In the Law of Moses, God commands the Jews to appear before him three times a year. This He commands at three appointed times: the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks and the feast of booths. They were commanded in Deuteronomy 16:16 to appear in the place that God chooses. This place was always considered to be the Temple in Jerusalem. Since the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in the year 70 A. D., the Jews have not observed this portion of the Law.
Now, Rabbi Chaim Richman, the director of the Temple Institute, wants to encourage the reinstitution of this tradition. Referring to the writings of the twelfth century scholar, Rabbi Mosheh ben Maimon or RaMBaM as well as other writings and historic evidence of the continuation of the tradition after the destruction of the Temple; Richman says that the tradition of the pilgrimages to the Temple Mount prescribed under the Law did not end with the destruction of the Temple.
What is also interesting to me is that in Deuteronomy 16 the Jews were commanded to appear before God three times per year. But, they were further commanded not to appear before God empty handed. That is they were to bring a sacrifice. Sacrifice is the next step toward the building of the next Temple.
Deuteronomy 16:16-17
Three times in a year shall all thy
males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall
choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks,
and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the
Lord empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the
blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.
It is also interesting that these pilgrimages come with a promise in Exodus 34. God promises to cast out the nations and enlarge their borders.
Exodus 34:22-24
You shall observe the Feast of Weeks,
the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the
year's end. Three times in the year shall all your males appear
before the Lord God, the God of Israel. For I will cast out nations
before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land,
when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the
year.
Reviving an Ancient Tradition in Judaism's Holiest Place
The Jewish festival of Sukkot will soon
be getting underway, just a few days after Yom Kippur, capping off
the festive Hebrew month of Tishrei. Sukkot commemorates God's
protection of the Jewish people during their 40 year stint wandering
the desert, following the dramatic Exodus from Egypt. It is also a
harvest festival and a celebration of the Land of Israel and its
produce, among other things. Sukkot is one of the most joyous of
Jewish festivals, and is marked by Jews worldwide through a variety
of iconic Torah commandments; including the ritual "waving"
of the "Four Species" of agricultural produce (or arba
minim - a palm branch, a citron fruit, and myrtle and willow
branches), and leaving the comfort of their homes to live in
temporary huts, known as sukkot.
In ancient Israel, whilst the holy
Temples of Jerusalem still stood, a number of other Torah laws and
customs were practiced as well, falling out of use following the
destruction of the Temples (the first by the Babylonians and the
second by the Romans), and the subsequent period of exile and
persecution by a succession of foreign empires in the Holy Land.
Now, a group of Jewish activists is
pushing for the reinstatement of one such practice, arguing that its
performance is actually still incumbent upon Jews - regardless of the
lack of a Temple in Jerusalem. Rabbi Richman, who heads the Temple
Institute's International Department, spoke to Arutz Sheva about his
group's initiative to restart the "aliyah laregel," or
pilgrimage to the Temple Mount, which for thousands of years was
practiced by Jews en-masse - many of whom traveled hundreds of miles
to do so - on each of the three main festivals of Pesach (Passover),
Shavuot and Sukkot.
"Our aim is to connect Jews with
the idea of aliya laregel," Rabbi Richman told Arutz Sheva.
"The Temple Mount is so important to the Jewish people - to all
people really" as a universal house of prayer and peace, and
visiting the Temple Mount is, in Rabbi Richman's words "a
life-changing experience." He hastens to add that visits are
conducted "strictly according to halacha (Jewish law)."
"The whole concept of the shalosh regalim (three pilgrimage
festivals) has the holy Temple at the center of the experience. It is
unfortunate that through two thousand years of exile we have become
alienated from it - but there is an explicit Torah commandment to be
'seen by God' in the Temple," he says.
Rabbi Richman explains that despite the
absence of a Temple, there are still a number of important Torah
commandments which apply to the Temple Mount today - including a
mitzvah (Torah command) to ascend and "show reverence" to
the site - which is Judaism's holiest place.
In fact, that performance of Jewish law
is the main motivation for his group's organized ascents to the
Temple Mount all year round, he says, citing a ruling in the Rambam's
(Maimonides') famous Mishne Torah (one of the most respected works of
Jewish law), which lists Moreh Mikdash (reverence of the Temple
sanctuary) as a positive Torah command. That command, he points out,
is relevant all year round, regardless of whether the Temples
themselves are standing.
"So it's ironic that the Temple
Mount is the only place where Jews are actually banned from praying,"
he laments.
The Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest
site, where the two holy Temples of Israel stood, and where some
Jewish traditions teach that the creation of the world began.
But despite that fact, Jewish visitors
to the Mount are subject to severe restrictions, including a complete
ban on prayers or the performance of any other religious rituals, due
to the presence of an Islamic complex there that is built on the
ruins of the two Jewish Temples. This despite court orders rejecting
such bans as illegally infringing on the right to freedom of
religion.
Temple Mount activists have often cited
such restrictions as an added imperative for Jews to frequent the
Temple Mount, as a way of asserting Jewish rights at the holiest site
in Israel. The also fear the "abandonment" of the Temple
Mount to the Muslim Waqf trust, which administers the Islamic Al Aqsa
complex, and which stands accused of the systematic destruction of
Jewish artifacts on the Mount.
There is, however, an added layer of
controversy to such visits: a number of Orthodox rabbis oppose Jewish
ascents to the Mount, citing concerns over the laws of ritual purity
which are especially stringent on the Temple Mount and which, they
say, could be violated by uneducated Jewish visitors. Treading on
certain areas according to Jewish law can incur the punishment of
kareit, loosely translated as "spiritual excommunication."
But Rabbi Richman is unequivocal in his
dismissal - and even condemnation - of such opposition, blaming them
on misconceptions surrounding Jewish law. "First of all, what
we are doing is not 'controversial', or 'radical', or new in any
way," he explains. "People were aliya laregel for hundreds
of years after the destruction of the Second Temple [in 70 CE -
ed.]," he continues. "In fact, the Rishonim [medieval
Jewish commentators - ed.] don't even mention the Kotel (Western
Wall) at all - only the Temple Mount," he points out, insisting
that "we are simply renewing the Jewish way."
Read more at Israel National News
And visit our forum for discussion on the third temple and the Temple Institute.
