March 26, 2018 -- Recent Developments around the Temple Mount

There have been a couple recent developments surrounding the Temple Mount.  The first is the recent court case that will allow three 14 year old Jewish girls to pray just outside the mount near the various gates.  This decision was in part the response to the three youths who were arrested for praying near the Forgiveness Gate.  The arrest went to trial, but was overturned.  The other development involves a group of Jews who will be allowed to sacrifice a Passover Lamb near the base of the Temple Mount at its southwest corner in the area known as the Jerusalem Archaeological Park.  For the past ten years, the Passover sacrifice has taken place, but only in recent years has it happened so close to the Temple Mount.  In 2015, the event took place about two miles west of the mount in Kiryat Moshe.  In 2016, the sacrifice took place on the Mount of Olives east of the Temple.  In 2017, it was held in the plaza of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City some 400 yards from the mount.  This year it will be closer than it has ever been in the last ten years.  According to Jewish tradition, the sacrifice should take place on the Temple Mount. 

The practice of a Passover sacrifice as close as possible to the location of the Temple has been low profile for years.  However, those who advocate the practice have recently gained support from the Jerusalem’s Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern, rabbis Yaakov Meidan and Uri Sherki, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, founder of the Temple Institute, and even some rabbis that are not without controversies such as Dov Lior, Shmuel Eliyahu.