Dare to Dream of a Rebuilt Temple

February 1, 2010

On October 25, following rumors that a Jewish group was planning to ascend the Mount, a call was issued to “come and defend” it. Arab rioters gathered on the Mount and began throwing rocks at police. Fifteen were arrested, and 18 Palestinians and three police officers were injured.

In response to these incidents, our guest writer, Michael Freund, wrote the following article for The Jerusalem Post.

Something astonishing, even alarming, is taking place in the battle over the future of Jerusalem. Even as Palestinian rioters run amok on the Temple Mount, egged on by the radicals of the Islamic Movement, much of the anger and dismay in the Israeli and international press is being directed, ironically enough, at Jews who merely wish to visit the site. Mustering all the righteous indignation at their disposal, the media have been filled with all kinds of pejoratives to describe them, ranging from “extremist” to “fringe” to “ultra-right-wing,” as though a Jew's desire to exercise his basic, fundamental rights somehow constitutes an act of provocation.

Local pundits and commentators alike have also joined the fray, going to great lengths to justify the restrictions imposed by the police on Jews wishing to visit the Mount, even accusing the would-be pilgrims of seeking to trigger a firestorm of Islamic fury. It does not seem to bother them one whit that the policy in place today is entirely discriminatory in nature, as the followers of Muhammad are allowed to visit and pray where Solomon's Temple once stood, but not the followers of Moses.

Indeed, all the enlightened defenders of civil rights and the champions of equality before the law suddenly fall silent when capitulation to Muslim threats is given preference over respecting vital Jewish rights. And why not, you might be asking. After all, if it is just a bunch of kooks who want to ascend the Mount, why go to all this trouble on their behalf? Needless to say, this approach plays straight into the hands of our foes, whose ultimate goal is to wrestle the holy site away from us by denying its historical and spiritual connection with the Jewish people.

Centuries-old Aspiration Mocked

And what a sad and pitiful sight this is to behold. Before our very eyes, we are witnessing a concerted effort to delegitimize and even demonize our people's most cherished dream: the longing for the Temple.

The very aspiration that was born in the moments when Roman flames engulfed the Second Temple more than 1,900 years ago, and which was carried in Jewish hearts throughout centuries of exile, has now become an object of scorn, mockery, and ridicule. Make no mistake: This is nothing less than an unbridled assault on Judaism itself, and it is time for the derision and name-calling to stop.

Opine all you want about how to “solve” the Jerusalem issue, but don't belittle the place of the Temple in Jewish eschatology or belief. Like it or not, the longing for a rebuilt Temple is no less central to Judaism than the desire for peace or social justice. And dreaming of a time when the Temple will stand again is no more fanciful or fanatical than hoping for the day when poverty and hunger will be eliminated.

Prayers Deemed Extremist?

Just open any prayer book, and you will see what I mean. Every day, three times a day, Jews conclude the Amida prayer, which is central to our liturgy, with the following plea: “May it be Your will, O L-rd our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, that the Holy Temple be rebuilt, speedily in our days.” Does this mean that every Jew who prays daily is a wild-eyed extremist?

In the Musaf prayer recited on the festival of Succot [Feast of Tabernacles], we implored G-d to “be compassionate to us and to Your Temple with great mercy, and rebuild it soon and magnify its glory.” Is this utterance the province merely of the “ultra-right-wing”?

Jewish Rights Denied

The Temple and its sacrificial rites are a core component of our faith, and they play a central role in the Jewish vision of a better world. Vilifying those who uphold this belief is simply an act of small-minded intolerance and bigotry, and it has no place in the current debate. And denying Jews the right to visit the Temple Mount is no less objectionable, for it tramples upon the principal constitutional values which underpin our democracy.

As Thomas Jefferson pointed out some two centuries ago, “The most sacred of the duties of a government is to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.” That means that when Palestinian Arabs try to prevent Israeli Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, it is the responsibility of the powers that be to come to the defense of the latter, rather than to capitulate to the former.

So let's stop bad-mouthing those who want to visit or pray where our forefathers once stood. And let's bear in mind one very important rule: The real extremism is not to dream of a Temple, but to attempt to silence those who do.

This article was reprinted by permission fromThe Jerusalem Post.Michael Freund served as deputy director of Communications & Policy Planning in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office under Benjamin Netanyahu from 1996 to 1999. He is founder and chairman of Shavei Israel (www.shavei.org), which reaches out and assists “lost Jews” seeking to return to Zion.

Prayers

There are several other times the Jewish people pray concerning their desire for a restored Temple besides those cited in this article. Here are a few:

On Rosh Chodesh [new moon, beginning of each month]: “May You establish a new Altar in Zion, and may we bring up upon it the elevation-offering of the new moon…In the service of the Holy Temple may we all rejoice and in the songs of Your servant David that are heard in Your City, when they are recited before Your Altar…”

On many of the biblical feasts: “But because of our sins, we have been exiled from our land and sent far from our soil. We cannot ascend to appear and to prostrate ourselves before You, and to perform our obligations in the House of Your choice, in the great and holy House upon which Your Name was proclaimed, because of the hand that was dispatched against Your Sanctuary. May it be Your will, Hashem [literally, “the Name”],our God and the God of our forefathers, O merciful King, that You once more be compassionate upon us and upon Your Sanctuary in Your abundant mercy, and rebuild it soon and magnify its glory…”

At a burial: “May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified in the world which will be renewed, and where He will resuscitate the dead and raise them up to eternal life, and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and complete His Temple within it…”

—English translations from the Artscroll Ashkenaz Siddur

Temple Mount Troubles

Today’s troubles are different from years past, but trouble on this holy mount is not a new phenomena.

Several kings used Temple treasures inappropriately, sometimes to appease enemies (1 Kings 14–16, 18).
Queen Athaliah stole the Temple treasures and dedicated them to Baal (2 Chron. 24:7).
King Manasseh set up altars to foreign gods in the Temple courts (2 Kings 21:1–16).
In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple and took Temple vessels to Babylon.
In 167 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes erected an altar to Zeus in the Temple.
In AD 70, the Second Temple was destroyed, and in AD 130, Hadrian erected an altar to Jupiter on the Mount.
September 28, 2000—Ariel Sharon visited the Mount with 1,000 policemen, setting off the Second Intifada.
March 30, 2005—A foot-tall “Allah” was carved into the southern wall, incensing Jewish archaeologists.
October 10, 2006—During the Feast of Tabernacles, Knesset Member Uri Ariel visited the Mount, stating it was time for Jews to stop praying at the Western Wall and pray on the Mount in a proposed synagogue to be built near the mosque. The Islamic Movement called it tantamount to a call to war.
May 2007—Dozens of religious Zionist rabbis visited the Mount, sparking controversy among religious Jews who refrain from visiting it.