Jewish prayer has returned to the Temple Mount - exclusive

Senior Wakf official: Any change would spark strong response from Arabs and Muslims.

Jewish activists: Final goal is to rebuild the Temple.


By Jeremy Sharon
December 12, 2019 22:13
Jewish prayer has returned to the Temple Mount - exclusive - Jerusalem Post


Jewish worshipers are able to pray on the Temple Mount with what appears to be the tacit consent of police forces at the site, The Jerusalem Post observed during a visit there on Thursday.

Despite the insistence by Israel Police that there has been no change in the decades-old policy, Jews now pray – in full view of the police – in an unobtrusive and inconspicuous manner.

A senior Wakf Department official said he was unaware of any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount, but warned that any change would lead to renewed protests and spark a strong response from Arabs and Muslims.

Led by Rabbi Eliyahu Weber and joyfully singing "Let us go up to the Temple," a quorum of 10 Jewish men ascended the Temple Mount on Thursday morning at the beginning of non-Muslim visiting hours at 7:00 a.m. This reporter joined the group as it toured the compound....



...A kohen, a member of the priestly line, gave the blessing to the worshipers that is part of the daily morning service.
The prayers were recited in full view and the immediate proximity of the police officers escorting the group around the Temple Mount, and they afforded the worshipers the time they needed to complete their prayers.

The prayers were said in a deliberately unobtrusive manner without the genuflection that is usually performed in the Amidah prayer, and with Weber leaning against a stone step to avoid drawing attention.

Weber said that he and his fellow worshipers deliberately conduct their prayers in a manner that is "not extroverted" or to "antagonize people," and the police do not intervene when they do it in this way. If we would do this in the face of the Wakf officials, it would not be accepted, but that is not our goal."

The service – a truncated version of the full morning prayer service – was conducted in a very discreet manner, but the worshipers were nevertheless clearly participating in a discernible Jewish prayer service....


...Weber and other worshipers pray the morning service every day, and the afternoon service is also recited.

In the past, the police would routinely eject or detain any non-Muslim seen to be praying in any way at the holy site, and this stance was mostly backed by the courts, which ruled that although in theory Jewish prayer was legal on the Temple Mount, the police were entitled to prevent it due to security considerations....



...Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount used to be treated with the utmost suspicion by the police, while "Murabitat" activists who were paid to shout and harass Jewish visitors made going to the site an extremely unpleasant experience.

Jewish Temple Mount activists have credited current Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan with making the conditions at the site far more amenable and welcoming for Jewish visitors. The number of visits by Jews has increased dramatically as a result, from around 10,000 in 2015 to 29,000 in 2019.

"Our ascent to the Temple Mount makes known God's name in the World,"
said Weber, who is styled the dean of the Temple Mount Yeshiva.

Weber goes up to the Mount practically every day to recite the morning service with a minyan, and says he has done so for many months.

"The essence of our presence on the Temple Mount shows that this place belongs to the Jewish people," said Weber. "If we don't come, [it appears] that it doesn't interest us. The Temple Mount is ours, and we need to know the importance of being there."

Weber said that ultimately he wishes to be able to pray in a more orderly and complete fashion, with the correct prostrations required for prayer at the Temple Mount, and with the use of prayer shawls and tefillin, all of which is not possible at present.

The final goal, however, is to rebuild the Temple.

"The ultimate goal is to be able to offer sacrifices in the Temple,"
Weber says simply. "We are not really dealing with that right now because there are many stages to this."

There is religious controversy regarding Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, let alone when it comes to work aimed at rebuilding the Temple. The influential Torah scholar Maimonides taught that the Temple would be built by Messiah. Other scholars believe that the Temple will descend from the heavens in the messianic era while the modern right-wing flank has called for Jews to build the Temple now and usher in the Messiah.

Weber continued, "We are dealing more with restoring prayer to the site in an orderly fashion. I would love for it to be tomorrow, but offering sacrifices sounds to be a bit more distant."...