of the significance of Jews ascending the Temple Mount, and said that he already got us permits to ascend. 'Where are you?,' he asked. He sees this as an existential struggle, and believes we must recruit more people."

Despite the conference's political unity, many of the speeches carried an apologetic tone towards those opposing to the ascent of the Temple Mount because of Jewish law.

Some of the religious Zionist rabbis still oppose the ascent to the Temple Mount on the basis of Jewish law, a position similar to all the Haredi rabbis. Rabbi Shlomo Avinar, a religious Zionist Rabbi, published an article on Sunday in the newspaper Makor Rishon where he wrote "The Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook was no less idealistic, no less courageous, no less devoted, didn't have less intuition than all the 'bad seeds that set fire to fields'. He pushed the whole settler movement, and instructed not to touch the Temple Mount. He who says not to touch isn't necessarily weak, and the enthusiast isn't necessarily a hero."

Related articles:
  • After two weeks of quiet, violence flares again on Temple Mount
  • Share the Temple Mount
  • Israel Police battle Arab rioters on Temple Mount; PA official arrested
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Migrant workers row
    Interior Min. Yishai warns that migrant workers will bring diseases to Israel
    Letter to a killer
    A mother's forgiveness leaves her son's killer cold
      1.   Too early 20:08  |  Bandar Michaels 26/10/09
      2.   Poskim ? 20:54  |  Joe 26/10/09
      3.   very wise rabbis 01:54  |  michael 27/10/09
      4.   muslims are desecrating the Temple Mount with violence 02:05  |  Observer 27/10/09
      5.   Bandar Michaels 05:11  |  Brad 27/10/09
      6.   Temple Mount 05:12  |  Olga 27/10/09
      7.   Jews who came back from the Babylonian exile with Nechemiah and 05:23  |  abbaturk 27/10/09
      8.   Rabbi Dr. Nachum Rabinovits 16:31  |  Joseph 27/10/09
      9.   Silly Joseph (#7) 23:32  |  Moshe 27/10/09
      10.   Wait for Moshiach 00:34  |  Devin 28/10/09
      11.   One word: Excommunication 05:04  |  Honi 28/10/09
      12.   Israel cannot ascend the Temple Mount without destroying the - 01:33  |  Dennis MI V 01/11/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Date Local Jewish Singles
    Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    12:11 Netanyahu: I hope Palestinians 'get a grip' and renew peace talks
    11:26 PA dismisses Clinton praise for 'unprecedented' Israeli concessions
    10:49 America, stop sucking up to Israel
    12:42 Lieberman blames Assad for stalled Israel-Syria peace talks
    11:53 Ahmadinejad: Iran in position of power in nuclear talks
    12:14 Former IDF chiefs trade barbs over failures in Second Lebanon War
    11:52 All-Hebrew Web addresses to be available in 2010
    01:27 TV ROUND-UP: Clinton visits Israel; Israeli killed in Jordan bus crash
    10:36 U.S. likely to continue engaging Iran toward nuclear deal
    08:09 Ethiopians replace Bedouin as IDF trackers at Dimona nuclear site
    08:33 Netanyahu delays deportation of foreign workers with children
    10:44 EU court: No customs breaks for Israeli goods from settlements
    11:49 Tel Aviv schools drop exchange program with L.A. Jewish schools
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved