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Commentary;
The commentary below by Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA cites Jewish law simply and succinctly but in a way in which Israel’s leaders have never had the psychological stength, assuredness and connection to Hashem and Torah to assert.
This appalling concession by successive Israeli governments subsequent to the Six Day War; the acceptance and toleration of humans’, of Islamics’ having free access to the Holy of Holies – a place only entered once a year by the High Priest on Yom Kippur to pray for forgiveness for the people’s sins, is a desecration of Hashem’s name of massive, unimaginable proportions. And it is a concession which no other sovereign nation, no other people would have such a collectively low self-esteem as to make.
And knowing the moral corruption and bankruptcy of Ehud Olmert and his personal protexia class regime, such expression and payback won’t now be asserted — not in meeting with Abbas, not in any joint announcement or joint statement of principle and not at Annapolis. And even if expression of this concession were asserted by Olmert and his ilk at Annapolis, by dint of the corruption and moral backruptcy of their characters, and their failure to assert having made the concession, the nations would look upon them with disdain and as hypocrites of lowest order for their sudden religiousity on the issue after their acceptance and tolerance of the situation for soo long.
But without pressure for recognition of, and for giving proper expression to, the sanctity of the Holy of Holies by all parties to Annapolis, there will for sure be no good, only ill, only great danger and peril and possible complete loss of sovereignty over Har HaBayit and over Jerusalem comes out of an Annapolis conference. Thus, as former member of the Justice Department and Jewish Federation executive Mark Silverberg writes; “Israel-Arab peace is not on anyone’s agenda”, surely not Israel’s. MB
Rewarding Israel for Its Profound Concession on the Temple Mount, by Dr. Aaron Lerner (IMRA)
Full Text;
Over forty years ago the State of Israel, flush with the victory of the Six Day War, made the greatest concession ever made by a sovereign state in the history of the world.
Again: we are not even talking about a concession made by a defeated nation, nor one made in the face of the threat of annihilation.
This is a concession of cosmic proportions made solely at Israel’s own initiative.
Any other nation would have acted differently.
One would have expected Israeli officials at the time – and since then – to emphasize this concession at every opportunity in order to get at least some kind of “pay-back” for the concession.
It isn’t a concession that takes hours to explain. And its profound magnitude is intuitive.
And yet, for reasons that may have more to do with psychology than statecraft and diplomacy, this incredible concession by the Jewish State is treated as if it does not exist.
The Dome of the Rock was built at the location of the Holy of Holies of the Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Jewish law holds that, even in the absence of the Temple structure, human beings are not to enter the area of the Holy of Holies – a place only visited once a year by the High Priest at the apex of the Yom Kippur services.
In 1967 any other nation facing a similar opportunity would have permanently cordoned off the Dome of the Rock, barring access to all human beings to the site of the Holy of Holies.
Instead, Israel opted to permit continued gross violation of the sanctity of its most holy place by the ongoing presence of human beings (both Moslem worshipers and tourists of all faiths).
For forty years Israel hasn’t shown this “card”, let alone play it.
But with final status talks ostensibly about to begin, its time to insist on reciprocity.
In return for this tremendous Jewish concession the Moslems are expected to accept that Jews can pray (that’s pray – not just come as tourists) at locations on the Temple Mount where, according to some Rabbinical authorities, access is permitted to human beings. (It is noteworthy that even during some periods of Moslem control that a synagogue operated on the Temple Mount).
But that’s hardly sufficient compensation.
Even continued Israeli sovereignty doesn’t come close to offsetting this concession.
But it’s a nice start.