by Rabbi Arnold Saltzman
Recently we observed the 19th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister of Israel Yizhak Rabin. In addition, recently a right wing activist in Israel was the
victim of an attempted assassination from which he is still struggling for his life at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
Rabin was killed by a right-wing fanatic who said his rabbi had taught that it was permissible to kill anyone who gives up land in the land of Israel, even for peace.
We have to ask ourselves, “How is that different from an imam who issues the same type of ruling against non-believers?”
Why was Yehuda Glick targeted by radical Palestinians? Yehuda Glick leads a group calling for opening up the Temple Mount to Jewish worship as a precursor to rebuilding a Third Temple.
This group and others are using crowd-sourcing to raise funds for their projects, and the government of Israel has been cautious about confronting them, since they are a part of the religious base which keeps Likud in power. I do not believe in the rebuilding of third Temple. I am against it, and will speak out against it.
In a post Holocaust world, and even as we commemorate Kristallnacht, the ?Night of the Broken Glass?, a night of terrible and catastrophic destruction in modern Germany and Austria, we note that following WWII there was a strong hope for a homeland, and a rebirth of the Jewish People. It happened.
For most Orthodox Jews, only when the Messiah (Moshiach) comes could a third Temple be built, and not because money was raised for it on the Internet.
Furthermore, the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE left the Temple Mount in ruins and then they built a Temple to Jupiter. Eventually the area was in shambles. For almost 600 years it remained desolate until the Muslim conquests, when they sought to fi nd the site of Solomon?s Temple and build a new edifi ce over it. This happened, and that is how we have the Dome of the Rock, one of the most magnifi cent buildings and places of religious worship in the world.
Traditional Rabbis have always forbidden Jews from going to this area, since in ancient time, only the High Priest could enter this area, once a year to utter God?s name. So if these groups are so religious, how will they explain away worshipping on the Temple Mount, no less building somewhere on the Temple Mount?
I am also appalled that President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said that the closure of the Temple Mount recently was a declaration of war. His words are irre-
sponsible. When people are being attacked and murdered it is necessary to regain some peace before normal days return.
Nevertheless, the status quo which was hammered out decades ago with Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek should be adhered to. Jews have a right to pray or visit, just as Christians and Muslims do in Jerusalem albeit in different locations.
The push by the ?religious right? should be a matter of concern for the Reform Movement and for all of us. Building the Third Temple in Jerusalem is not a unifying Jewish value. The Reform Movement intentionally abandoned calling its houses of worship synagogues, and instead called them Temples. Why? To indicate that we can worship in a Temple without a cult of sacrifi ce, and without perpetual war over who has the better argument.
The Right Wing members of the Knesset say they are speaking out for their right to worship wherever they want in Jerusalem. Yet, I think that ?they? are also responsible for the increasing anger and fear among the residents of Jerusalem.
Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Netanyahu government, commented: A failure to struggle for the right of Jews to live in peace in Jerusalem will result in murderous Palestinian terror across Israel.” To me this is dangerous doublespeak. Infringing on the rights of Israeli Arab citizens to worship, and if they resist they too will be labeled ‘terrorist.’ We can do better.
What are we building? What are we destroying? I am opposed to the idea of rebuilding the Temple
physically, while at the same time I seek to build a Jewish
Community dedicated to good principles for all human beings. We should accept that others worship differently, and that we live in a pluralistic world. We do not have to support right wing insanity, even while we condemn those who assassinate, murder and terrorize and are celebrated for doing so in Gaza. Clal Yisrael means we build across denominations in Judaism. The Reform Movement does not believe in the rebuilding of the Temple.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated 19 years ago. It is difficult to believe that the fanatic who felt he had the right to do this changed the course of history for the worse for all of us.
This should be instructive that in pursuing peace as a goal, we must not give in to fanaticism. Israel is the refuge of the Jewish people, and home to two million Christians and Muslims who enjoy its democracy, even though it is imperfect. The ‘hope’ and the ‘dream’ is to have a modern state, capable of defense and economic health as well as intellectual inspiration. Israel is all of these. Yet today, extreme views may pull Israel further from the goal of peace.
In Rabin’s memorial service I will never forget that leaders of Egypt and Jordan flew to Jerusalem for his funeral. This was a sign that there might be hope for the future. Unlike today, on that day the leaders of the world stood with Israel. How can we recapture that? That is the Temple we should rebuild. No one can ever claim that Rabin was a ‘peacenik,’ rather he was a realist and a great General and leader who had a vision of a better future, which an assassin robbed from us.
Lea Rabin answered a letter I sent immediately after the assassination, writing back to me and giving me permission to create a scholarship in memory of this great leader and hero. She said that strengthening those more moderate forms of Judaism was the best way to counter the fanatic who killed her husband.
As we commemorate Kristallnacht, the destruction, and remember Rabin, may we commit ourselves to speak out against Jewish fundamentalism, and those who would build a Temple while tearing down the fabric of the Jewish people.
With blessings,
Rabbi Arnold Saltzman