Is This War Worth It?

Imagine if Jews built a synagogue on top of Mecca, and the Saudi government banned Muslims from praying there. X

This has been the situation in Jerusalem since 1967, when the Old City was recaptured by Israeli forces. Moshe Dayan promptly gave control of the Temple Mount (where the Al-Aqsa mosque stands) back to the conquered, and Jews were forbidden from praying there. Indeed, openly observant Jews are not even allowed in. When I visited Jerusalem last year, we had to stay outside the boundaries.

This is the picture of the closest I have ever come to the holiest place in my world: where the Tabernacle commanded by G-d in the Torah stood, and where Avraham offered Isaac. The place where for thousands of years, the tears of Jewish people have been directed, the focused and combined fervent and desperate prayers for the opportunity to fully serve G-d and in so doing, reconnect with Him.

When Jews pray, we certainly include our more temporal concerns. But all of our prayer is anchored by this one, key fact: we are meant to be with G-d. We are commanded to come close to him through the mikdash, the touchstone for all that is holy, for all that gives Jewish lives meaning and purpose. And the mikdash is where G-d dwells among us: it is the place that G-d chose for the permanent installation.

But something has changed. Not fully, and certainly not with government support. But this very morning, a member of my family went up to the mountain, among perhaps a thousand other (about 90%) men. And they prayed and sang, and yearned for the future - a future in which we are allowed to freely practice our religion in our own land.

(I should note that in addition to the political sensitivities—which are deeply felt by both Jews and Muslims—there is much disagreement about whether or not going up to the Temple Mount is allowed by Jewish Law. The lines are not clean, sometimes rabbinical rulings are influenced by politics, one way or the other, and there is much room for disagreement. Suffice it to say that there are reasonable arguments for why Jews should be religiously allowed on certain parts of the area which are currently barred to religious Jews.)

My son reported:

They make sure you don’t bring Siddurs, tefillin, or anything else with you and then they accompany you walking around the perimeter. It takes about ten minutes. ... you are not allowed to pray. If they hear you singing or davening (praying) out loud they’ll arrest you. But every time people go up, they keep pushing the boundaries further and further which normalizes it. It gets better every day, I’ve heard.

The state opposes Jews praying to G-d on the Temple Mount (one reason why I am not a Zionist). But the people who desire religious liberty are pushing the boundaries. And I am all for religious liberty.

Of course, to many Muslims, Jews practicing Judaism is itself a provocation. The mere rumor that a Jew might have been uttering words of prayer in the wrong place is enough to start a riot in certain Muslim circles. Just look at the comments on this X feed showing the Jews praying this morning.

I submit that this issue, that of Jews praying on the Temple Mount, may well turn out, in hindsight, to be a historically pivotal event like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that triggered WWI. It could lead to a hot war with Iran, global re-alignment along religious lines, even a revitalization not only of Judaism, but also of Christianity. It would hardly be the first time in history that Israel has been the linchpin for a whole cascade of global events.

In times of peace, everything is paralyzed. The status quo seems awfully static, stretching on for decades upon decades. But in times of crisis (does anyone doubt we are in that time now?), things can move very far, very fast. In times of crisis, majorities and "the will of the people" become secondary and even irrelevant if there are impassioned and committed people who are willing to stand up for what they believe is right. I doubt the American revolutionaries were following the will of the majority—instead of following, they led. They made the revolution happen. Similarly, great leaders in history (e.g. Lincoln and Churchill) were great precisely because they steered history and changed its outcome by dint of conviction and the ability to inspire others to share that conviction.

I think we are seeing this right now. Most Israelis try to avoid conflict. Most are not religious. But if a passionate minority is committed, then they can indeed change all of history, and hopefully for the better.

This morning, I knew I should have been in Jerusalem. I should have seen what my son has seen-here is the picture he took:

And I would have, with tears of joy and yearning, prayed with all my heart and soul. Because these are the moments in which history can be turned and shaped by any of us, if we are committed and impassioned.

To me, this war is worth it. Indeed, I can think of no better cause for war than the right of each person to worship as we see fit.

P.S. I am not advocating for knocking down the existing structure, the "Dome of the Rock" Al-Aqsa building. There is plenty of room on the plaza to rebuild the mikdash (the Tabernacle) as it existed in the wilderness. I do not want a large Jewish temple in any case; that misses the entire point. I have written before on this topic.

Jews are not here to dominate any cityscape, or to score political or military victories. We are not great because we build big or beautiful buildings. Our temple should not be grand or imposing or impressive. Instead, it should be formed of the small tabernacle, established on that small hill in Jerusalem.

Our power is not measured in terms of physical clout; Jews are tasked to influence the world, not dominate it. Our places of worship serve no political or imperial ends. We are great only as and when we connect with our Creator, in a personal and intimate way.