As Posted on my Times of Israel Blog.
As the fast, and day of mourning (and, hopefully,
repentance), of the ninth of the Jewish month of Av (Tish’a B’Av) has drawn
near this year (2017 – 5777), I have seen a few Posts on FaceBook, and comments
elsewhere, proposing the thesis that our problems dealing with security and
other arrangements on the Temple Mount, which have heightened in the past
several weeks, show that the Jewish State does not yet have actual sovereignty
on the Temple Mount.
After pondering this thesis, I propose a different
thesis which, in my mind, better fits the situation.
First, I would relate to the Temple Mount itself. It
would very likely be a mockery to rebuild our Holy Temple at this stage in our
national regeneration. As a great Tzaddik (Righteous Person) told me many years
ago, rebuilding the Temple now would probably produce exactly the opposite of
the Temple’s purpose.
Instead of being a place which unites all Israel and
brings peace to the world, a rebuilt Temple at this time would probably
immediately become the focus of all that divides the nation of Israel,
increasing internecine struggles and producing almost daily vehement quarrels,
which would disgrace the Name of Heaven – perhaps even to an unprecedented
degree!
That being the case, the great Tzaddik told me, it is
beneficial to have a monotheistic religion in charge of things on the Temple
Mount, as is the present situation. As to the Jews’ right to pray there as well,
that has already been addressed by the late Israeli Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Goren,
z”l, years ago, though the issue itself is far from being fully resolved.
Now, at present, the question is: How do we balance
out these various aspects of the administration of the Temple Mount?
To my mind, the problems we have been having, both
recently and in the long run, are an indication that the State of Israel DOES
have sovereignty over the Temple Mount!
When you don’t have sovereignty, someone else
confronts the problems and makes decisions as to how to handle them, and all
that you can do is to complain (and, perhaps, demonstrate, if you are permitted
to do so) if you disagree with the results.
However, when YOU have sovereignty, then YOU have to
make the difficult decisions regarding the administration of the Temple Mount (and
of anything else over which you have sovereignty) – you can’t pass that off to
someone else, whom you can then blame without having to take responsibility for
the results!
Sovereignty conveys responsibility as well!
One must remember that the sovereignty to decide what
steps to take regarding the Temple Mount means that the Israeli Government has
the responsibility of caring for its citizens in the wake of those decisions –
and decisions regarding the Temple Mount have great impact on what occurs.
It seems to me that much of what occurs, or can occur,
with regard to the Temple Mount is influenced by our enemies search for excuses
to incite violence against the Jews, and that is reprehensible and should be
addressed and opposed. However, until this problem is completely resolved, it
is, unfortunately, part of the situation to be dealt with.
The results which will (or, will likely) occur, for
whatever reason, are part of the equation with which Israel’s leadership deals
in practice, and when they do so, they are exercising sovereignty. I have seen
numerous analyses which claim that the Israeli government should have acted
differently, and numerous ways in which it is suggested that it should have
acted. Perhaps our government should have chosen one of those alternatives,
but, for now, it has chosen the path it has chosen to exercise Israel’s
sovereignty, and I remind us all that it has led to a new peak in the number of
Jews visiting the Temple Mount on this Tish’a B’Av.
Though many issues, including the right of freedom of prayer
on the Temple Mount for Jews, have not yet been fully resolved, we must also
recognize the progress made so far.
We may have utilized our sovereignty to make unwise
decisions regarding the Temple Mount, or to make the wisest decisions in the
world, but those decisions were made by Israel’s elected government and on one
else, and, to me, that fact makes those decisions an exercise of sovereignty by
the government of Israel.
