We need to publicize the idea that Jewish control of Israel’s holiest site, the Temple Mount (the Har HaBayit) on which stood the Beit HaMikdash, is a precondition of uncontested Jewish control of an undivided Jerusalem and the vivid restoration of Jewish national honor as well as the sanctification of God’s Name.  Once Jews maintain unequivocal control of the Temple Mount, a serious movement can be initiated among Christian in the United States to move the American embassy to Jerusalem – which would produce a salutary shock wave across the world.

The Temple Mount and history-washing

Conversely, so long as the Muslim Authority (the Waqf) controls and desecrates the Temple Mount, the nations will despise Israel and kowtow to the Arab-Islamic world.  Muslim desecration of the Temple Mount not only exposes Jewish weakness, but increases Muslim arrogance and incites Islamic violence everywhere.

Jewish spiritual revival of the Temple Mount would not only be the pinnacle of a Jewish restoration of Jerusalem; it would also inflict a lethal blow on the ambitions of Muslims, who regard Jerusalem is the key to their global ambitions.

The Waqf has long been violating the Law of Antiquities and the Law of Planning. The Muslims are erasing all historical evidence of Jewish presence on the Temple Mount.  The Netanyahu Government knows this and has cravenly said they have no intention of interfering.

Of course, exclusive Jewish control of the Temple Mount is inseparable to Israel’s control of Judea and Samaria.  (See below.)

To show that the Temple Mount is the key to the world-historical function of the Jewish people prescribed in the Tanach, I shall now quote various passages from Joshua Berman’s book, The Temple.

The Temple Mount and Jewish history

Tourists stand on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in a relatively calmer era. Photo: CNAV, April 2011.

The Temple, he writes, represents “the spiritual center of the country.  Here, at the site where God’s presence is most manifest, the representatives of the Jewish people execute commandments and rites that symbolize the service of the nation as a whole.”

It should also be noted that any non-Jew, so long as he adheres to the Seven Noahide Laws of Universal Morality, can bring certain “sacrifices” to the Temple, which acknowledges God’s sovereignty over mankind.

The Temple – “a house for God’s Name” – symbolizes “a public declaration of God’s sovereignty. The ambition of declaring God’s sovereignty in the world, which was initiated by Abraham, is the calling of the Jewish people.”

Berman goes on to say:  “God’s acclaim in the world is a direct function of how Israel is perceived [by the nations].”  Israel must become a great country.  “A great country should possess political stability at home and should be at peace with its neighbors.  It should possess a strong economy and should be home to a culture that boasts strong [moral and intellectual] virtues.”  Israel did not become such a nation until the reign of King David, and it was left to his son Solomon to build the (first) Temple.  All nations then flocked to Jerusalem, which was recognized not only as the City of Peace but the City of Truth.

“The function of the Temple as a symbol for God’s acclaim in the world reaches its apex with the visit of the queen of Sheba to Solomon’s court” – Solomon, the wisest of kings.  Ponder, therefore, these verses of Isaiah 2:1-3:  “And many nations will go and cry, ‘Let us go up the to mountain of God’s house, to the house of the Lord of Jacob, and we will learn from His ways and walk in His paths, for out of Zion goes forth the Torah and the word of God from Jerusalem.’”

Now let us consider Rabbi Chaim Richman’s essay, “A Third Jewish Temple” (May 18, 2000), where he says: “People assume those who are interested in the Temple are radical elements opposed to peace.”  Alluding to the era of King Solomon, Rabbi Richman points out that the Temple Mount represents “the hallmark of the greatest era known to man…. This place has been sanctified by God from the beginning of time…. Here Jacob laid his head. Here Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac…. Of the 613 commandments in the Torah, 113 of them depend on the existence of a Jewish Temple. We have not received a cancellation order for any of the commandments issued at Mount Sinai.”

Public opinion must therefore be educated about the Temple, about its significance in Judaism.  Obviously, the Netanyahu Government, steeped in timidity and intellectual stagnation, will not do this.  This Government doesn’t really represent the Jewish people.  At least 25% of Israel’s Jewish population is religious, and at least 50% is traditional. The Jewish people were not consulted when, Netanyahu, without Knesset or public discussion, endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s heartland.   There is no reason to believe, therefore, that this orator with a golden tongue and clay feet will stand firm on the issue of Jerusalem and the Har HaBayit.

Hence, a Jerusalem Movement involving a network of cells across the nation should be initiated by Jewish youth and venerable rabbis. Their proclaimed purpose is to preserve the integrity of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount now being sullied by Muslims. Weekly demonstrations will be necessary. Eminent speakers should be called upon to denounce Netanyahu’s policy of moral equivalence regarding Jewish and Muslim claims to the Holy Land – an insult to Jewish intelligence, as well as to countless Christians who are grateful for Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem, knowing that by this alone will they be welcomed in the Holy City.☼

Related link:

The Temple Mount organization.