Religious Zionist rabbis: Ascend the Temple Mount
Rival leaders united Sunday at a right-wing conference advocating Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount.
By Yair Ettinger Tags: Zionism Israel news Temple MountTop 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.
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."
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Golden Dome. Israel had two temples destroyed, it wants the Dome and all traces of Muslimism removed permenently. How this will happen, I do not know. But I do know, that as a rallying point for the world's nearly 1 1/2 billion Muslims, this will create an uprising, the resultant tidal wave of which will sweep over the Middle East, and Israel in particular, crushing everything in its path for the next 100 years. Even Moshe Dayan, in victory over the Arabs in the 6 day war, refused to destroy the Golden Dome at the "suggestion" of the current, then chief Rabbi. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.
To tramp on the holiest of holy was considered punishable by death in "the good old times".
It's not the right time, Moshiach will make that impossible dream possible and all it will do in the meantime is park a premature wwIII
R. Elyashiv may be a great Torah scholar, but very few outside the Jerusalem circle of non-chassidishe charedim consider him to be the 'posek hador' (in fact, most would say that the concept of a singular posek hador as spurious at best). And your distinction between a posek hador and baki hador is yet another silly charedi construct. Thankfully, the Dati/Torani community is blessed with many great rebbeim, poskim and bekiim (R. Yaakov Ariel, R. Dov Lior, R, Nachum Rabinovich, R. Aharon Lichtenstein, to name just a few). As in many other areas of halacha, there is disagreement re: the permissibility to ascend the Har HaBayit. Follow your legitimate rav/posek and let others follow their legitimate rebbeim/poskim.
Of the pro-ascending Rabbis, Nachum Rabinovits is probably the best known in the wider Jewish world. He was a top disciple of the gaon Reb Yakov Ruderman and the mentor of a generation of British rabbis including Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. However, there is a difference between a 'baki' or scholar and a 'posek' or Halachic decisor. Rabbi Ruderman was the 'baki hador' or generation's Talmudic scholar, while Reb Moshe Feinstein was the 'posek hador' or generation's authority in Jewish Law. Rabbi Rabinovits may be a top scholar, but the posek hador is Rav Elyashiv, who following on from the Rambam, Chofetz Chaim, Rav Kook, Rav Shapira and others, strongly opposes ascending the Temple Mount.
Ezra the Scribe, were Zionists too. They rebuild the Temple in a land repopulated with hostile nations.
Really sorry for normal people'll suffer from the banch of extremists. All these rabbis and MK's diggs their own graves. Unfortunately they diggs the graves for good people too. Jewish people'll not survive after new catastrophe produced by Arie Eldad, Michael Ben Ari and zionists rabbis.
Its nice to read some rational sentiment. We both hope for the same thing. The interesting and provocative questions is what happens if the Moslems built over the real location of the ancient temple. What then would you expect of an enlightened Moslem peoples?
The only reason the Temple Mount & Jerusalem is of any importance to muslims is because the sanctity of the site to Jews threatens their reasoning for wanting to expel Jews from the Holy Land. Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran. The proof of Judaism's ties to Israel are visible all over Jerusalem and date thousands of years before there Mohammed ever existed. All the mosques in the world can't erase this fact. The site belongs to Jews and they should have every right to pray there without fear of violence as the muslims do.
offend the arab world ok. offend the non arab muslim world, pakistan, indonesia, turkey. offend eu. russia, diapora jews and the president and people of the usa. lieberman is a strong man, together with maldova him and the rabbis will conquer the muslim word, usa and eu and russia. it is written, as the wise rabbis.
In all honesty these Zionist Rabbis can't compare their authority to that of those who oppose ascending -- Maimonides, Chazon Ish, Chofetz Chaim, Rav Kook, Rav Shapira, Rav Elyashiv etc. I believe they are wrong and generating disunity.
I feel the Jewish high sentiments towards the Temple Mount, and I seriously hope that the real location ends up in Selwan like some excavations indicate, to avoid an eternal conflict and enemousity between 1/4 of the world population and the Jews, and I am afraid that numbers will win over a long period of time and Jews would eventually end up in a difficult position. Some serious consequences to the recommendation of the religious Zionist Ribbis are unavoidable. As a Christian Palstinian who respects the Jewish religious feelings, I seriously hope that a sharing deal with the Moslems to that location "if it happens to be the real location of the ancient Temple" be part of the Negotiated comprehensive peace, not unilaterly as suggested by the said Rabbis.