[Jerusalem] — Well before 7 a.m. Rabbi Chaim Richman stands at the entrance to the Mugrabi gate next to the Western Wall plaza. He has already been to the mikva, a ritual bath for purification, early in the morning. The holy site opens at 7:30 a.m. for non-Muslims and tourists, and he wants to make sure he is one of the first allowed in.
To Jews, it is the Temple Mount, the place of the First and Second Temples. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, an event still mourned by Jews annually. The Western Wall, which is below the Temple Mount, is usually considered the holiest site in Judaism. But in fact, says Richman, the Temple Mount has significantly more sanctity.
To Muslims, the site is the Haram Al-Sharif (the Nobel Sanctuary) and the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina. They believe is from here that the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven. It is also traditionally mentioned in the Koran as Al-Aqsa, which means the farthest mosque.
Each group would like sole control of the site, and yet are forced to share. The Muslim Waqf controls the site, although Israeli police are responsible for security. Jewish groups who visit are accompanied by representatives of both the Waqf and Israeli police.
“No praying, no moving your lips, no dancing,” an Arabic-speaking Israeli policeman sternly tells the group led by Rabbi Richman. “Nothing that can even be interpreted as praying. It’s quiet today and I want it to stay that way.”
Richman is the International Director of the Temple Institute, an organization that hopes to see the Jewish Temple rebuilt here, although he rejects any use of violence. He has been coming here for 28 years, but until recently he was one of the few who did so. Many mainstream Orthodox rabbis said it was forbidden to visit because it was impossible to know the precise location of the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest was allowed to enter.
In recent years, however, some rabbis have given permission to visit and according to the Israeli police, in 2014, 10,000 Israelis visited the site, along with tens of thousands of foreign tourists.
“Our goal in going is simply to be seen by God,” Rabbi Richman told The Media Line. “We want to feel something of the sanctity of the place, to show that we haven’t forgotten, that it means something to us. This is what our lives are all about.”
As the Jewish group walks around the perimeter of the site, they meet a small group of Palestinian women, wearing long dresses and their faces completely covered with black cloth. A young girl about 10 is with them, and they begin aggressively yelling “Allahu Akbar” (God is great!) over and over. The young girl tries to approach the Jewish visitors, and the policemen take up positions between the demonstrators and the Jews.
“It feels like a wave of unbridled hatred directed against us,” Richman said a few hours later. “It is incitement to violence and it feels like a destructive force. The irony of the situation is that it’s the opposite of what the Temple is supposed to be about.”
But for officials of the Waqf, Richman is not coming for peaceful purposes, but as a prelude to an eventual attempt to replace the Muslim holy site with a rebuilt Jewish Temple.
“Some of those who come are extremists who are being guarded by Israeli police,” Sheikh Abdul Aziz Salahab, the religious head of the Islamic Waqf told a small group of journalists. “This creates tension, and eventually things will develop into something we can’t handle.”
The sheikh, like all members of the Waqf, is appointed by the Jordanian government. Jordan controlled the site from 1948-1967, and after Israel took over east Jerusalem in 1967, Israel decided to keep the Waqf in charge.
Inside al-Aqsa is a glass case with tear gas canisters and rubber bullets shot by the Israeli police during frequent clashes. In 2000, after then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the site, clashes broke out, and at least seven Palestinians were killed. Several dozen police were wounded. Those clashes were the beginning of the second intifada, a Palestinian uprising that would lead to thousands of Israelis and Palestinians killed.
“Sometimes they close the site to Muslims and only allow Jewish settlers and extremists to enter,” Samer Nemer, a female Waqf employee told The Media Line. “That provokes the feelings of the Muslims, and they start shouting Allahu Akbar, and then the Israeli police start shooting.”
She said that the Waqf has no objection to tourists and Jews visiting the site. But she rejects visits by people like Richman, who she believes has an ulterior motive.
“We want this Haram al Sharif to be in peace,” she said. “We don’t mind any tourist who wants to come and see the architecture, to visit, and to take photos. The problem is the extremists who want to demolish, to destroy our mosque, and build their Temple.”
For his part, Richman says the Temple will be rebuilt but not with violence. In what seems an unlikely scenario, he says Muslims will invite the Jews to rebuild the Temple.
“The hallmark of the Temple is the unity of all humanity,” he said. “This is the goal that is the vision of every prophet of Israel. The temple stands for a concept. It’s not about architecture – it is about rebuilding the idea is that human experience can be elevated to a divine purpose.”