Ediblog.com
Israel, Build the Temple Now!
By Ariel Natan Pasko
The State of Israel - the Jewish state - should start rebuilding the Beit
HaMikdash - the Temple destroyed by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago -
right now. There it's been said!
Now that we've broken through the psychological barrier, we can begin to
discuss openly and calmly, what until now was forbidden to say, or even
think...
Maybe it's the excitement of Hanukah coming up. Remember, the holiday that
celebrates the victory of light over darkness and the few over the many?
Hanukah, where the Jews recaptured their homeland from the Greek
imperialists, liberated Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, and reinstated the
service there.
Maybe it's over exuberance from the recent holiday period just past; reading
regularly in my prayer book about the "Avodah" in days of yore,
i.e. service in the Holy Temple, including sacrifices, burning incense,
singing and Levite bands playing harps, flutes, cymbals, trumpets and
countless other musical instruments. Maybe it's the descriptions of weeklong
"holy" parties, including juggling with fiery torches, dancing and
musical processions.
Maybe it's a romantic notion of an ancient nation - Israel - celebrating
with its G-D, but I realize that the Jewish People are missing something
these days. Judaism is incomplete today. Jewish national life in the Land of
Israel is lacking. Israel needs to build the Third Temple right now!
And yet in contrast to all that, the latest "peace initiative"
being promoted by former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin and former
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called, "The Geneva
Initiative - a model for a permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement,"
calls for the Temple Mount to be given to the Palestinians permanently, with
the help of the rest of the world.
According to "The Geneva Initiative" Article 6 - Jerusalem
Section 5. al-Haram al-Sharif-Temple Mount (Compound)
(a) International Group
An International Group, composed of the IVG [Implementation and Verification
Group, to include the US, the Russian Federation, the EU, the UN, and other
parties, both regional and international] and other parties to be agreed
upon by the Parties, including members of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC), shall hereby be established to monitor, verify, and assist
in the implementation of this clause.
(b) Regulations Regarding the Compound
ii. The state of Palestine shall be responsible for maintaining the security
of the Compound and for ensuring that it will not be used for any hostile
acts against Israelis or Israeli areas. The only arms permitted on the
Compound shall be those carried by the Palestinian security personnel and
the security detachment of the Multinational Presence.
Armed Palestinians with their international interlocutors will be occupying
Judaism's holiest site, "strangers," just like in the times of the
Maccabees, in the Hanukah story. But this "temporary" situation
won't continue because according to paragraph (c):
(c) Transfer of Authority
i. At the end of the withdrawal period stipulated in Article 5/7, the state
of Palestine shall assert sovereignty over the Compound.
That's right, you read it right, "the state of Palestine shall assert
sovereignty over the Compound." After 2,000 years of yearning to return
to our ancient homeland, "Eretz Tzion, Yerushaliyim," - the land
of Zion, Jerusalem - as sung in "Hatikva" the Israeli national
anthem; after 2,000 years of yearning to rebuild our fallen "House of
the Most High G-D," today there are those who are planning to make sure
that we can never fulfill those dreams. They want to give away the Jewish
People's Temple Mount. And when will this come about? The text of the
agreement is not clear. But the most it could be is in 30 months, two and a
half years.
According to: Article 5 - Security, Section 7. Evacuation
(e) Israel shall complete its withdrawal from the territory of the
state of Palestine within 30 months of the entry into force of this
Agreement, and in accordance with this Agreement.
That's right, in as little as two and a half years, after the signing of the
agreement, the Jewish People will give up a 2,000-year-old dream,
officially. It gets me so upset I just want to shout, "Israel, Build
the Temple Now!" What about you?