Israel News for 8-2-17
Jews Visit Temple Mount
Over 1,000 Jews visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem yesterday on Tisha B’Av, the day of mourning over the destruction of the two holy Temples. According to an umbrella group of Temple organizations, a new daily record was set with 1,263 Jews visiting the holy site on Tuesday. This is the first time since the 1967 Six-Day War the number of Jewish visitors has surpassed 1,000. Thousands more were at the Western Wall.
Many rabbis consider visiting the Temple Mount to be a religious prohibition. Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, remarked that the visitors were “desecrating the site’s holiness. Particularly today, on Tisha B’AV, the day the Temple was destroyed, it is my obligation to once again mention visiting the Temple Mount is forbidden according to Halacha.”
For further reading click here.
Chief Rabbi Speaks
In an interview with Haredi newspaper Kikar Hashabbat on Tisha B’av (yesterday), Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi David Lau spoke out forcefully against the attacking or maligning of IDF soldiers by Haredi extremists.
He said, “The Ninth of Av is the day our Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The first Temple was destroyed because we distanced ourselves from the Creator of the world. The second Temple was destroyed because we distanced ourselves from each other, because of baseless hatred. Because we saw the humiliation of someone who came to a meal – scholars saw it and remained silent – and no one said a word.”
“Today we are trying to fix that. Certainly, we will not repeat the sins we did previously. We stand here, trying to increase love and friendship. All of these actions towards IDF soldiers, towards those who chose a different path than the ones who scream at them – no one has the right to scream at soldiers or to hurt them, their wives, their children, or their families. Such actions are severe and require all of us to stand and say together, ‘This is not the Torah’s way!’ We are permitted – we must – speak to each other, not yell at each other.”
For further reading click here.
Jerusalem of Old [Video]
This is a rare video of Jerusalem taken in 1918. In it you can see Jewish men and women praying at the Western Wall (kotel). You’ll notice that it is only a tiny fraction of the size of the wall that we know today. No, the wall didn’t get any bigger. It’s just that the houses that were built up against the length of of it were taken down after Israel liberated the area in 1967 and built an open plaza next to it to allow people to come and worship.
The Western Wall actually extends much further, through the Muslim quarter of the Old City, but it is currently only visible from an underground tunnel that you can visit and walk through.
The video also includes footage of the Old City, Rachel’s Tomb, Absolom’s Sepulcher and other interesting scenes.
To watch the video click here.
