A new record number of Jews who ascended to the Temple Mount in one day was set on Tuesday during the fast of Tisha B’av, the day commemorating when the two Jewish Temples were destroyed. During the fast, at least 2,958 Jews ascended the Temple Mount, a record for all the years since the destruction of the Temple.
The Israeli police relaxed many of the restrictions imposed on Jews at the site. There is no law preventing Jews from praying on the Temple Mount, and the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Jewish prayer several times. Jews do pray at the site in inconspicuous manners and out of sight from the Arabs, but the police frequently prevent this from happening. On Tuesday, Jews prayed freely in minyanim (quorums of ten). In addition, some Jews openly displayed Israeli flags and sang Hatikvah. Usually, Israeli symbols are strictly prohibited.
Photo courtesy Beyadenu
Perhaps the most poignant act of devotion to the Temple was when Jewish visitors prostrated themselves on the holy stones. It should be noted that the Torah commands Jews to prostrate themselves on the Temple Mount, and it is strictly forbidden for a Jew to prostrate himself in prayer in any other location.
Video courtesy Beyadenu
This mitzvah (commandment) is an essential element that will reappear in the times of the Messiah.
And on that day, a great shofar shall be sounded; and the strayed who are in the land of Assyria and the expelled who are in the land of Egypt shall come and worship Hashem on the holy mount, in Yerushalayim. Isaiah 27:13
The word וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ (v’hishtachavu) is translated here as ‘worship,’ but the more accurate translation would be ‘they will prostrate themselves.’
Video courtesy Beyadenu
For this reason, Jews who prostrate themselves on the Temple Mount are forcibly removed by the Israeli police lest the Muslim Arabs respond with violence.
Tom Nisani, CEO of Beyadenu, an NGO that advocates for universal rights on the Temple Mount praised the event.
“History is happening before our eyes, ” Nisani said, “I am proud of the people who came to the Temple Mount. It is exciting to see Jews praying, singing, and bowing on Tisha B’Av on the Temple Mount. This is entirely legal since no law forbids this for Jews. It is crucial for Jews to manifest this freedom.”
“This year it was especially important, coming as a response to Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Flood in which they murdered over 1,200 Jews, raped and took hostages, in the name of their perverted vision of the Temple Mount. So far this, over 40 thousand Jews have expressed Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount. This is our intention and we will continue to act until we achieve all of our rights on the Temple Mount.”
Abe Truitt, the English-language spokesman for Beyadenu, expressed hope that the religious freedoms afforded Jews on Tisha B’Av would replace the antisemitic status quo that currently dominates the reality at Judaism’s holiest site.
“Yesterday on the Temple Mount could be every day on the Temple Mount, if not more,” Truitt told Israel365 News. “We saw just a small release of restrictions on visitors to the Temple Mount, and people were shocked that they could do anything. They were able to walk more freely. They were able to bow down. This is the tradition of the Jewish people. This is described as a completely abnormal phenomenon, but it should be anything but abnormal.”
