Aliyah to Har Habayit-- Temple Mount Today

Yes, today was a big celebration for me... I ascended Har Habayit-- Temple Mount today for the third time. As with the first time, I joined my neighbor Rachel Sela and a variety of women from Shiloh and further afield. It has been a few years since

Actually I was involved in an attempt to ascend Har Habayit which failed due to anti-Jewish government orders. I had forgotten about it completely until searching my blog for the links of my successful aliyot.

My second aliyah to Har Habayit was with my husband, one of our sons and his son, yes, three generations. It was very thrilling.

This week, the beginning of the Jewish Month of Elul, is a double anniversary for us, aliyah to Israel, 56 years, and aliyah to Shiloh, 45 years. So when I saw that Rachel was saying that she's going up today, I decided that I'd join.

Rachel ascends Har Habayit relatively frequently and invites women to join her. This time there were a few young ones who brought their children, even nursing babies. This was amazing to me, who took decades to make my way there, because it wasn't all that suitable aka safe at first for a young mother. Also, conditions for Jews were awful and dangerous. And then... it took me a long time.

Regulations have changed, even over the few years since my first visit.

Even though siddurim (prayer books) and Tehilim (Psalm) books are still officially forbidden, they offered us printed papers with prayers. And nobody stops anyone from praying from their phone.

We sang and danced to religious texts we knew by heart. We also got down on the holy ground facing the holiest spot praying our own private prayers silently.

There were also men in the group "supervised" by the same police officers. Yes, that's Yehuda Glick, well-known for his ascents to the Temple Mount and his miraculous recovery from an assassination attempt a number of years ago. 

This visit was more relaxed than my previous ones. At one point, the men who were assigned to our group had had enough, but we hadn't. We were allowed to stay with a newer one. The police were very accommodating. That began only in recent years, since Itamar Ben-Gvir became Minister of National Security, which includes the police on Har Habayit.  

Just to make things very clear. All of the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem and the Temple Mount have a long documented history as Jewish. Islam was invented thousands of years after Judaism, and Jerusalem isn't even in its early narrative and books. But on Har Habayit-- Temple Mount all the signs are in Arabic. Israel has failed to protect its most precious place, where both the Jewish Holy Temples were located. Thank Gd there is a bit of improvement, though we have a long, long, very long way to go.

Our group today on Har Habayit (with permission from Rachel Sela)

Touring Beit El, Kfar Ivri, and More

Last week I joined a group of women from various parts of the country under the leadership of my neighbor Rachel Sela for an amazing tour.

There were only three stops/locations, and each was special representing our undeniable connection to the Land of Israel and Bible.

First we went to nearby Beit El, where they have a visitors center dedicated to the story of Jacob's Ladder. But for us the significance of Beit El concerned the split of the Davidic Dynasty, long after our Forefather Jacob slept and dreamt in Beit El.

Next stop was the real Givat Shaul, Hill of Saul, where archeologists have found remains of palaces from Biblical times. But this structure has nothing to do with the bible at all, though it was meant to be a palace. In the mid-1960s Jordan's King Hussein wanted a summer palace in  eastern Jerusalem, which he illegally occupied at the time. We were there on a very hot day, but the winds blowing through the incomplete shell were strong.

The Hashemites are long gone, and Jerusalem has grown tremendously under Israeli sovereignty.

Afterwards we visited Beit Hashivah, which although is in an Arab neighborhood and part of Jerusalem, the land is really owned by Jews. Prior to Israeli Independence there had been a Jewish farming village there, Kfar Ivri, near the present neighborhood of Neve Yaakov, which also has a history of being a Jewish farming village. 

We met some of the Jewish residents, new and old who told us the story and how they are trying to revitalize this Jewish neighborhood. A number of young families now live in the building, and there's a yeshiva where men learn during the day.

Over fifty years ago, my husband and I spent a few Shabbatot there as guests of one of the original families, so it was very moving for me to finally return.

The oldest and most veteran of the Jewish residents is the well-known Ezra Yachin, pictured on the left. In his youth is fought in the pre-state underground Lechi, aka Stern Gang. He has written many books about his experiences and related topics. His memoir, Elnakam is published in both English and Hebrew.

Ezra still travels around the country talking to young and old about his life and Israel's history.

We ended our tour with dinner on the roof of Beit Hashivah. It was truly a wonderful day.

Hearing "Allahu Akbar" on The Temple Mount, #3 of My Har HaBayit Reflections

One of the things I was warned about, prepared for before my עליה להר הבית Aliyah liHar Habayit, Ascent to the Temple Mount was that there are usually women shouting "Allahu Akbar" as if they're spitting out venom to shoot at the Jews who go up.

It's a known fact that they do this as a paid job, sitting on the benches shouting at the Jews. I don't know why, but last Tuesday the women weren't on duty. Maybe they were having a staff trip or fun day or workshop in "voice." The men did the shouting instead, but apparently they didn't have the same enthusiasm.

Rachel Sela, who led our group, told us to think of them as saying "G-d, HaKodesh Baruch Hu" is great and then try to ignore it. That technique worked for me, especially when long-time, veteran Temple Mount Yosef Elbaum left us.

The route he took to leave had him pass many groups of shouters. Elbaum is very well known and easily recognize by everyone, Jews, Arabs, polices, soldiers and civilians.

I took Rachel's suggestion to heart, and actually enjoyed hearing group after group of Arabs calling out to Elbaum that G-d is Great, our G-d that is. The sounds kept echoing and repeating gradually getting further and further away.

It was very important to me to walk around with the body language of one who belongs and is fully sovereign, even though unfortunately, Israel has given The Temple Mount to Jordan and Islam.  It will definitively take a long time to correct that damage.