| Jews urged to
emphasize Temple Mount WorldNetDaily
Dov Lior, the top rabbi in Israel, is calling on Jews to place a
greater emphasis on the Temple Mount and the Jewish laws.
Lior, who heads the Council of Yesha Rabbis, said during a rabbinical
conference sponsored by the Ariel Institute and the Chief Rabbinate
that ascending the Temple Mount while adhering to the Torah laws
governing such a visit can "save us from our enemies."
Rabbi Shar Yashuv Cohen, chief rabbi of Haifa and a member of the
Chief Rabbinate Rabbinical Council said the ban on Jews and other
non-Muslims ascending the Temple Mount no longer exists although the
Chief Rabbinate has yet to officially "endorse" such visits.
Police yesterday detained five Jews after they attempted to pray on
the Temple Mount. Currently, non-Muslims are permitted to visit the
site but are forbidden to pray. Israeli police enforce the ban imposed
by the Islamic Waqf Authority, despite the site being holy to the
Jewish people, the location of the First and Second Temples.
Last August, Israeli police clashed with Muslims on the Temple Mount
in Jerusalem after the compound was reopened to Christians and Jews.
Police kicked and beat some protesters with batons while Arab children
threw stones at the officers.
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, who appoints the Muslim
clergy responsible for day-to-day administration of the site, ordered
the site closed to non-Muslim visitors when riots erupted between
police and Muslim worshippers a day after Ariel Sharon, now the
Israeli prime minister, visited in September 2000 – a visit Arafat
used to rationalize the current terrorist uprising, or intifada, that
has resulted in more than 5,000 casualties.
Last summer, the Israeli government announced it would reopen the
complex to Jewish and Christian visitors for two hours every morning.
The Waqf, or Muslim council, objected, complaining it was not
consulted.
The compound is known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount,
having been the site of two biblical Jewish temples. To Muslims it is
the Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary. Within the complex is the
Dome of the Rock, or Al Aqsa mosque.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36808
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