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Muslims Hang Pictures of Hamas Leader at Temple Mount
reprinted from
Elul 14, 5770, 24 August 2010
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
(Israelnationalnews.com) Jewish Temple Mount activists are demanding that Likud Knesset Members order the removal of huge posters of Muslim and Hamas anti-Israel leaders from the Temple Mount compound. The display violates the status quo on the holy site and is offensive to sensitivities of Jewish worshipers, said Our Temple Mount activists.
The posters includes pictures of Islamic Movement leader Raad Salah and Hamas leader Mohammed Abu Tir, the red-bearded politician whom Israel has banned from Jerusalem several times. Salah recently was convicted for assaulting and spitting on a policeman during a Temple Mount protest. He was sentenced to nine months in prison, but an appeals court reduced the time in jail to five months.
The Muslim Waqf, the Islamic trust that is the Muslim authority at the holy site, is "exploiting the days of [the Muslim holy month of] Ramadan to desecrate the Temple Mount while no one dares open his mouth," the Jewish activists charged.
Salah is former mayor of the Arab city of Umm el Fahm, located several miles east of Hadera and the Mediterranean Coast, and has been arrested several times for violent demonstrations at the Temple Mount.
He has expanded his activities to raise millions of dollars for the Hamas terrorist organization and has revealed a strategy to work for a global movement against Jewish association with the Temple Mount and to "expose the false claims of the Zionist discourse."
Salah repeatedly has declared in sermons that Jews have fabricated their connection with the Western Wall, which he claims is part of the Al Aksa mosque.
Three years ago, he repeated the medieval libel that Jews use children’s blood to bake bread. "We have never allowed ourselves to knead the bread that breaks the fast in the holy month of Ramadan with children's blood," he said. "Whoever wants a more thorough explanation, let him ask what used to happen to some children in Europe, whose blood was mixed in with the dough of the [Jewish] holy bread."
More recently, Salah joined IHH Turkish terror activists who clashed with Navy commandos on the Mavi Marmara ship on May 31 when it tired to continue on course to Hamas-controlled Gaza and break Israel’s sovereignty over the coastal waters. The ship was led to the Ashdod port, and Salah is waiting trial on his involvement in the flotilla clash and on-board incitement encouraging violence against the Navy soldiers.
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lslamic Movement Accuses Israel of Defiling Al-Aksa Mosque Area
reprinted from
Elul 13, 5770, 23 August 2010
by Maayana Miskin
The Islamic Movement-affiliated Al-Aksa Organization released its fourth annual report on the state of the mosque on Saturday. Like previous reports, the coverage of events in 2009 and 2010 included accusations regarding alleged Israeli attempts to damage the mosque, located on the Temple Mount, Judaism's most holy site, but there were new additions.
The report contained an unusually bizarre allegation this year. The writers accused Jewish organizations of deliberately defiling the Temple Mount, in part by hiring policemen who urinate in the area. It was unclear why the organization believed the Jerusalem Police were involved in a plot to defile the mount or how defiling their own most holy site would benefit Jews.
Other developments that worried the report writers included an increase in the number of rabbis who publicly allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, and court rulings supporting Jews' right to pray in the area.
The Al-Aksa Organization, as before, made allegations that Israeli archaeological digs and construction work near the Temple Mount endanger the mosque. It also reported with concern the presence of new synagogues in the area, which is located in the Old City of Jerusalem where many religious Jews make their home.
There is no Jewish edifice whatsoever on the Temple Mount, occupied by Jordan from 1948 to 1967 against international agreements and kept out of bounds for Jews. Control pf the Temple Mount was returned to the Arab Wakf by Israel right after Jerusalem was reunited under Israeli control in the 1967 Six Day War in order to show its peaceful intentions towards Muslims. Since then, Jews have limited access to the area, while the Muslim Wakf conducts unsupervised excavations and regular prayer services.
Al-Aksa Organization members accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of allowing Jewish "settlers" to pray on the Temple Mount, outside the Al-Aksa mosque. While the term "settlers" is sometimes used to refer to Jews living in Judea and Samaria, the organization appeared to be using the term to refer to all Jewish worshipers on the Temple Mount.
The group expressed concern over Netanyahu's success in getting the Palestinian Authority leadership to sit down for direct talks with no preconditions. That, coupled with Israel's success in fighting "resistance" - an Arab euphemism for terrorism - in Judea and Samaria, could give Israel an advantage, the writers worried.
The report ended with a call to action. It urged Muslims to "resistance" against Israel. It also called on "the Palestinian community in Al-Quds and the lands occupied in 1948" - that is, Jerusalem residents and Israeli Arabs - to join the fight.
The Al-Aksa Organization operates under the auspices of the Northern branch of the Islamic Movement, which in turn is a branch-off of the Muslim Brotherhood movement that spawned Hamas. The Islamic Movement, which refers to all of Israel as occupied territory, is allowed to operate openly in democratic Israel, and several of its leaders have been elected to Knesset.
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Giant Brazilian Temple Replica Panned as 'Mockery'
reprinted from
Av 28, 5770, 08 August 2010
by Hillel Fendel
(Israelnationalnews.com) Temple Institute in Jerusalem says plan by a controversial Brazilian Pentecostal church to build a mammoth $200 million Holy Temple replica is "self-aggrandizement."
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, headed by controversial Bishop Edir Macedo, has announced plans to build a giant replica of the First Temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is expected to cost $200 million, stand 55 meters (18 stories) high, and seat 10,000 people. Its plans also call for a parking lot for 1,000 cars, TV and radio studios, and classroom space for 1,300 pupils.
"It is going to be a knockout," Macedo has been quoted as saying. "It is going to be beautiful, beautiful, beautiful – the most beautiful of all. The outside will be exactly the same as that which was built in Jerusalem."
The Temple Institute in Jerusalem takes a different approach, calling it a "hubris-inspired act of self-aggrandizement… the equivalent of [yet another] destruction of the [Holy] Temple, even before it is [re-]built. This planned church is a mockery which stands in diametric opposition to everything that the Holy Temple of Jerusalem represents."
The Universal Church has already paid $8 million to import stones from Israel. The Guardian reports that the church will be modeled on King Solomon's Temple and will feature a replica Ark of the Covenant in the center of the sanctuary.
Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute writes, "We are witness today to the phenomenon of nations that seek to de-legitimize Israel's connection to Jerusalem. This planned mega-church represents the next logical step, the de-legitimization of the significance of Jerusalem altogether." Click to watch Rabbi Richman.
"The Bible teaches that the essence of Jerusalem is the presence of G-d," Rabbi Richman continues, quoting Isaiah's prophecy: "It will happen in the end of days, that the mountain of the Temple of the L-rd will be firmly established at the head of the mountains…and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go up and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the L-rd, to the Temple of the G-d of Jacob…for from Zion will the Torah come forth, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.'
"Bishop Macedo's planned mega-church," Rabbi Richman continued, "is a usurpation and abuse of the sacred space that is embodied by the Biblical concept and vision of the Holy Temple, and a gross expropriation of Judaism's most sacred values. The Divine Presence of G-d cannot be copycatted and cannot simply be usurped and transplanted elsewhere. This is nothing more than the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God's cynical and manipulative attempt to morph the Bible's universal message into its own self-serving agenda."
The Temple Institute, a non-profit educational and religious organization, is dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Its major focus is its efforts towards the beginning of the actual rebuilding of the Holy Temple.
In 1992, Bishop Macedo spent eleven days in jail on accusations of charlatanism. Last year, the Sao Paulo prosecution alleged that Macedo and other senior church clerics embezzled billions of donation dollars and used the money to buy property and cars. Macedo, a proponent of prosperity theology and owner of a $45 million private jet, has denied the charges.
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Comptroller Temple Mount Report Stays Behind Closed Doors
reprinted from
04/08/2010
by Rebecca Anna Stoil and Jonah Mendel
Schneller: It's no secret that many archeological findings are being destroyed.
A gag order is being maintained on a sensitive state comptroller's report believed to blast the lack of Israeli oversight on the Temple Mount, but most of the report is expected to be cleared for publication before the Knesset reconvenes in mid-October, The Jerusalem Post was told Tuesday.
The report, which discusses Israel's authority on the Temple Mount, including governmental oversight of excavations and construction on the site, is viewed as highly sensitive for diplomatic and security reasons, and the first Knesset debate on the report was held Tuesday behind closed doors.
The report probes, among other bodies, the performance of the Jerusalem Municipality, the Antiquities Authority, and the Israel Police in enforcing laws and regulations pertaining to the site, as well as the roles of the attorney-general and respective prime ministers in confronting and shaping policy in the face of the challenges posed by the site in recent years.
MKs who read the report described it as "all-encompassing" and "very serious", but noted that the report only concerns the performance of governmental bodies covered within the mandate of the State Comptroller's Office. The report does not examine the activities of non-governmental bodies, except regarding official bodies' responses to their actions.
"The report revealed many problems that cannot be accepted in a democratic state that tries to prevent – by law – the destruction of a cultural site that is significant, as a world cultural site and a Jewish one," said MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima), who heads the State Control Committee subcommittee on security, foreign affairs and international trade relations, which was tasked with reviewing the report.
"My subcommittee is dealing with two aspects: [firstly] the findings themselves, in order to ensure that in each situation the international and Israeli laws will be upheld without relation to the other issues concerning the site.
"The second aspect is what parts of the report will be presented to the public, balancing the principle of the right of the public to know and oversee and the other considerations in the report itself."
Schneller said that Tuesday's hearing was the first of many, and that ultimately most of the report will be published and presented to the Knesset.
"We will direct most of our effort to publishing most of the report as quickly as possible," he added. "It is not a secret that the Waqf is building on the Temple Mount, that works have been done, and that many archeological findings have been destroyed."
But Schneller noted that "those who are potentially responsible are the authorities on the site, which is, in essence, the government of Israel."
Almost two years ago, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss was asked by the State Control Committee to examine the enforcement of the Antiquities Law on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is dominated today by the al-Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
In 1981, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO declared the Old City, Jerusalem and its walls to be a world heritage site. In 1982, the Old City and its walls were declared an endangered site, and in 1999, Israel joined the UNESCO accords, making the preservation effort binding upon the Israeli government.
The most recent probes into preservation – or the lack thereof – on the site that is holy to both Islam and Judaism, were carried out under the auspices of UNESCO, following the organization's 2003 resolution "to prepare a comprehensive plan of action to safeguard the cultural heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem."
Five expert missions in the years 2005-2006 noted the impact of archeological excavations and deterioration of monuments, among other factors endangering the historic sites.
In 2007 a UNESCO technical mission was sent to examine the reconstruction work Israel was conducting on the Mughrabi ascent leading to the Temple Mount, which had collapsed after a snowstorm in 2004.
The ensuing report repudiated the Arab claims that the works would "destroy the last remains of the Mughrabi Quarter and remove the archaeological evidence of the Ayubid and Mamluk periods," but reprimanded Israel for conducting the works to fortify the ascent without conducting a consultation process "with all concerned parties, in particular the authorities of the Waqf and of Jordan."
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Most Recent Newsletter From Rabbi Chaim Richman Nisan 20, 5768 / April 25, 2008
Erev Shvi'i shel Pesach - Eve of the 7th Day
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The Light of Redemption
So much time and effort goes into preparing for the Passover seder. However, Passover doesn't end with the seder - it's only the beginning. But the next day, with the week-long festival before us, we cannot but help feeling somewhat let down. What is this feeling some complain of? Something of an anticlimax, perhaps; we are left hanging in the air. We've left Egypt; so what do we do now? In reality, these feelings are only natural, and actually fit in perfectly with the sublime teachings of our greatest sages regarding the spiritual configuration and challenges that have begun on the first night of Pesach. On that night, G-d delivered His people Israel "with an outstretched arm" (Ex. 6:6) exclusively of His own initiative, at the exact moment of their greatest need for redemption. The illumination of that direct, gratis Divine intervention was so powerful, so overwhelming, and yet so elusive - that it could not remain with the people. Israel walked out of Egypt by that Divine light, but in the morning it was gone... and now they would have to work hard, with self-motivated, slow spiritual progression - of their own initiative - in order to get that light back. This is one of the most important messages of Passover: In order for that light to shine for us, in order to make it real, we have to make it our own, by deserving it. Now, "and you shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Great Sabbath (i.e., Passover) seven complete weeks" (Lev. 23:15), and slowly regain that level of illumination. So too, the same powerful light washes over us each year on that night, as G-d in His mercy and love extends His arm once again, and grants us the opportunity to leave Egypt behind and begin a new Exodus towards true freedom. In the morning we awake as from a dream, with the notion that something profoundly important has happened. But as with a dream, it cannot last unless it can be made tangible, solid, and lasting.
This is one purpose of the omer count, which we have already begun. But what do we need to do in order to deserve that illumination? We had it as a gift outright on the first night of Passover, but what must we do to acquire it fairly, and make it our own?
The answer to this lies in an understanding of the nature of this Seventh day of Passover. Clearly, if Passover is the quintessential Jewish experience of emancipation and birth as a nation, then the culmination of this experience is Israel's crossing of the Sea of Reeds, which takes place on the Seventh day of the festival.
The experience of the splitting of the sea was an unparalleled showcase of spiritual power and clarity in the true knowledge of G-d. The people of Israel, great and small alike, were totally transfixed by this vision of the reality of G-d's power and providence, and the entire nation ascended to the highest level of prophecy, as our sages enigmatically express: "The entire people cried out, 'this is my G-d and I will extol Him,' (Ex. 15:2) for even the simple, ordinary handmaiden saw more at the splitting of the Sea of Reeds than even (the experienced and righteous prophet) Ezekial" (Mechilta).
But a closer examination of what took place at the sea reveals the complexity of Israel's struggle to free herself from the shackles of Egypt that still remained in her mind.
Our sages relate that upon reaching the sea and finding themselves pursued by the Egyptians, our forefathers were divided into four distinct groups. Each group expressed a different stance and opinion as to how to proceed with the situation at hand. One group, filled with hopelessness, said 'let us throw ourselves into the sea and drown.' Another said 'let's just go back to Egypt.' The next group said 'let us fight them.' And the last group said 'let us cry out.' Finally, Nachshon, prince of the tribe of Judah, jumped into the water and began walking until it reached his nostrils, and when he could walk no further, the sea split, and remained open for the entire nation to walk through.
Perhaps, on a deeper level of meaning, these opinions expressed their "take" on how to get on with fulfilling the Jewish people's mission, or, in modern day vernacular: What to do about the Jewish problem. Some said: We are simply up against too much in this world. It's pointless and we might as well just give up. Others said, let us try to placate the Egyptians, we'll apologize for leaving, and gladly serve them again, and we'll do anything to make them happy. Others said, we'll confront them militarily. Some felt that all we can do is cry.
In the end, Moses told them, each of you is wrong. G-d will handle all of this Himself: "Do not fear! Stand fast and see the salvation of Hashem that He will perform for you today, for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall not see them ever again! Hashem shall make war for you, and you shall remain silent" (Ex. 14:13-14).
To the group that wanted to jump into the sea - Moses said, "Stand fast."
To the group that wanted to return to Egypt - Moses said, "You shall not see them ever again."
To the group that wanted to wage war - Moses said, "Hashem shall make war for you."
To the group that wanted to cry - Moses said, "You shall remain silent."
So, it's not so easy for a slave to stop being a slave. Freedom from physical bondage is only the first step. What is the next step to true freedom - and to getting back the light?
In another of the astounding insights of our sages, it is related that the Sea of Reeds only split in the merit of the righteous Joseph, who withstood the temptation of his master's wife. The verse states "The sea saw and fled (Psalms 114:3), and the rabbis ask: What did the sea see, that caused it to 'flee,' to split and part its waters? It saw the coffin of Joseph" (Midrash Tehillim 114).
This teaching expresses a profound allegorical message. What is the connection between Joseph and the splitting of the sea that the great sages wish to emphasize? Why was "seeing" the coffin of Joseph - transported across the sea by Moses (Ex. 13:19) - enough to make the mighty Sea of Reeds "up and flee?"
Joseph is called tzaddik, righteous, because the Torah testifies (regarding his temptation with his master's wife), that Joseph was truly pure and able to control himself particularly in that area of human life, which is the true test and testimony of an individual's righteousness.
When a person endeavors to serve G-d by breaking and training his character traits in order to bring the entire spectrum of his personality into the realm of holiness for the service of G-d, he needs superhuman strength. To gain mastery and dominion over one's own human nature is to master the power of nature and to become elevated above it. And such a person is called a "tzaddik", one who is truly righteous. Thus we are taught that the Holy One, blessed be He, may make a decree, but a tzaddik - a truly righteous person - can nullify that decree. How is it that a righteous individual has the power to nullify G-d's will, His decrees? Precisely because such a person can change and even reverse his very nature for the honor of G-d. Thus in the inimitable style of Divine 'measure for measure,' G-d reverses His decrees as well in the merit of this person.
Thus "the sea saw and fled," the splitting of the sea was in the merit of Joseph. For the sea changed its very nature for the honor of the will of G-d. At the time of creation, G-d had originally declared "let the waters gather together... " (Gen. 1:9); the nature of water is to stand together in one place. But in the merit of Joseph, who changed his own nature, who gained mastery over his nature for the sake of the honor of G-d... and therefore earned the title of "righteous... " the sea changed its very nature as well, as if the sea reasoned to itself: If Joseph could change his nature for the Creator, then so can I.
It all comes together on the seventh day of Passover. The first day, and the overwhelming wash of the light of redemption, is inexorably bound up with the last day. The more we can change ourselves into the people that we have the potential to become, the more we are deserving of that light. After all, what was the purpose of the exodus in the first place? G-d states clearly, "I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of the land of Egypt, to be for you a G-d" (Lev. 22:33 and others).
If we will not have Him as a G-d, does He not wonder why He bothered to take us out? Passover is the call for Israel to be G-d's people, and being His people carries with it the responsibility of constant spiritual growth. It means never looking back towards Egypt.
This is part of the secret of the splitting of the sea, the secret of breaking the pattern of Egypt and getting back the light of Redemption. Coming to the sea, we must cross it, and not stand there vacillating, moaning, and recriminating. The highest level of prophecy and the fulfillment of our destiny awaits us - on the other side.
With blessings for Redemption, |
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Rabbi Chaim Richman
Director, International Department
The Temple Institute
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