Why the Temple Mount Belongs to Jews and Israel - Ronn Torossian

by Ronn Torossian




In Jerusalem, The Temple Mount is the historical location of the First and Second Temples, the holiest place in the world for Jews.  There have been disputes about the right of Jews to pray there – and it is absurd that anyone in the world can deny Jews the right of freedom of prayer in the State of Israel.

A week ago, American-born Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a leader of the movement encouraging Jews to pray at the Temple Mount, was shot by a Palestinian Arab assassin who objected to the idea of Jews praying on the Temple Mount.  The Palestinian Arabs continue to do all they can to deny Jews the right to live – and pray – in the Jewish State.  It is unacceptable – and Jews must have the right to pray at the Temple Mount. [Editor: It must be noted here that there are also reasons, according to Jewish law, that Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is limited.]

Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the Zionist prophet, once asked, “Is a situation moral in which one side can commit any crime or murder and the other is forbidden to react?”  There must be a price for attacks upon Jews in Israel at the holiest site in Judaism – and amongst that price must be increased rights of Jews to pray. As Ricki Hollander has said,

“Jewish reverence for the Temple Mount long predates the building of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque in the 7^th century CE, and even predates the construction of the first Jewish Temple by King Solomon almost 2000 years earlier.”

There are so many meaningful reasons and quotes about the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount:

*  “There is very telling Jewish teaching about the Temple Mount, and that is: whoever controls the Mount, controls the world.” Yisrael Medad

*  “[The Temple Mount] is the only place in the country where you feel you’re discriminated against because you’re Jewish.” Eli Duker

*  “I want equal rights for Jews on the Temple Mount. What Muslims do, I want to do too.” Arnon Segal

*  “There is only one meaning to giving up the Temple Mount: the end of the State of Israel.” Ronen Shoval

*  “Although other parts of the Temple Mount retaining wall remain standing, the Western Wall is especially dear, as it is the spot closest to the Holy of Holies, the central focus of the Temple.” Rabbi Shraga Simmons

*  “This compound was our Temple Mount. Here stood our Temple during ancient time, and it would be inconceivable for Jews not to be able freely to visit this holy place now that Jerusalem is under our rule.” Defense Minister Moshe Dayan

*  “Islamist exclusivity has debased the Temple Mount. It’s time to return this holy site to its original inclusivity and allow anyone who wants to pray there respectfully to do so. That is the meaning of Jewish sovereignty and human dignity.” Moshe Dann

*  “According to the Talmud, the world was created from the foundation stone of the Temple Mount. It’s believed to be the biblical Mount Moriah, the location where Abraham fulfilled God’s test to see if he would be willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.” Aaron Klein

*  “But you cannot be a Zionist if you are prepared to yield the place that provides us with the moral, historic and religious right to this land – the Temple Mount.” Ronen Shoval

*  “It is the supposed site of Mt. Moriah, where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, where the prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended into heaven, and was the location of the first and second temples, Judaism’s most holy structures.” Jason Reuter

*  “Every Jew that goes to the Temple Mount puts another stone in the building of the Temple, and is making another step to fulfill Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount.” Moshe Feiglin

*  “Three times a day, for thousands of years, Jewish prayers from around the world have been directed toward the Temple Mount. Kabbalistic tradition says that all prayers from around the world ascend to this spot, from where they then ascend to heaven.” Rabbi Shraga Simmons

*  “We were not trying to demonstrate that it’s exclusively ours, or that we want the Muslims off, only that it’s a significant, if not the most significant Jewish site, archaeologically, historically, and religiously. This is the heart of it all.” Elli Fischer

*  “To compare the Temple Mount to Mount Olympus is to bring everything into focus.” Dr. Israel Eldad

*  “It is the Jewish root – the deepest roots that any people has. Elsewhere, we grope for insight.” Rabbi Shraga Simmons

*  “The Temple Mount has remained a focal point for Jewish services for thousands of years. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Temple have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition.” Aaron Klein

*  “Jewish religious interest in the Mount is not monolithic, and includes those who merely want to visit a site of great Jewish importance, those who believe Jews should be allowed to pray there, those who believe Temple rituals, like sacrifice, should be renewed immediately, and those who support the construction of a Third Temple in place of the Islamic shrines of the Noble Sanctuary.” Matti Friedman

*  “Since Jews ascend it would not enter my mind to stop them from holding prayers services there.” Itzhak Nissim

*  “Despite the conventional wisdom that the Jewish people were banished from this holy site, the evidence suggests that Jews continued to maintain a strong connection to and frequently even a presence on the Temple Mount for the next two thousand years.” F.M. Loewenberg

As Yisrael Medad of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center has noted,

“Although the Temple Mount is important to both groups, only under Jewish rule have both religions been given access to the Temple Mount. Therefore, it must remain under Israeli rule.”

All of Jerusalem – including The Temple Mount – belongs to Israel.


Ronn Torossian is one of America’s most prolific and respected public relations experts.

Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/ronn-torossian/why-the-temple-mount-belongs-to-jews-and-israel/

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