The Temple Institute: The Holy Temple: Temple and Temple Mount News

home

about

news

events

gallery

contact multimedia terms of use Newsletter Subscription membership members' login extras

Internet TV

Español

Mikdash Kids

Skip to: Most Recent Newsletter - Newsletter Archive - Updates Archive Events Archive - Newsletter Subscription



		News Update:

		Mass Protests Against US Pressure on Israel reprinted from Arutz 7 Iyar 26, 5769, 20 May 09 11:55 by Hillel Fendel An activists’ press conference will be held in New York on Wednesday, and a giant protest will be held in Jerusalem on Thursday, calling on the US to stop pressuring Israel to make dangerous concessions. The press conference is sponsored or supported by a wide array of Jewish organizations in the U.S. and Israel. It will be held at JFK Airport, Terminal 4, fourth floor, at 5 PM on Wednesday. The messages to be delivered include: The Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people for over 3,000 years and must not be negotiated away. No other nation has ever built a state within its borders, and from the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago and until 1948, no other nation ever claimed it as their land. The notion that the Land of Israel is "Palestinian" is an egregious mistake based on ignorance of history. All major Jewish organizations are called upon to reaffirm their commitment to the Biblical Heritage and the unbreakable bonds between the Jews and their land. A petition to this effect has been circulated. Speaking at the event will be Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem; Rabbi David Algaze of the NY-based World Committee for the Land of Israel; Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith, the Mayor of Itamar in the Shomron; and Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein. Jerusalem Protest In Jerusalem on Thursday, at the height of the celebrations marking the 42nd anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War, thousands are expected to gather to protest American pressure on Israel. Specifically, the protest will focus on U.S. President Barack Obama’s sharp demand, during Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit in Washington, for a "two-state solution" and an end to Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. The protest will be preceded by Jerusalem Day dancing at the Mashbir (females) and outside the Great Synagogue (males). At 6 PM, the participants will gather nearby at Paris Square, outside the Kings Hotel, and will then walk down Agron St. to the American Consulate for the event. Several grassroots nationalist organizations, such as Mateh Ma'amatz, Almagor, and others, have banded together to organize the rally. Though some felt that Jerusalem Day is not the time for a protest, the majority felt otherwise. Almagor’s Meir Indor explained, “The essence of this day is the preservation of the Land of Israel and Jerusalem for the Jewish People. We do not want to be like ostriches, burying our heads in the sand, by celebrating only the past and ignoring the dangers of the future. Obama’s plans are a threat and peril to our continued existence here.” The event will include the reading aloud, in various languages, including Arabic and Farsi (Persian), of an oath of allegiance to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. The public will call out, “I affirm” three times, and will then begin their march, with Israeli flags, to the Old City just a few hundred meters away. They will circumnavigate the Old City, culminating at the Western Wall.


		The little that remains on the Temple Mount reprinted from haaretz March 12, 2009 Adar 16, 5769 by Nadav Shragai For years, the Jerusalem District Police "benefited" from the fact that few Jews visited the Temple Mount, sparing the police this "headache." But now the situation is changing. The halakhic consensus that Jews are forbidden to ascend the mount has been broken. More and more rabbis are permitting Jews to visit, and more and more Jews are seeking to do so. The police have not come to terms with this new situation. They are confused and are confusing others, and have inverted the natural order of things on the mount, which is both the world's most sensitive site and the Jewish people's holiest site. Not much remains for Jews on the Temple Mount. The Temple is gone. Prayer is forbidden there. The mount's antiquities have been destroyed, and its mosques have become founts of religious and nationalist incitement against the State of Israel. The little the Israeli government has left to Jews on the mount, the minimum possible, is the right to visit their holiest site without feeling that they are being restricted and despised or doing someone an injustice. This natural right is enshrined in the Law for the Preservation of the Holy Places, which ostensibly permits freedom of access to members of all religions. But now that the halakhic rulings are changing, and theory is turning into practice, some people in the police - unofficially, of course - see this as tantamount to a threat to public safety and are making it as hard as possible for Jews to visit the mount, especially in groups. The long lines at the mount's entrance, even though the site is open to Jews only in the mornings (meaning during work hours) and is closed entirely on Fridays and Saturdays, attest to Jews' growing interest in the site. But the fact that someone is taking the trouble to organize and transport groups of Jews to the mount - from Ma'alot, Netanya, Hadera and every corner of the country - has distorted the police's judgment. The sight of thousands of Jews on the mount - Jews with a Jewish/religious outlook, as opposed to a secular/Israeli or touristic one - is unjustly perceived by the police as a threat, as something that disturbs the peace on the mount, as a situation that must be prevented. This is particularly true regarding the ultra-Orthodox and religious Zionist communities, which naturally have a national, religious, historic and cultural interest in the mount. It is unacceptable for Jews to wait in line for hours at the site's entrance, for the police to limit their entry to small groups, for them to bar each new group from entering until the preceding one has left, and for policemen and Waqf personnel to treat all Jews who look religious as potential suspects, to search their belongings and assign them an escort for as long as they remain on the mount. Something very fundamental is wrong with the thought process of those responsible for the mount at the Israel Police. The issue of freedom of access to the Temple Mount - for everyone, and especially for Jews - is not an act of grace. Jews' freedom of access to their holiest site cannot be just one interest among many that the police must balance, or part of a carrot-and-stick style of negotiations with the Waqf, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. This freedom is axiomatic. That is what the government decided, and that is what the law says. The police must internalize this and make it clear to all the interested Muslim parties that such visits are natural for us, just as praying in the mount's mosques is natural for them. It seems doubtful that the welcome increase in the number of Jews seeking to visit the mount really threatens public safety. But even if it did, the police should crack down on those making the threats, not those being threatened. If the Jerusalem police's field units do not understand this, someone higher up needs to explain it to them. Jewish provocateurs should be barred from the mount, and they are. But to treat every one of the thousands of Jews who seek to ascend the mount as a provocateur - and, even worse, to give them the feeling they are visiting our holiest site by grace of a foreign government, after having already been deprived of their natural right to pray there - defies common sense and attests to a serious loss of direction.


		Limited Temple Mount Access to Muslims on Friday reprinted from Arutz 7 Reported: 22:55 PM - Feb/26/09 Police announced on Thursday night that there will be limited access to Muslims on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday. The restrictions follow what the police call "concrete intelligence" that some of the Muslims intend to protest demolition orders issued for nearby Silwan.


		Thousands Dance and Pray around Old Temple Gates reprinted from Arutz 7 Shevat 30, 5769, 24 February 09 04:59 by IsraelNN Staff Thousands of men and women encircle the old Temple gates every evening prior to the new month and recite Psalms. From the time of the capture of the old city of Jerusalem by the Jordanian army during the war of Independence, until the holy city’s liberation in 1967, Jews were forbidden even from entering the old city. The celebration is not only in honor of the new month but also is in the hope that we will soon see the rebuilt Beit HaMikdash on the Temple Mount.

Most Recent Newsletter From Rabbi Chaim Richman Nisan 20, 5768 / April 25, 2008
Erev Shvi'i shel Pesach - Eve of the 7th Day

Newsletter Archive

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,

Rabbi Chaim Richman
Director, International Department
The Temple Institute

The Temple Institute website is an ongoing project of the International Department of the Temple Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.

Web site contents, including all text and images, copyright ©1991-2009, Rabbi Chaim Richman & The Temple Institute.
Reproduction in any form whatsoever, for any purpose, is strictly forbidden without written permission of the copyright holder.