Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., January 02, 2010 Tevet 16, 5770 | | Israel Time: 09:03 (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
Man walking outside Jerusalem's Old City Wall on Friday.
(AP)
Share |
Last update - 09:13 30/11/2009
If the Vilna Gaon was right, the 3rd Temple is on its way
By Nir Hasson
Tags: Israel News, 3rd Temple

If the 18th-century rabbinic authority the Vilna Gaon was right, on March 16, 2010, construction will begin on the third Temple. His projection states that the auspicious day will coincide with the third completion of the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter.

The great day is at hand: On March 15, the reconstructed Hurva Synagogue, considered the most important house of prayer in Jerusalem will be rededicated. It was last destroyed in the War of Independence.

However, during the reconstruction process, the Hurva has become a bone of contention between ultra-Orthodox and other Jerusalemites.
Advertisement
The conflict is over what kind of institution the Hurva will be. A group of secular and national-religious Jerusalemites say that if the state does not act quickly, the Hurva will become another ultra-Orthodox synagogue, where women and tourists are unwelcome.

"The government has invested millions in the restoration of the synagogue. It is a place of special value to tourists. The Jewish Quarter has dozens of synagogues and it doesn't need another one," said Tehila Nahlon, an activist.

The debate reflects wider issues of identity facing the Jewish Quarter, which has become increasingly ultra-Orthodox in recent years.

City councilwoman Rachel Azariya said, "The Hurva must not become just another synagogue, and the Jewish Quarter just another Haredi neighborhood."

The Hurva, whose name means "ruin," was initially built by disciples of Rabbi Judah Hahasid in the early 18th century. It was destroyed shortly thereafter by Muslims demanding the return of loans given to build the synagogue. After it was rebuilt in the mid-19th century, it became the most important synagogue in the country, but it was blown up in 1948 by the Jordan Legion a few days before the fall of the Jewish Quarter in the War of Independence.

In 2001, after years of debate, the government decided to restore the building.

The historic building, whose famous dome one more dominates the skyline of the Jewish Quarter, has now been meticulously recreated, including furnishings and wall frescoes.

However, secular and Zionist Orthodox Jerusalemites are concerned that two developments could lead to the synagogue becoming ultra-Orthodox.

The first was the appointment of a rabbi for the synagogue - which happened about three years ago, when it was still a concrete shell - Rehovot's chief rabbi Simcha Hacohen Kook, who is considered close to the ultra-Orthodox non-Hassidic leader Rabbi Yosef Elyashiv. He was chosen by a panel of rabbis, with the blessing of Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar.

"A government company built the synagogue. There are procedures for how people are chosen. They made this choice to prevent the appointment of a Zionist Orthodox rabbi," said Anat Mufkadi, a member of the group concerned about the synagogue. Rabbi Elyashiv reportedly told Haredi journalist Shlomo Kook, the synagogue rabbi's nephew, that the expedited appointment was intended to "stop up gaps," comments understood to mean keeping a Zionist Orthodox rabbi from getting the post.

The CEO of the Jewish Quarter Development Company, which built the syangogue, Nissim Arazi, who said he was surprised by the rabbi's appointment, refused to attend his investiture ceremony three years ago. "It's not clear to me why a rabbi is necessary when there isn't even a synagogue and we don't know who the congregation will be," he told Haaretz a few days ago. However, Arazi said he believes Kook is a worthy candidate.

The second development is that Arazi is soon to be replaced, along with five out of the eight board members of the Jewish Quarter Development Company. By law, the new board members are to be chosen by Housing Minister Ariel Atias, a Shas member. The cabinet has also given the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, a government body headed by the Western Wall rabbi, Shmuel Rabinovich, a say in the choice of the new board members. Under Rabinovich's tenure, some have said the Western Wall area has become more ultra-Orthodox.

The activists say the reconstructed synagogue should present the historical saga of the Jewish Quarter, display archaeological finds unearthed there, and be fully accessible to tourists, men and women together. The group wants to prevent a round-the-clock kollel (yeshiva for married men) from opening there, which would preclude any other activity.

However, for the ultra-Orthodox, the matter is unequivocal: "The question is whether this will be a synagogue and a house of study, or a display of all sorts of foolishness," the Jewish Quarter's rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl said on an ultra-Orthodox Web site.

The journalist, Kook, said: "My uncle is close to all communities, he is not a classic Haredi or a fanatic. He doesn't expect the site to become a Haredi synagogue with 50 prayers a day. He understands that it's a different synagogue. But it's important to him that it be more a synagogue than a museum."
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Disobeying IDF orders
IDF troops killed 3 wanted Palestinians despite orders to capture them alive
Sabbath in Gaza
Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews in Gaza as show of support for Palestinians
  1.   I was married in the Churva Synigoge before it was rebuilt... 07:00  |  Jew 30/11/09
  2.   I`ve Looked Into People Who Say They Are Prophets... 08:54  |  Yosemite 30/11/09
  3.   The 3rd Temple 09:09  |  Irene 30/11/09
  4.   Leave it unfinished 10:17  |  sh 30/11/09
  5.   Are they going to bring back animal sacrifice as well? 15:01  |  Michael 30/11/09
  6.   3rd Temple 17:13  |  Brian.J.Deveau 30/11/09
  7.   Third Temple 18:36  |  zvuv 30/11/09
  8.   # 5 Michael - spot on ! 21:51  |  David 30/11/09
  9.   How wonderful if the Hurva Synagogue was the 3rd Temple 22:05  |  Reid 30/11/09
  10.   The Hurva 03:37  |  David 01/12/09
  11.   the third Temple is on its way, indeed 04:02  |  Begona 01/12/09
  12.   temple 04:15  |  G.L. 01/12/09
  13.   It`s not THE temple 04:30  |  Rick 01/12/09
  14.   Animal sacrifices 04:31  |  Rick 01/12/09
  15.   Vilna Gaon line is absurd on its face 13:50  |  Nachum Lamm 01/12/09
  16.   #2 The Prophet 20:23  |  Ger 01/12/09
  17.   #9 - High Priest 23:01  |  Paul 01/12/09
  18.   The Third Temple 06:23  |  Moshe 02/12/09
  19.   the Temple 06:23  |  Huegelsberger Joachi 03/12/09
  20.   Dear Mosche, what is 3rd temple 13:37  |  Michelle 03/12/09
  21.   IGNORANTUS IGNORANTA IGNORANTUM 15:52  |  Natan 03/12/09
  22.   3rd temple 16:03  |  George Mazurak 03/12/09
  23.   The 3rd Temple 18:18  |  David 03/12/09
  24.   Really! Why the fighting? 18:30  |  Steve 03/12/09
  25.   Third Temple 02:26  |  Robin 05/12/09
  26.   The Christians built the 3rd temple... The Muslims a 4th 17:54  |  CJ 05/12/09
  27.   I thought this article was about the 3rd temple 05:12  |  Mike M 06/12/09
  28.   Israel Doesn`t need a Chief Rabbi much less a Rabbi of the Hurva 07:29  |  B`galil 06/12/09
  29.   3rd Temple Built beside Dome of the Rock 00:21  |  Steve 12/12/09
  30.   Nat`l monuments 02:54  |  Sherlock Holmes 13/12/09
  31.   Reply to #15 GRA and Jerusalem 03:00  |  Motic 13/12/09
  32.   Reply to #5 Third Temple 03:05  |  Joseph 13/12/09
  33.   Reply to #26 3rd and 4th 03:14  |  Avi 13/12/09
  34.   Reply to #17 03:21  |  Yossi 13/12/09
  35.   Reply to #28 03:27  |  Danny 13/12/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
100% Pure Dead Sea Salt
Lowest price in the U.S.A. for genuine Dead Sea Salts
Award-Winning 'Obsession'
Watch 'Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West' Online FOR FREE!
Unrwa
Peace Starts Here
More Headlines
08:39 Israel strikes Gaza targets after Grad rocket attack
08:03 Abbas considers scaling back security ties with Israel
07:32 Danish police foil attempt to kill Prophet Mohammed cartoonist
01:28 Palestinian Authority: No word from Israel on peace summit
23:03 Mubarak to Netanyahu: Accept Hamas' demands for Shalit deal
18:26 Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Sabbath in Gaza
23:19 Orders were to capture militants alive - so why were they killed?
09:30 You decide: Who was your Person of the Decade?
22:11 TV ROUND-UP: Mubarak to PM: Take Shalit deal; Yeshiva students appeal to High Court
20:22 Kindertransport refugee knighted by Queen Elizabeth
18:07 Mousavi says Iran in 'serious crisis,' ready to die for reform
08:51 Comment / Settlers can stay, but only as citizens of Palestine
22:45 Suspected murderers of 7-year-old boy: We had nothing to do with it
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