Weekly Commentary: Time To Share Temple Mount Courtyard?
Dr. Aaron Lerner 4 August, 2017
Let's be clear about it:
#1. The al Aqsa Mosque isn't "in danger" - there is absolutely NO Jewish interest in praying inside that mosque.
#2. The Dome of the Rock isn't "in danger" - as the location of the Holy of Holies when the First and Second Temple were at the site, there is not a single Jewish authority in the WORLD who says that it is possible for Jews to engage in prayer inside the Dome of the Rock.
#3. The area on the Temple Mount where Jews can engage in prayer (according to those rabbis who hold that prayer is permitted somewhere on the Temple
Mount) is the open courtyard area.
#4. Moslems do NOT remove their shoes when they are in the courtyard area.
So here is the question: If Israel were to give expression to the above facts by establishing arrangements for Jewish prayer in the courtyard area what would ultimately happen?
The instant answer no doubt, from certain "experts" , is that such a move would bring a catastrophe, with the entire Moslem world joining together to destroy the Jewish State. These same "experts" though have a record of consistently erring in their predictions of catastrophic reactions to Israeli initiatives they oppose.
But, then again, is it possible that once we demonstrate through action what we actually have in mind, that the Moslem world will recognize that al Aqsa isn't in danger?
The situation in Hebron is certainly more dramatic. We not only share Maarat Hamachpelah with the Moslems, there are days during the year that the entire facility is used exclusively by Jews (and an equal number of days
when it is exclusively used by Moslems). Granted that Hebron isn't
Jerusalem, but the Moslems aren't claiming, in the wake of these arrangements, that the "Ibrahim Mosque is in danger".
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