Posted on 06/22/2009 1:48:53 PM PDT by TaraP
A new Jewish interfaith initiative launched last week argues building the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem would not necessitate the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.
"God's Holy Mountain Vision" project hopes to defuse religious strife by showing that Jews' end-of-days vision could harmoniously accommodate Islam's present architectural hegemony on the Temple Mount.
This vision of religious shrines in peaceful proximity can transform the Temple Mount from a place of contention to its original sacred role as a place of worship shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians," said Yoav Frankel, director of the initiative.
The Interfaith Encounter Association at the Mishkenot Sha'ananim's Konrad Adenauer Conference Center in Jerusalem is sponsoring the program, which includes interfaith study and other educational projects.
According to Islamic tradition, the Dome of the Rock, built in 691, marks the spot where Muhammed ascended to Heaven.
But according to Jewish tradition, Mount Moriah, now under the Dome of the Rock, is where the Temple's Holy of Holies was situated
Until now Jewish tradition has assumed that destruction of the Dome of the Rock was a precondition for the building of the third and last Temple.
However, in an article that appeared in 2007 in Tehumin, an influential journal of Jewish law, Frankel, a young scholar, presented a different option.
His main argument is that Jewish doctrine regarding the rebuilding of the Temple emphasizes the role of a prophet.
This prophet would have extraordinary authority, including the discretion to specify the Temple's precise location, regardless of any diverging Jewish traditions.
Frankel considers the scenario of a holy revelation given to an authentic prophet that the Temple be rebuilt on the current or an extended Temple Mount in peaceful proximity to the dome and other houses of prayer such as the Aksa Mosque and nearby Christian shrines.
However, both Muslims and Jews have expressed opposition to the initiative.
Sheikh Abdulla Nimar Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel, said it was pointless to talk about what would happen when the mahdi, the Muslim equivalent of the messiah, would reveal himself.
"Why are we taking upon ourselves the responsibility to decide such things?" Darwish said in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post. "Even Jews believe that it is prohibited to rebuild the Temple until the messiah comes. So what is there to talk about.
"The mahdi will decide whether or not to rebuild the Temple. If he decides that it should be rebuilt, I will go out to the Temple Mount and help carry the rocks."
Darwish warned against any attempt to rebuild the Temple before the coming of the mahdi.
"As long as there is a Muslim alive, no Jewish Temple will be built on Al-Haram Al-Sharif [the Temple Mount]. The status quo must be maintained, otherwise there will be bloodshed."
In contrast, Baruch Ben-Yosef, chairman of the Movement to Restore the Temple, made it clear that the Temple had to be built where the Dome of the Rock presently stands.
"Anybody who says anything else simply does not know what he is talking about," he said. "A prophet does not have the power to change the law which explicitly states the location of the Temple."
Ben-Yosef also rejected the idea that rebuilding of the Temple had to be done by a prophet.
"All you need is a Sanhedrin," he said.
Mainstream Orthodox rabbis have opposed attempts to rebuild the Temple since the Mount came under Israeli control in 1967.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel even issued a decree prohibiting Jews from entering the area due to ritual purity issues.
However, several grassroots organizations such as the Movement to Restore the Temple, and maverick rabbis, including Rabbi Israel Ariel, head of the capital's Temple Institute and a leading member of the revived Sanhedrin led by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, have called to take steps to renew the sacrifices on the Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple.
I certainly hope not!
The first order of business should be to raze the moon-worshipper’s hovel to the ground. With every radical Islamist INSIDE!
Yes basically....
I don’t think the Law was ever meant for GOD..only Man..
Once Man is Perfected like GOD intended in the beginning once again the Lion will be laying with the Lamb....
No Animal Sacrafice is going on in heaven and I think a perfected earth will also no longer have a need for it....
I think Blood Sacrafice is really nothing MAN can fully understand...GOD knew that when he tested Abraham that is why many people cannot understand why GOD would sacrafice his begotten son though a blood sacrafice.
Animal Sacrafice was never understood by human biengs they just did it out of a commandment.
At some point I think we will know what a Animal Blood Sacrafice really meant to GOD when we were the ones who were doing bad and being dis-obedient....
What higher reason is there than to do something because it was commanded by G-d?
Some commandments make sense to us, some do not, but they are all from G-d and that, and not our understanding, is why we should obey them.
I agree that is why we have *Faith*
That is what I argue many times with Atheists about..
I do not have the mind of GOD he said *My ways are not your ways* I cannot understand why GOD does some things and does not do other’s.
I just think on a Perfected earth, these questions will finally be answered, and boy do I have alot of questions
on my list for GOD!:)
The Israelis have no interest in fighting every Muslim nation again. That’s what knocking down the Dome of the Rock would lead to. Igniting a massive war with the Muslim world holds no appeal for the Israelis, given that the current status quo for Israel is pretty good, all things considered.
True of course. However this isn't a question of property, but rather of the universal purpose of the Temple. Torah, prophets, Talmud, and Jewish history, all teach us the first and second temples were not just for the Jewish people, but for the entire world (see The Universal Temple). References in sacred Jewish texts to the role of non-Jews in the Temple are explicit, repeated, and striking. Please note this important paragraph in the Washington Post column, “A New Vision for God’s Holy Mountain”: While compromise is admirable in the pursuit of peace, a rebuilt temple according to this vision would be nothing of the kind. It would be the radical fulfillment of God's original mandate to the Jewish people and of the original purpose of the Temple, to manifest the One God to the world. This would be more powerfully accomplished with Christian and Muslim shrines nearby along with the pilgrims that visit them. At the very same time, with a rebuilt Temple in peaceful proximity, Allah would be more powerfully manifested in the Dome and in the Al Aqsa Mosque, and likewise for God, the Prince of Peace, in surrounding churches. All would occur simultaneously because the world would then understand and embrace the prophecy of Zechariah 14:9, "On that day, God will be One and His Name One."
For more in depth information see our site God's Holy Mountain
No. This is a common misconception. It is the Western wall of the Temple Mount, the Temple itself didn't extend that far.
As it turns out, the opinion of Jewish majority may not really matter since as apposed to all other matters of Jewish law, a prophet has special authority regarding the Temple and may end up saying the Temple has to be built next to the Dome of the Rock (see "The role of the Prophet".
It is worth noting that inscriptions all over the Dome, South side inner and outer, Northern and Eastern entrances, this phrase, essentially the Jewish Shma, is written again and again. “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One.” According to Jewish Halacha, majority opinions of leading rabbis including Rambam throughout the ages, Islam is a monotheistic religion and its places of worship sanctuaries of God.
(full text of inscriptions on the Dome are attached, identically at http://www.answering-islam.org/Index/D/dome_of_the_rock.html)
For more information feel free to see God's Holy Mountain
Um . . . seeing as how the rebuilt Temple will usher in a time when non-Jewish religions cease to exist (and all their idolatrous “shrines” will be destroyed) and all non-Jews become observant Noachides, this makes absolutely no sense. Unless you believe the Jealous G-d of Israel stopped being jealous somewhere along the way.
Everything is going to be up for grabs on the Temple Mount. The movie is called “Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem” and the Jews win it. Islamic bozos get the boot
The Bible does not teach there will be a physical “third temple”. That is a futurist fantasy.
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)
“It is worth noting that inscriptions all over the Dome . . . essentially the Jewish Sh[e]ma”
“Essentially” being the key word. The Serpant in the Garden of Eden “essentially” quoted G-d’s instructions, too, but with slight twist.
You also omitted (relevant to the Christian posters) the remainder of the inscription which specifically attacks Christianity as a false religion.
+++++++++++++
I was raised with the belief that Islam, like Christianity, was a valid, if misdirected, Noahdic religion. Indeed, that was slammed down our throats in public school in Israel.
Having studied both, I am very much of the belief that Islam is not, and it’s teachings are abhorrent.
And while one can take issue with the Christian Trinity conception of the one G-d, that it can be (albeit with great difficulty) made to fit the Noahadic guidelines.
I, too, have had trouble with the Trinity concept. Jesus never spoke of any such thing, that I know of. I, as a Christian, belive him to be the son of God (notice I do type out all the letters, but I do not never type or write his name. There's God and people had gods. Even God spoke, negatively, of people having other gods).
Genesis spoke of Sons of God (who took daughters of men and had children with them), so I have no problem with the "Son" part. John speaks of Jesus as His only "begotten" Son, meaning "born of a woman" here on earth. But what would differentiate Jesus from the other Sons? What and who are the Sons of God, as opposed to angels, if not angels? There are, what, seven "types" of angels? Cherubim, arch-, regular . . . . what?
The Holy Ghost (or spirit). Something imbued on the Disciples when Jesus left them for good, so that they would not falter in their work of spreading the gospel to others. I assume we are not born with this, otherwise why would Jesus have to instill it into the Disciples? So, exactly what it is, I don't know.
I'm currently reading some books on Bible study, background, concept, composition, etc. for my own understanding of God in my life (having read the Bible a few times now), and I now understand why I can't answer alot of questions asked me by non-believers. The "Old Testament", as we Christians call it, is not complete for us. I mean, we only have written part. I believe there are things explained elsewhere in the Hebrew religion, so they don't need to be fully explained in the written part, and Christians are missing out on that.
The Old Testament is included in the Christian Bible (I think) as a reference to help explain what Jesus talks about in his parables, what Paul references, etc. to help Christians understand and know why, and from where, these sayings come from. In other words, the context helps (me), but it doesn't explain eveything to me (I admit, it could just be me - but I do hunger for more understanding).
I obviously no Christian scholar, but think the Trinity (or some sort of idea of “oneness” — for example, the Jewish belief of the Messiah is that he shares G-d’s soul) -— as opposed to three and seperate distinct “people” (like what I believe the Mormon belief to be; again not an expert) is critical to any attempt to harmonize what I understand to be Christian beliefs with what I know to be Jewish beliefs.
The oldest prayer in Judaism is the Shema, everything else hangs off this:
God, trustworthy King.
Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Blessed is the Name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity.
You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your resources.
Let these matters that I command you today be upon your heart. Teach them thoroughly to your children and speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise. Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be tefillin between your eyes. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.
Hearken to My mitzvot that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him, with all your heart and with all your soul — then I will provide rain for your land in its proper time, the early and late rains, that you may gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil. I will provide grass in your field for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied.
Beware lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve gods of others and bow to them. Then the wrath of God will blaze against you. He will restrain the heaven so there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce. And you will swiftly be banished from the goodly land which God gives you.
Place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul; bind them for a sign upon your arm and let them be tefillin between your eyes. Teach them to your children, to discuss them, while you sit in your home, while you walk on your way, when you retire and when you arise. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates. In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the ground that God has sworn to your ancestors to give them, like the days of the heaven on the earth.
And God said to Moses saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them that they are to make themselves tzitzit on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations. And they are to place upon the tzitzit of each corner a thread of blue (techelet). And it shall constitute tzitzit for you, that you may see it and remember all the mitzvot of God and perform them; and not explore after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray. So that you may remember and perform all My mitzvot; and be holy to your God. I am God, your God, Who has removed you from the land of Egypt to be a God to you. I am God your God... it is true
(Note, “G-d” is written out above, as it is a prayer. If you chose to print it, take care of it.)
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41
Good photos.
Although the arguments are detailed and technical, the main point is that Jewish doctrine regarding the rebuilding of the temple emphasizes the role of a prophet (one deemed authentic by contemporaneous sages) who would have extraordinary authority, including the discretion to specify the temple's precise location, regardless of any diverging Jewish traditions.
I do wonder if this is actually a reference back to Ezra and Nehemiah in . . 500-450 BC, I think, when Cyrus of Persia allowed the Judeans back in to Jerusalem. Nehemiah rebuilt the city walls and Ezra (being a priest) built (or rebuilt) a smaller temple.
I don't know about any other temples being located on (and sharing) the Temple Mount in conjunction with a Jewish one; Christianity could be considered a "Gentile version" of the Hebrew religion. Islam . . I don't know, but God said he would care for Ishmael (and his mother), but I am not aware of any specifics on what He would do. I do feel He is looking (and hoping) for the two "half-brothers" to find a way to end their mutual enmity, and that doing so would usher in a time of peace that the world has never before known.
So . . it looks like the Israelis have taken a "first step" in that direction by not destroying the mosque like they could have in 1967, when the Muslims were relatively weak. I think Muslims need to take that into consideration and make a step in that direction also.
Goofy idea on my part? Or something to consider? I don't mind being told I'm "dead wrong", etc., but, if so, I do consider it kind to be told why.
Islam was not the religion of Ishmael, nor should be of the Ishmaelites.
Oh. Don't most arabs trace their heritage back to Ishmael? I'm not at all familiar to Ishmael's descendants.
Arabs are, indeed, Ishmaelites.
But Islam was created by an expansionist warlord thousands of years after Ishmael’s death.
Most arabs were Christian, Druze, Zorastrian, Noahadic, with some moon pagans pre-Mohammed.
Ah, yes. That's what I was getting at, LOL. Once Islam came on to the scene, most arabs (Ishmaelites) went muslim, right? There really aren't too many Druze, Zoroastrians, etc. left anymore, compared to the "big two and the cult", are there?
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