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Temple Mount, Temple Mount

On the southern face are the Hulda Gates the triple gate (which has three arches) and the double gate (which has two arches, and is partly obscured by a Crusader building); these were the entrance and exit (respectively) to the Temple Mount from Ophel (the oldest part of Jerusalem), and the main access to the Mount for ordinary Jews. In the western face, near the southern corner, is the Barclay's Gate only half visible due to a building on the northern side. Also in the western face, hidden by later construction but visible via the recent Western Wall Tunnels, and only rediscovered by Warren, is Warren's Gate; the function of these western gates is obscure, but many Jews view Warren's Gate as particularly holy, due to its location due west of the Dome of the Rock (traditional belief considers the Dome of the Rock to have earlier been the location at which the Holy of Holies was placed).

The Western Wall is holy due to its proximity to the location on the Temple Mount of the Holy of Holies of the Temple, the Most Holy Place in Judaism. Due to Jewish religious restrictions on entering the most sacred areas of the Temple Mount, the Western Wall has become, for practical purposes, the holiest generally accessible site for Jews to pray. Many Jews often leave written prayers addressed to God in the cracks of the wall.

These rabbis include: Mordechai Eliyahu, former Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel; Zalman Baruch Melamed, rosh yeshiva of the Beit El yeshiva; Eliezer Waldenberg, former rabbinical judge in the Rabbinical Supreme Court of the State of Israel; Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Chief Rabbi of Palestine Mikdash-Build (Vol. I, No. 26) ; Avigdor Nebenzahl, Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem. All Haredi rabbis, including Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky Rav Yerachmiel Kram, Thoughts on the 28th of Iyar - Yom Yerushalayim and Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, are also of the opinion that the Mount is off limits to Jews and non-Jews alike. Their opinions against entering the Temple Mount are based of the danger of entering the hallowed area of the Temple courtyard and the impossibility of fulfilling the ritual requirement of cleansing oneself with the ashes of a red heifer ().

In May 2007, a group of right-wing Religious Zionist rabbis entered the Temple Mount.

These include cleansing following seminal emissions and menstrual discharges. Although laws relating to ritual impurity through male seminal emissions, which were a significant aspect of the laws of ritual purity in Talmudic times, have gradually disappeared from Orthodox Judaism since the Middle Ages, they still apply in full force to contemporary Orthodox Jewish law concerning ascending the Temple Mount. Following a seminal emission, even one resulting from marital intercourse, Orthodox men immerse in a mikvah (ritual bath) for ritual cleansing prior to ascending the Mount. Women likewise do not ascend during the period of niddah (during and immediately after menstruation) and, following receiving a seminal emission (intercourse), and immerse in a mikvah to attain ritual purity prior to ascending.

Many Muslims see Mashad (in Iran) as being more holy to Islam as well. Martin Asser, Eyewitness: Inside al-Aqsa Status of Jerusalem The primary reason for the Temple Mount's importance, however, is because both Kings David and Solomon are regarded as Prophets, and the Temple is (mentioned in Qur'an 17:7, and described in much more detail in the noncanonical Qisas al-Anbiya ) as one of the earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of God. (The Kaaba's sanctity has a similar basis in the Islamic tradition that it was built, or rebuilt, by Abraham.) In fact, Muslims faced the Temple Mount during prayer until Muhammad was later commanded to change the direction of prayer toward the Kaaba. Thus Muslims no longer pray towards the Temple Mount, but face towards Mecca. In addition to this, the "farthest Mosque" ( al-masjid al-Aqsa ) in verse (17:1) of the Qur'an is traditionally interpreted by Muslims as referring to the site at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on which the mosque of that name now stands. References to Jerusalem and events there have been made mostly in various states of ambiguity, in the Quran, and many times in the Hadith.

Armstrong, which was best known for its radio and television programs called The World Tomorrow featuring his son Garner Ted Armstrong. Rohan had read an editorial in the June 1967 edition by Herbert W. Armstrong, concerning rebuilding of the Temple on Temple Mount. The article implied that the present structures would have to be removed and then when a new Temple had been built a series of events would take place resulting in the return of Jesus as the Messiah. This interpretation of prophetic events is now common within Fundamentalist Christianity, but was almost exclusive to the Worldwide Church of God at that time.

Muslims allege that the Israelis are deliberately damaging the remains of Islamic-era buildings found in their excavations. Al-Ahram: "Revoking the death warrant" Since the Waqf is granted almost full autonomy on the Islamic holy sites, Israeli archaeologists have been prevented from inspecting the area; they have, however, conducted several excavations around the Temple Mount.

More recently, Prof. Oleg Grabar of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University has replaced Leon Pressouyre as the UNESCO envoy to investigate the Israeli allegations that antiquities are being destroyed by the Waqf on the Temple Mount.

The excavation and removal of earth with minimal archaeological supervision became an issue of controversy, with some scholars such as Jon Seligman, Hershel Shanks and Eilat Mazar claiming that valuable history material is being destroyed and others, such as Dan Bahat and Meir Ben-Dov, disputing this assessment. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) inspected the material and declared it of no archaeological value, but a group called the Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount campaigned against this position and in September 2004 obtained a temporary injunction against the IAA and the Muslim Waqf preventing them from removing the material which still lies in mounds on the site. Both sides accuse the other of having political motivation.

The scheme is likely to cost 200,000. The plans are for a seven-sided tower after the seven-pointed Hashemite star and at 42 metres (130 ft), it would be 3.5 metres (11 ft) taller than the next-largest minaret. The minaret will be constructed on the eastern wall of the Temple Mount near the Golden Gate.

During February 2007 the Israel Antiquities Authority started work on the construction of a new pedestrian pathway to the Temple Mount. The existing wooden structure was built as a temporary measure after a landslide in 2005 made the earthen ramp leading to the Mugrabi Gate unsafe and in danger of collapse.

As a security measure to prevent Intifada-related riots from destroying the site, however, the Israeli government has agreed to enforce a ban on non-Muslim prayer on the site. Non-Muslims who are observed praying on the site are subject to expulsion by the police. Nadav Shragai, Three Jews expelled from Temple Mount for praying.

Source: Wikipedia > Temple Mount