The Jews, whenever they have been put out of the land of promise, have wanted above all else to return to Jerusalem and worship at the Temple. When there was no Temple, they wanted to build one. For two thousand years, the religious Jews have prayed five times a day for a return to worship in a rebuilt Temple. Passover every year brings the reverently whispered words, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
Many Jewish people mean these words only in a ritual sense. They don’t really think it is possible to build a Temple on or near where the Muslim Dome of the Rock now sits. After all, even though the area is under Israeli sovereignty, the Mount itself—called by Muslims Haram al-Sharif—is controlled by the Islamic Waqf, a joint Palestinian-Jordanian religious body.
The third most holy site in Islam (after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia), the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden-crowned Dome of the Rock overlooking the city attract crowds of Muslim worshipers, with Jews only having access for four and a half hours per day under Waqf regulations that, among other things, prohibit Jews from praying, kneeling, bowing, prostrating, dancing, singing, and/or ripping clothes. However, there is growing demand gathering political support for this status quo on the Temple Mount to be changed: The outcry is for Jews to be allowed to pray upon their ancient site of worship (a fact that Muslims dispute; they say no Temple existed there before).
To accomplish this—and in spite of many Goliath-like obstacles—there are Jews who are not only interested in rebuilding a Third Temple, but who are absolutely determined to see it done…and in their lifetime! Probably the most notable movement toward this end in recent times is the Temple Mount Faithful, founded by Israeli Gershon Salomon. The Temple Mount Faithful tried to place a cornerstone on the Temple Mount site in 1990, causing a tremendous riot in which seventeen people were killed. Salomon hasn’t been allowed to visit the place since that time. Under his leadership, the Temple Mount Faithful conducts a symbolic cornerstone laying each October to remind the people of Israel that God has commissioned the Jewish people to build His house.
These people still intend to lay a cornerstone on Moriah soon. They believe the Temple will be built upon and around that foundation.
The very thought of such an action drives the fundamentalist Muslim radicals wild. They will stop the laying of a cornerstone for the Third Jewish Temple at all costs. That is what most worries the international politicians who have taken it upon themselves to make sure World War III doesn’t break out beginning at Mount Moriah.
Weapons of Worship
Adding to the mix of Middle East worries are the activities carried on by the Temple Institute. Located near the Western Wall Plaza with a clear view of both the Western Wall and the Mount, the Institute is “dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.”[i]
“Our goal is to fulfill the commandment of ‘They shall make a Temple for me and I will dwell among them,’” says Rabbi Chaim Richman, international director for the organization that, reportedly, has had blueprints for the Third Temple completed for quite some time.
Holding that religious law on the matter is too unclear, rabbis have generally taken the position that rebuilding the Temple shouldn’t be undertaken until the Messiah comes. However, Richman and the Institute take a different position, stating that there are no Jewish legal barriers against rebuilding a Temple. The only obstacles that exist are political ones, they say.
