Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Jerusalem Post: Temple Mount relics saved from garbage

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Myshalom777 AT aol.com
  • To: jkilmon AT historian.net, josephlauer AT hotmail.com, ane AT listhost.uchicago.edu, anenews AT listhost.uchicago.edu, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org, biblical-studies AT eGroups.com
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Jerusalem Post: Temple Mount relics saved from garbage
  • Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 18:04:53 EDT


In a message dated 17/04/2005 17:59:14 GMT Daylight Time,
jkilmon AT historian.net writes:

This, for me, is one of those "I don't wanna hear it!" type of stories. Why

has the Israeli Government allowed this continued vandalism and destruction
of the Temple Mount? You can blow the hell out of Arafat's Ramallah
Headquarters some time back or bulldoze neighborhoods that protect
terrorists but not protect the very focal point for the Zionist movement in
the first place? Get the IDF in there and stop this destruction or move
back to Brooklyn.

Jack Kilmon
San Marcos, Texas






=======
Jack ... Although Moshe Dayan, a secular Jew, had an interest in archeology
and was charged with bringing Israeli sovereignty to the Temple Mount area,
there seemed to be other religious concerns weighing in which prevented full
Israeli control of crucial areas . The following is an extract from Moshe
Dayan's autobiography "Story of My Life" pages 390-391 :
" . . . their water and electricity had been cut off. I promised that both
would be restored within forty-eight hours. I then plunged directly into the
main issue. I said that the war was now over and we had to return to normal
life. I asked them to resume religious services in the mosque on the
following
Friday. I said I had no wish and no intention of continuing the practice
which the Jordanians had instituted of censoring Friday’s sermon before it
was
broadcast. Under Jordanian rule, Friday’s sermons, which were broadcast over
the radio, were subjected to strict censorship. I questioned in my own mind
whether such a practice was proper for a Moslem ruler, but a Jewish ruler
should certainly refrain from acting in the same fashion. I added my hope
that the
Moslem religious leaders would not take advantage of such freedom by
indulging in rabble-rousing sermons that would incite some of their
followers. If
they did, we would of course take appropriate action.
I said that Israeli troops would be removed from the site and stationed
outside the compound. The Israeli authorities were responsible for overall
security, but we would not interfere in the private affairs of the Moslems
responsible for their own sanctuaries. These were two Moslem places of
worship, and
they had the right to operate them themselves. My hosts no doubt knew that
on
the day we bad captured this site, I had given orders that the Israeli flag
be removed from the Spire of the Dome of the Rock where it had been hoisted.
We had no intention of controlling Moslem holy places or of interfering in
their religious life. The one thing we would introduce was freedom of Jewish
access to the compound of Haram esh­Sharif without limitation or payment
This
compound, as my hosts well knew, was our Temple Mount. Here stood our Temple
during ancient times, and it would be inconceivable for Jews not to be able
freely to visit this holy place now that Jerusalem was under our rule.
My hosts were not overjoyed at my final remarks, but they recognized that
they would be unable to change my decision. They would have wished the
entire
area, not just the mosques, to remain under their exclusive control, with
the
continued ban on Jews. But they also realized that Israeli troops had been
removed from the compound and that we had recognized their right to control
their own holy places.
A sticky problem cropped up on August 16. This date it coincided with the
commemorative mourning for the destruc­tion of the Temple. Rabbi Shlomo
Goren, the chief army chaplain, and several minyanim (religious quorums)
decided to pray on that day on the Temple Mount, namely, the Haram
esh-Sharif. They
brought with them a Torah (Scroll of the Law), an Ark of the Law and a
pulpit. I learned about the incident only later, when Maj. David Farhi, the
military government's liaison officer with the Arab leaders, failed to
prevent the
rabbi and those with him from praying there. The matter came up’ for
consideration by the government. Although, understandably, no minister
wished to take
a
formal position stating baldly that Jews were forbidden to pray on the
Temple Mount, it was decided to ‘maintain the current policy, which in fact
banned them from doing so. It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews
from
praying in what was now a mosque compound, matters would get out of hand and
lead to a religious clash. Rabbi Goren fought determinedly against the de
facto
ban, but he eventually accepted the verdict and tempers were calmed. As an
added precaution I told the chief of staff to order the chief army chaplain
chaplain to remove the branch office he had established in the building
which
adjoins the mosque compound. I was convinced that precisely because control
was now in. our hands, it was up to us to show broad tolerance, so rare an
attitude among the regimes of the preceding decades and centuries. We should
certainly respect the Temple Mount as an historic site our ancient past, but
we
should not disturb the Arabs who using it for what it was now —a place of
Moslem worship. "
===================
--Celal





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page