INTERVIEW WITH HARAV HAGAON DOV LIOR
(Rabbi of Kiryat Arba)(This interview was broadcast on Arutz 7's Daily News on 10 Tevet 5753 and published in Yibane HaMikdash, issue 63)
After the announcer described our members' ascent on 10 Tevet, he telephoned Rav Lior and asked him if and where it is permissible for Jews to walk on the Temple Mount.
Rav Lior answered that it is very important these days to visit the Temple Mount, so that it not be abandoned in foreign hands, and that after proper immersing in a mikvah and removing shoes, it is permissible to visit the vast majority of the Temple Mount Area, which is the Levitic Camp, excluding the small area which is Divine Camp.
Rav Lior added: And in this place, after certain preparations of prayer and entering with a serious mind and without shoes, we enter with awe of the Holy in true seriousness. I think that it is important that Jews are present in such a holy place, and we hope for the days when Jews are officially allowed to pray there.
Interviewer: Even so, it has already been over 25 years since the Temple Mount was liberated. Why only now is Rav Lior promoting such activity?
Rav Lior: The truth is that this initiative started a while ago. Maybe it has now received more resonance, but this thing is not new and has been around for a while. Individuals always went up.
It is true, in fact, that we could not give it publicity, and that they would not allow everyone to go up, since there is an issue of preparation by immersing in a mikvah, and a large segment of the population is unaware of this, but I deal with yeshiva students and Torah scholars -- people who will accept the halachic rulings and go up with the restrictions and within the places permissible according to Jewish Law, as I said previously, and I think it is important to be present there.
Interviewer: In any case, there seems to be some type of a new thing in this activity. Today's halachic ascent, for example, was a massive compared to previous times.
Rav Lior: Yes, yes! There is a little more awakening. The awareness is spreading more and more, especially among the youth, and I am happy about this. I certainly acknowledge there is renewal, but in principal this started as soon as the place was liberated.
Interviewer: How does the Rav Lior explain the renewal and the awakening now?
Rav Lior: The renewal is little by little, and a new generation arose, which is more aware, and by media and lessons in these subjects, little by little the subject wins over people. It's obvious.
Interview: Is it only a matter of time, or did events occur?
Rav Lior: No, I think that it is a matter of time. With time, awareness is penetrating the community more and more, especially among the youth, so there is greater awakening. But in principal, as I said earlier, things really started immediately after the place was liberated.
Interviewer: This means that there was no event that occurred.
Rav Lior: No, I do not think there is an external event that caused this. I don't think so.
Interviewer: The Rabbi said in the beginning that the main focus of the activity is to enable Jews to pray there.
Rav Lior: Correct, at this stage.
Interviewer: "At this stage", meaning this is not the final goal, I understand.
Rav Lior: Certainly not! We hope that one day the place will return to the exclusive ownership of the Jewish People, and that we will merit the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash, but this is still, as they say, a vision for the future. At least one of the great rabbis, Rav Tukechinsky, in his book -- he has a book about the holy places in Israel, in three volumes, which was published already in his time, seventy years ago he already called for building a synagogue on the Temple Mount. Then, it was just a "voice calling in the desert". Jews could barely pray by the Western Wall in an area of 20 meters by 4 meters. Circumstances have changed today, and we should certainly be interested in realizing this calling.
Interviewer: Today is the fast of the Tenth of Tevet. Is the fast of the Tenth of Tevet relevant today as it was a couple hundred years ago?
Rav Lior: It is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago, since as long as the reasons for the destruction have not been fixed, it is still important. There are two types of fasts: fasts of repentance like Yom Kippur, and there are fasts mainly for mourning. The second type of fasts also have the idea of repentance in them, since these days which were established because of the destruction of the Temple, and we the Jewish People have to reawaken to fix the travesty. We know that the destruction as caused as a result of the sin of the spies. Our Rabbis said, "You cried an empty cry, and I will establish it for you [for a day of] crying for generations." Disgust for the Sought Land ("hame-isa shel eretz chemda"), which was essential the sin of the spies, whose debt was still being collected over 850 years later and again in the Second Temple -- all these points need to be fixed. As long as we do not merit the full redemption, we will certainly have to mourn and fix our actions for the future.
Interviewer: That was Rav Dov Lior, the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba.
Rav Lior: Thank you very much.
IN THE NEWS
Thanks to Devora of Mikdash Forum for contributing this. Here is a copy of an article which may be of interest to someone. It came out of the Feb. 2nd issue of Ha'aretz:
A Jewish right to the Temple Mount
By Nadav Shragai
Since 1967 when Moshe Dayan declared the status quo on the Temple Mount - known to Muslims as the al-Aqsa Mosque compound - certain activists have attempted to change it to allow Jews to pray at the ancient site they too consider holy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to change the situation, claim the lobbyists, but so far no moves are in evidence.The following scenario unfolded in the cabinet conference room over a year ago: Public Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani sat back in his chair, reporting satisfiedly to his colleagues that Ramadan prayers on the Temple Mount had ended peacefully. Kahalani boasted of the great achievement of the police, who "successfully fulfilled" their mission of protecting 300,000 Muslim worshipers. Suddenly he was interrupted by Communications Minister Limor Livnat. "Avigdor," she said, "explain something to me please - you're capable of providing security for the prayer of 300,000 Muslims, but you're incapable of providing security for one Jew on the Temple Mount?"
Kahalani, taken by surprise, was angry at Livnat: "Why are you attacking me? The police can do it, but the courts forbid Jews to pray on the Temple Mount." And Livnat responded, "the court only forbids it because for years the police have said they could not guarantee the safety of Jews praying on Temple Mount."
The discussion heated up. Kahalani denied such a claim was ever made by the police, and then Finance Minister Yaakov Ne'eman stepped in, saying, "of course the police said it, and more. I tell you this as a lawyer." Education Minister Yitzhak Levy added, "the court didn't invent the policy of preventing Jews from praying on the mount. The government determined this, and the government can change it if it pleases. The police are the government's messengers who consistently declare in court that it is dangerous to allow Jews to pray on the mount - dangerous for Jews and dangerous for 'public safety.'"
The hawkish ministers' concentrated attack surprised the unprepared Kahalani, causing him to err in response. Behind the planned ambush in the cabinet meeting were various activists of Jewish Temple Mount movements, including Noam Livnat, the minister's brother, who discussed the issue with his sister at length; his friends; Yisrael Meidad, a resident of Shiloh; and Yehuda Etzion, a former member of the "Jewish Underground," a right-wing extremist group.
Tourism Minister Moshe Katsav joined the group confronting Kahalani, saying that if it was true that the police were not capable of protecting Jews praying on the Temple Mount, he wants to hold a government discussion on the matter. Netanyahu agreed and ended the meeting with a promise: "There will be a discussion - if not in the government, then in the cabinet."
No such discussion was ever held. Ami Ayalon, the chief of the Shin Bet internal security service, along with the top brass in the police, worked behind the scenes to prevent it. Faithful to Moshe Dayan's 1967 status quo arrangement, the security officials maintained that no Jewish rituals should be allowed on the Temple Mount - aiming to erect an iron wall between the diplomatic-national-political side of the Israeli-Arab conflict and its religious side. Jewish rituals on the Temple Mount, Dayan believed, could spark a religious war and rouse the whole Islamic world against Israel. Based on this assessment, police and attorney general representatives warned the courts over the years of disorder and public danger from Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. The High Court of Justice supported the status quo, supported by most Halachic authorities, who say that Jews are not allowed to enter the Temple Mount in our generation.
The cabinet discussion followed a series of meetings between leaders of Temple Mount movements and eight ministers: Livnat, Yuli Edelstein, Tzachi Hanegbi, Rafael Eitan, Ne'eman, Katsav, Natan Sharansky and Silvan Shalom. Noam Livnat and his associates also met with Netanyahu's senior advisor, David Bar-Illan, who told the group, "Netanyahu is about to discuss the issue," so they would be wise to "back off." Bar-Illan did not disguise his sympathy for their cause. "The situation is indeed paradoxical and calls for change," he said, adding sarcastically, "maybe it would be better to return the British Mandate to the Temple Mount - the British didn't forbid Jews to mumble their prayers there."
The ministers were shown a letter written to Etzion by Netanyahu when he was still head of the opposition, saying that the issue of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount had to be settled. The ministers were also told that the prime minister had an unwritten understanding with MK Hanan Porat (National Religious Party), according to which the possibility of realizing the right of Jews to pray on Temple Mount would be discussed in his government once it was established.
Some radical Temple Mount activists were among the lobbyists who met with the ministers. Etzion spent seven years in prison because of his plan in the 1980s to blow up the Dome of the Rock, located on the Temple Mount. Noam Livnat, a member of the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva, has planned to smuggle pieces of an altar into the Temple Mount area to assemble it inside and burn a Passover sacrifice on it.
The two, along with their more moderate friends, have already concluded that the status quo can only be changed through lobbying. Etzion, for example, has given up - at least temporarily - on his idea of removing the mosques from the third-holiest site in Islam, lowering his demands to a minimum: allowing a single Jew (as opposed to a minyan of 10 worshipers), to pray "silently" on the Temple Mount.
If the Temple Mount lobbyists decide to put the total veto to test in the courts yet again - and this under consideration - they will probably note that Muslims have made changes in the 1967 status quo. The clearest example of this was, of course, the renovation of the mosque in Solomon's Stables, the third mosque on the site and the first to be added in 1,200 years. The ministers who met with the lobbyists studied the list of changes carried out since 1967 by Muslims on the mount, but promised nothing.
The lobbyists found another potential direction for activity in the form of two High Court rulings dealing with Jewish prayer on the mount. The High Court of Justice will have to decide if these provide a basis for reopening discussion of the sweeping ban. The first ruling, from the mid-1970s, said that "any Jew has the basic and legal right of access to the Temple Mount, where he is allowed to pray, but not in a demonstrative manner that will disrupt public order and create a conflagration in this holy site." The three justices at the time rejected the petition of Horlof Cohen, who asked the court to order the state not to interrupt his prayer. They ruled that the sensitivity of the police was caused by his demonstrative appearance.
Another ruling quoting Horlof Cohen's petition was handed down in the Kach movement's 1993 petition to the High Court of Justice. Justice Eliezer Goldberg wrote similar things regarding the difference between demonstrative prayer and the silent prayer of single worshipers.
Legally, the argument is whether silent prayer falls under "freedom of access," in which case the Temple Mount lobbyists have a chance of winning, or whether it falls under "freedom of ritual," in which case the state is expected to win. Until this dispute is put to the test of the High Court of Justice, the status quo on the Temple Mount will not change.
Arutz Sheva News Service Sunday, Jan. 3, 1999 / Tevet 15, 5759
ARABS ATTACK YESHIVAT BEIT OROT; NO INJURIES
A mob of Arabs, having just completed their prayers at the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, attacked Yeshivat Beit Orot in eastern Jerusalem with stones this past Friday. The incident began when the Yeshiva's security officer noticed dozens of cars with Palestinian license plates parked illegally in the yeshiva's fenced-off private parking lot. He assembled an emergency squad of yeshiva students in preparation for all eventualities. When the Arabs arrived for their cars, they began to attack the Yeshiva with stones, and approached within 30 meters of the yeshiva building. The security officer called the police, but during the thirty minutes it took for the Border Guard to arrive, he was forced to shoot in the air several times in order to keep the mob at bay. Many of the Arab cars parked illegally in the yeshiva parking lot had their windows smashed by the rocks they themselves threw - although they then accused the yeshiva students of damaging the cars. The Arabs indicated a particular student as the perpetrator of the damage; he was detained by police and questioned, and was released after ten minutes.From IMRA
[Please note: I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this report]
Muslim cleric's office location spurs controversy Jewish zealots may be allowed to pray on the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque if the Mufti of Jerusalem sets up there
Tuesday, February 16, 1999
MATTHEW KALMAN
Special to The Globe and Mail
Jerusalem -- Israel is considering allowing Jewish zealots to pray on the Temple Mount, the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine.
The possible change is in response to a plan by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheik Ikirmah Sabri, to move his office into the Temple Mount compound, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that his government has appealed to the United States to stop the Mufti from moving into the new office. He said that any such move would mark a violation of agreements by the Palestinian Authority not to intervene in Jerusalem.
"This is none of Israel's business," Sheik Sabri said in an interview yesterday.
"Israel has no right to interfere in the religious affairs of the Muslims. The Israelis are actually seeking to kick me out of Jerusalem as head of the Supreme Islamic Council. I have the right to move into the offices of the council."
Israeli security officials said last week that they viewed Sheik Sabri's "provocative" initiative with grave concern. "This is a serious violation of the status quo on the Temple Mount, which has been in effect since 1967," a senior Israeli security official said in an interview.
"If [Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat's Mufti moves in, then there is no reason why Israel should not allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount," the official said. "The Palestinian Authority is actually playing into the hands of Jewish groups, who have long been demanding the right to enter the Temple Mount and conduct prayer services. Sheik Sabri is now politicizing the religious site."
Attempts in the past by Jewish groups to pray on the site have triggered serious riots. The worst was in 1992, when 20 Muslim worshippers were shot and killed by Israeli police after followers of the Temple Mount Faithful announced that they would renew their efforts to pray near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's holiest site after Mecca and Medina, both in Saudi Arabia.
According to Jewish tradition, the mosque is built on the site of Judaism's holiest shrine, the Temple of Solomon, which was destroyed by the Romans in the first century.
Every year, the Israeli High Court turns down petitions by the Temple Mount Faithful and other groups demanding that they be allowed to enter. Jewish prayers are restricted to the Western Wall, which is part of the outer retaining wall of the site in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Israeli security officials believe that allowing Jewish fundamentalists to pray on the Temple Mount would have severe consequences, not only locally but also in the entire region. Israel's worst nightmare is that any provocation to Muslim sensibilities on the Temple Mount would drag Israel into a confrontation with the whole Muslim world.
When Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967, it allowed the Jordanians to continue administering Haram al-Sharif through their ministry of religious affairs in Amman, which appointed all its officials, including the Mufti.
In 1988, Jordan's King Hussein announced that he no longer had any claim to the West Bank, except for the holy sites. In 1994, shortly after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Arafat launched a campaign to reduce Jordanian influence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and appointed his own religious authority.
This was the first challenge to King Hussein's authority over the Muslim sites in East Jerusalem. The Israelis, by contrast, were opposed to any role for the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem, and did not want to reduce the King's influence.
Sheik Sabri denied reports that Jordan was also angry about the move, viewing it as an attempt by the Authority to take advantage of the death of King Hussein.
"This move has been co-ordinated with our Jordanian brothers, and they have approved it," he said. "This is not a political issue at all. Israel is trying to drive a wedge between us and our brothers in Amman. The Israeli government is searching for an excuse so it can allow the Jews to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This will never happen."
Arutz Sheva News Service Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 / Adar 2, 5759
The Toronto Globe and Mail reported yesterday that Israel is
considering allowing Jewish "zealots" to pray on the Temple Mount. The
possible change is in response to a plan by the Moslem Waqf to change
the status quo there and move the office of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
to the Mount, the site of the First and Second Temple. Yehuda Etzion, a
leader of the Temple Mount Loyalists, told Arutz-7 today, "We have been
working for such an announcement for a long time. It is too bad that it
may be the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who may bring it about."
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