Jews Have Worshiped and Visited the Temple Mount for Nearly 2500 Years

 

Jews Have Worshiped and Visited the Temple Mount for Nearly 2500 Years

I came across an interesting video.  I wish to share it with you.  It is an interview between Adam Scott Bellos and Rabbi Yehuda Levi who is the Director of Outreach for Yeshiva Har HaBayit.  They discussed the importance of ascending the Temple Mount and the almost “2500 year unbroken chain of connection [of] worship and visiting of the Temple Mount by Jewish people.” The video of the interview can be seen here.  Rabbi Yehuda had written an Opinion piece for Daily Wire titled “Temple Mount Is Judaism’s Holiest Site, And It Always Has Been.  Here’s Everything You Need to Know."  In this interview, Rabbi Yehuda discusses this history.  When Adam Scott asks the Rabbi to summarize Judaism, his response is in large part “Love your fellow man as yourself” (22:41 min).     

"I know that the LORD has given you the land."

 

“I know that the Lord has given you the land.”^[1] The historical context for the above saying is from the Book of Joshua, where Rahab speaks to the two spies sent to Jericho to investigate the land just before the conquest in the 13^th century BCE.  When I read from Joshua today, I imagined what it would be like for Palestinians to say, “I know the LORD had given you the land of the Haram Al-Sharif.”  This view was once held by the Supreme Moslem Council in A Brief Guide to AL-HARAM AL-SHARIF, dated 1924.  It states,

Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute.  This, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which “David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.[2]

In recent years, some Palestinians have denied any connection between the site and Solomon’s Temple.  I found this out firsthand from conversations with Palestinians when I visited Jerusalem, Israel in May 2017.  However, in a recent report, a new book entitled, The Noble Sanctuary Book, is claiming the historical connection.  The work is by the Jordanian photographer Bashar Tabbah and the scholar Dr. Robert Schick; the book is a photographic and historical exploration of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Al-Haram Al-Sharif.[3]  According to Arnon Segel, “Despite the Arab tendency to deny the Jewish past of the mountain, it is interesting that this book actually mentions the existence of the two Jewish temples there.”[4]

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^[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Jos 2:9.

[2] A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al-Sharif Jerusalem (Franciscan Printing Press: Jerusalem, 1925), 4.  * #

[3] Saeb Rawashdeh, “Jordanian Photographer Launches Photobook of Noble Sanctuary,” The Jordan Times.  March 4, 2023.  Online Source: Uploaded June 14, 2023.* 

[4] Arnon Segel, “A Book Financed by Jordan Confirms: There Were Temples on the Temple Mount,” Makor Rishon, June 5, 2023. Translated. Online Source: Uploaded June 13, 2023. *

TIME TO FAVOR ZION

 

Psalm 102:14

 אַתָּ֣ה תָ֭קוּם תְּרַחֵ֣ם צִיּ֑וֹן כִּי־עֵ֥ת לְ֝חֶֽנְנָ֗הּ כִּי־בָ֥א מוֹעֵֽ^[1]

You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to favor it;

the appointed time has come. ^[2]

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^[1] Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia: With Werkgroep Informatica, Vrije Universiteit Morphology; Bible. O.T. Hebrew. Werkgroep Informatica, Vrije Universiteit. (Logos Bible Software, 2006), Ps 102:14.

^[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 102:13.

Temple Mount Opens for Jewish Visitors

 The Temple Mount opened earlier this week for Jewish visitors.  This comes after weeks of conflict on the mount, which is not unusual during holy days.  Interest in allowing Jews to visit the Temple Mount has been identified by a recent report.  Although the Temple Mount clashes have been reported to endanger Prime Minister Bennett’s coalition, according to the Times of Israel, half of Jewish Israelis support not only Jewish visiting the mount, but also buttress the freedom of allowing Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

I am reminded of the saying, “may Zion’s vindication shine like the morning dawn and her victory burn like a torch.” May the river of mercy flow from generation to generation; on her banks may there be the tree of life, which bears fruit every month and her leaves be for the healing of the nations (Ezk 47:1-12). 

    A group of religious Jews walk past the Dome of the Rock during their visit to the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary), in the Old City of Jerusalem on April 20, 2022. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Temple and a Standard among the Nations

After the recent tensions on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, Jordanian officials expressed concern and desire to discuss the Status Quo with Israel.  However, the Israeli government is reported to have refused the request because of the incitement and violence on the mount. Hamas is to have warned of attacks on Jewish synagogues if Israel carries out another conflict at that location.  However, I think this ignores the riots and incitement on the Temple Mount and those who are behind and responsible for them.  I am mindful of the desolation of the mount and remember the promise of God’s mercy on behalf of his Holy Name (Ezk 39:7, 25, 27-29).  I see a sacred and immaculate heart that has spread from Israel throughout the earth with a torch that burns brightly as a standard that rose among the nations, which will triumph in the end.

People gather around the Dome of the Rock, in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City October 28, 2021 (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD) 

Update on the Temple Mount

This year the Jewish Pascha and Christian Triduum in the Catholic Church began the same week.  On April 16, 2022 the Vigil of Easter and the Jewish Passover coincided as the moon arose as a Full Moon in the constellation of Virgo.  Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter this weekend (April 22-24).  It is also the Muslim holiday of Ramadan (April 1-May 1, 2022). 

In Jerusalem, there were tensions surrounding the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa.  A Jewish movement called “Back to the Temple Mount” called for and attempted to sacrifice a Passover Lamb on the mount on the Passover Eve.  Four residences from the West Bank in their 20’s were arrested for planning to sacrifice Lamb on the Temple Mount.

Throughout the past week there were heighten tensions between Palestinians and the Israeli police on the Temple Mount.  For an update and pictures, click here for details. 

Temple Mount group offers NIS 10,000 for Pascal lamb sacrifice.

(photo credit: ARNON SEGAL)

Clay Seal Impressions Discovered from First Temple Period

 

Clay seal impressions were found near the Temple Mount dating as far back as the First Temple Period in 8^th century BCE.  They were discovered from excavations at the Ophel Park near the mount and the sifting of Temple Mount soil.

Tiny clay seals reveal First Temple royal treasuries in Jerusalem, researchers say | The Times of Israel