Chagei Huberman Describes His Experience on his visit to Har Habayit

The article appeared in a Hebrew publication and I translated it

בְּחַצְרות בֵּית ה' בְּתוכֵכִי יְרוּשָׁלָיִם – הַלְלוּיָה

Anyone who goes up to the Har Habayit sees up close the slow changes that are taking place there. When I went up in 2003, for a quick ride almost non-stop, we were not even allowed to mumble verses. This year I was privileged to pray on Chol Hamoed in a morning minyan and Hallel with a blessing. Some bowed – and no one bothered them

Last Thursday, Chol Hamoed Passover, for the first time in my life, I had the privilege of praying the morning prayer of the holiday and the Hallel prayer with a blessing – on the Temple Mount. It was a special experience to sing "בְּחַצְרות בֵּית ה' בְּתוכֵכִי יְרוּשָׁלָיִם – הַלְלוּיָה" standing in the courtyard of the House of God, and to sing "בצאת ישראל ממצרים" on Chol HaMoed Pesach – in the holiest place for the Jewish people. 

As in all the times when I went up to the Temple Mount, it was a joy and exciting to meet Rabbi Shimshon Elbaum, head of the Temple Mount Administration, and his son Rabbi Chaim, whose activities and the energy they invest have made a great, very significant contribution to the regular prayers that have been held on the Temple Mount for several years. Rabbi Shimshon Elbaum is the man who helped most of all to open the Temple Mount to Jewish prayer.

Well, the prayer wasn't perfect. 

A large part of the prayer was done while walking. The Shemoneh Esrei prayer was naturally recited while standing in front of the site of the Temple, near the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, but Hallel was recited while walking. The policemen who accompanied us urged us to move forward and not delay, and this time I  understood what was in their hearts.

 At the entrance to the Temple Mount, there were long lines of Jews who wanted to visit the Mount, and every delay by one group led to a delay by another. Data from the Temple Mount Administration showed that for the first time, more than 2,000 Jews visited the Temple Mount on just one day of Chol Hamoed – 2,106 to be precise, on Thursday, the last day of the opening of the Temple Mount on Passover. It was also the day I went up the mountain.

The Administration's data also shows that in all the days of Passover, 6,315 people went up to the holiday prayers on the Temple Mount. An all-time record and an impressive jump of over 37% from the previous record of Passover. Among those praying on the Temple Mount on Passover, there were also dozens of rabbis and Roshei Yeshiva – Attention to the rabbis who still forbid it to go to the Mount, including, unfortunately, the chief rabbis – members of Knesset from the Likud and Religious Zionism.

The police allowed organized groups to go up in large groups of up to 200 people in a group. The Temple Mount was completely calm and quiet throughout the holiday, after the police removed harassers and suspects of violence and terror from it. The many immigrants prayed the holiday prayers on the Temple Mount. Shacharit, Musaf and Mincha, Hallel prayers with singing – and some of them bowed down to the ground before God. The ascent proceeded as usual, comfortably and efficiently, and for the first time almost without delays, with the exception of one incident an unusual one the end of the priestly blessing on Thursday.

It's just a shame that on the seventh day of Pesach the Temple Mount was closed to Jews, because it was Shabbat, and on Shabbat the Temple Mount is closed to Jews – even if it was a holiday.   Attention of the Minister of National Security. On holidays that fall in the middle of the week, Jewish immigration is allowed.

I went up to the Temple Mount many times – both before it was closed at the outbreak of the second intifada, and also after it reopened 23 years ago. Anyone who goes up the mountain sees up close the slow changes that are taking place there. When I went up in 2003, for a quick ride almost non-stop, we were not even allowed to mumble verses. The group was accompanied by a Palestinian from the Waqf, and when he noticed that one of the immigrants, an elderly man, was muttering verses, he began shouting at the policemen, 'Hada Sally, Hada Sally' – he is praying! And the policemen hurried to grab him and take him down from the mountain.

Five years ago, we were already praying on the Mount, near the eastern wall, in front of the Temple site. This was under the direction of Gilad Erdan when he served as Minister of Public Security. Although the prayers were held in a whisper, taking care not to raise ou=r voice. It was forbidden to say Kaddish out loud, so that the Waqf would not be angry.

Erdan and then-Jerusalem District Commander Yoram Halevi were also responsible for the expulsion of the Muslim women of the Murabita, who made sure to create deliberate riots on the Temple Mount, shouting and cursing at every Jew – so that the police would rush to close the Temple Mount to Jews because of those riots, "for security reasons."

Since then, Jews have begun praying on the Temple Mount with the permission of the police, Shacharit and Mincha, even if they still do not have prominent features such as tallit and tefillin. The conclusion was that the prayers would be held only along the eastern wall – in a minyan.

The police also made sure that people did not bow too much. Four years ago, when I naturally bent my back in 'We thank you,' the policeman who was standing with the group rushed to check that I wasn't exaggerating, and that I would immediately straighten up to an upright stand. And that was during the tenure of Minister Omer Bar-Lev in the Ministry of Public Security. Bar-Lev wanted as much as he could to completely close the Temple Mount to Jewish prayer, but he was unable to face the reality and the Jewish will. But he continued to forbid prostration on the floor. Anyone who prostrated himself was immediately arrested.

Last week, on Chol Hamoed, many of the immigrants prostrated themselves in front of the Temple site, and the policemen standing next to them did not disturb them.

And most astonishing – despite the prayers, despite the prostrations, the Middle East was not set on fire, and no world war broke out. Millions of Muslims did not storm the State of Israel. Iran did not launch thousands of missiles, and the Houthis continued to drop their weekly rocket, which was intercepted outside Israel's borders, and that too, regardless of Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount.

Why this cynicism? – because this is what all the professional "security agencies" have warned, led by the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, who is clinging to his chair.

The Shin Bet Chief's Lack of Authority

The person responsible for this change is the current minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Even before he took office, in the coalition negotiations, after Netanyahu promised Ben-Gvir the Ministry of National Security, Ben-Gvir made it clear to Netanyahu that he would not agree to be minister of national security when draconian restrictions for Jews on the Temple Mount remained. "I will not be willing to go in and continue this policy of apartheid," Ben-Gvir told Netanyahu. "I'm here to change things on the Temple Mount, too."

The changes were made little by little. At first, he extended the times for Jews to ascend the Mount. For years, Jews went up to the Temple Mount from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Ben-Gvir ordered to add another five minutes each time, then ten minutes, then fifteen minutes. On Chol Hamoed it was already possible to notice a very large change in opening times: from 7:00 to 11:30 in the morning, and from 13:30 to 12:45 in the afternoon. In other words, an additional hour and forty-five minutes. It still doesn't reach the days before the second intifada, when, according to Moshe Dayan's holy "status quo," Jews could go up to the Temple Mount at any time of the day, and move freely anywhere. But it looks like we're on our way there.

The person who opposed these changes, more than anything else, was Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar. He was one of those who loudly argued in the closed discussions that if it was possible to pray aloud on the Temple Mount, the Middle East would "burn." Bar did not settle for discussions, but sent threats against the police, who were pressed between a rock and a hard place – between a minister who told them, 'I set the policy,' and the head of the Shin Bet, who tried to do everything in his power to prevent the implementation of the minister's policy.

The most significant event, which as far as I know is being published here for the first time, was on Tisha B'Av last year, when Minister Ben Gvir ascended to the Temple Mount, at the same time that the police, according to Ben Gvir's policy, allowed hundreds of Jews to prostrate themselves on the ground. Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, shocked that his warnings were not heeded, called Acting Police Commissioner Avshalom Peled and told him: "Stop the visitations of Jews now, get everyone out of the Temple Mount – now."

Peled was not frightened and told the head of the Shin Bet: "I'm very sorry, there's a hierarchy, there's a law, there's democracy. And in the hierarchy that I know, there's God, then the prime minister, then the minister – he's in charge of us, not you. If you want, go to the minister." Bar understood that talking to the minister was like talking to the Old City wall – he wouldn't be able to move both of them. On that day, masses of Jews continued to ascend and prostrate themselves to the ground – and the sky did not fall, not even the walls of the Old City, not even the borders of the country. Ronen Bar's real or politically motivated fears have been refuted in a huge way.

The Palestinian news agency Ma'an tried as usual to incite and ignite the atmosphere, when it reported last Thursday that "the settlers renewed their raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday, the fifth day of the Jewish Passover holiday... Settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in large groups continuously through the Mughrabi Gate, the keys of which have been controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem... MK Zvi Sukkot led the settler raids, together with senior rabbis and alleged Temple leaders. The settlers held their prayers during the assault on Al-Aqsa, and created circles of dancing and singing during the assault on Al-Aqsa and marched there."

This incitement also did not lead to disturbances of the peace. The quiet in the city and on the mountain was maintained.

For this, great thanks also go to Police Commissioner Lt. Col. Danny Levy, District Commander Major General Amir Arzani, District Commander Lt. Col. Dvir Tamim, Commander of the Holy Places Unit Lt. Col. Eyal Avraham and Commander of the Temple Mount, Superintendent Guy Tal, and to the police officers and security guards for the complex work under unique conditions. Anyone who is familiar with the reality on the Temple Mount since 2000 is entitled to say with a full mouth, "When the Lord returns, the return to Zion – we were dreamers."

Now I am waiting for the following necessary changes: praying on the Temple Mount with a prayer shawl and tefillin properly, and without being stressed by the schedule.