Let us pray on Temple Mount

Op-ed: Time has come to end the discrimination, allow Jews to pray at Jerusalem holy site

Ed. The day the Jerusalem was conquered  the ecstatic Israeli paratroopers ran to the Western Wall (Kotel) instead of celebrating on Temple Mount,.

The Army that “Temple Mount is in our hands,” yet the Israelia and the diaspora eople forgot that while the Kotel is only a remanat, not of the Temple, but of a retaining wall for the artificial plateau where Herod built his version of the Temple.  In Roman times no one would have prayed there, even if they were not offended by the Temple itself as a creation of Herod, a Roman Quisling.

Over the centuries since the Romans destroyed the Temple, Roman, especially the Christians who ruled Rome after Constantine, banned us from the site.  Muslims were more tolerant, but built their own building on top of Herod’s platform,. Islam has NO prohibition against Jews prayer inside a mosque, much less on the nearby grounds.  The Quran itself does not mention the Temple Mount.

The oppressed Jews, living under Islamic or Christian overlords, clung to the Western Wall for lack of any other choice. So why aren’t today’s Jews allowed to pray in this ancient site that we (re) conquered?

OPED by Hagai Segal, Ynet.com (excerpts)

We now have a choice. The Romans are gone, the Turks left, the Brits were expelled and the Jordanians were defeated. There is no longer any genuine obstacle preventing us from connecting to the site of our Temple.

Rabbinical obstacle

All we have is a rabbinical obstacle. The Chief Rabbinate feared that the holy mount will turn into a mass vacation spot and immediately after the war banned entry to Temple Mount. The logic behind the ban was the same logic that in the past prompted haredi rabbis in the Diaspora to object to Zionism – grave concern that secular pioneers would desecrate the sanctity of the land.

With all due respect, this is a baseless ruling. There is no genuine Jewish Law reason to prevent Jews from entering most areas of Temple Mount. The fact is that important rabbis visit the Mount themselves. The problem is that Israeli governments chose the extremist rabbis’ ruling in this case. Usually, our leaders disregard the rabbis, yet in the case of Temple Mount they suddenly became strict followers. For 44 years now, police officers have been deployed at the entrance to Temple Mount; their mission is not only to prevent the construction of the Temple, but even mere Jewish prayer. Only Muslims are allowed to express their religious feelings there.

If you are a kippah-wearing Jew, the police officers will put you through a lengthy act of humiliation at the entrance to the Mount. Later they will keep a close eye on you to ensure you don’t mutter some Psalms. On the occasion of Jerusalem Day let’s all pray, outside the Mount for the time being, that this discrimination will end by the next Jerusalem Day.