Protest against the police kowtowing to Islamic supremacism

Jewish date:  29 Tammuz 5772 (Parashath Maṭṭoh-Mas‘e).

Today’s holidays:  The Three Weeks (Judaism), Thursday of the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Dr. Doom/St. Thulsa Doom (Church of the SubGenius), Lucaria (ancient Roman religion), Feast Day of the Magi: Krishna (Thelema).

Greetings.

If I can take a break from my series on Neopaganism—I still have a lot of work to do on my discussion of Gerald Gardner—I would like to talk about a protest I went to yesterday in Yerushalayim near the Prime Minister’s residence.  As regular readers of this blog or my Facebook friends should know, there is a lot of fighting going on over the police being blatantly discriminatory against openly observant Jews and allowing the Waqf (an Islamic trust) to do pretty much anything they want on the Temple Mount, including rampant destruction of any and all Jewish artifacts they can find up there and, most recently, putting scaffolding directly on the Foundation Stone, the place where the Ark of the Covenant rested, while they do repairs on the Dome of the Rock.  It should go without saying this is a gross violation of freedom of religion and Israeli law.  Please see the relevant article “A-G: Israeli law is applicable on Temple Mount” and the article in which the Palestinian Authority gives its response, nothing less than the equivalent of a temper tantrum, “PA Slams A-G for Saying Israeli Law Applies on Temple Mount”.  Also please see “Second Temple-era mikveh discovered under Al-Aqsa mosque”, which goes into the Waqf’s attempts to erase Jewish history from the Temple Mount.

Further relevant articles dug up while writing this post:  “Police Admit Permitting Arab Construction at Temple’s Foundation Stone for Six Years”, “Why the Temple Mount Should Matter - to Everyone”, “'Stop Wakf from destroying Foundation Stone'”, “Is Israel losing Temple Mount war?”, “Chabad Temple Course 'Scares' Muslim Groups”, “Anti-Semitism on the Temple Mount”, “'Israel has no right to interfere on Temple Mount'”, “A Found(dation) Stone Lost”, “Arab Rage: Putin Notes Jerusalem's Jewish Past”.

Back to the protest.  This is the flyer announcing the protest:

Being protested are the banning of Rav Yisra’el ’Ari’el of the Temple Institute and 18 others from the Temple Mount for the horrendous “crime” of opening praying there and the aforementioned desecration of the Foundation Stone.  (See “Likud MK denounces Temple Mount ‘infringement’” and “Astonishing Footage Of Jerusalem Day Prayer, Song And Blessings On The Temple Mount!”.)

This flyer reproduces a letter from Binyamin Nethanyahu to Yehudhah ‘Eṣyon of the Ḥay weQayyam Movement in which he affirms his support for freedom of worship of all on the Temple Mount, regardless of religion.  This is from 1995, 17 years ago.  Some of us expect him to actually keep his word.

Both of these flyers complain of discrimination on the Temple Mount.  The one on the left complains that wearing a kūfiyyah is OK, but a ṭallith is not.  The one on the right complains, “Enough, enough of discrimination, we have a right of prayer.”

This one announces a planned ascent to the Temple Mount this Sunday (July 22, 2012) for the merit of Rav ’Ari’el and those forbidden to visit the Temple Mount.  Not listed is this is planned for 7:45 AM.  I hope to be there, though I probably will not get there in time.

The flyer on the left says, “Enough of coercion, enough of discrimination.  Enough of trampling right of prayer.”  The one on the right has already been discussed.

This flyer complains that bringing a Qur’ān is considered OK, but a copy of Psalms is not.

Anyone who can visit the Temple Mount on Sunday—or any other day—please do so.  The police need the message that we will not bow to intimidation and will demand our rights.  Do not be quick to accept “no” for an answer, and please hang around as long as possible if you do get “no” for an answer.  You are not obligated to make the lives of those who enforce discrimination easy.  Feel free to write up your experiences visiting or trying to visit the Temple Mount; I will be happy to publish them—and you may tell that to the police.

Also, please sign this petition:  “Petition Stop the Desecration of the Temple Mount”.

Thank you.

Peace.

’Aharon/Aaron

Holidays between Pesaḥ and Shavu‘oth

 Jewish date: 15 Siwan 5771 (Parashath Shelaḥ Lekha).

Today’s holidays:  Friday of the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast of Marvel “Jack” Parsons (Thelema), Feast Day of St. Zontar of Venus (Church of the SubGenius).

Greetings.

To get completely caught up, I should put in a few words on Jewish/Israeli holidays which occur between Pesaḥ (Passover) and Shavu‘oth (Pentecost).  I am sorry I did not get around to writing about them earlier; my memory of them seems to have faded further than I should have allowed it.

Yom hashSho’ah (Israeli Holocaust Day) and Yom hazZikkaron (Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day):  These are naturally solemn days.  The first does not seem to be taken off from work, while the second everyone left early from.  Both I remember being marked by the lighting of memorial candles, such as this one:

I also remember a national minute of silence on both days.

Yom ha‘Aṣma’uth (Israeli Independence Day):  This holiday celebrates the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.  My activities on that day on the Temple Mount have already received the attention of an entire blog post.  Yom ha‘Aṣma’uth is celebrated as a national holiday, with everyone getting off of work, and here in Giv‘ath Shemu’el we celebrated it as a religious holiday, too.  Our synagogue had an evening assembly with prayer services, speakers, and music to celebrate, and in the morning the synagogue I prayed out said Hallel (celebratory psalms) with blessings—something done in recognition of the arguably miraculous nature of Israel’s surviving the attack of the surrounding Arab countries intent on preventing there being a non-Muslim state in the region.  This was not only a day off from work, but the country really meant it.  As I walked from the Jerusalem Central Bus Station to the Old City, I saw barely any store of any kind open.  People also tend to have barbecues, and there were a lot of blue and white decorations around.  (Actually, a lot of them are still up, come to think of it.)

Day 33 of the ‘Omer/Lagh ba‘Omer:  I have already posted a link to commentary on the questionable origins of this holiday.  This holiday is infamous for people making bonfires.  Unfortunately, I somehow managed to avoid seeing any.

Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day):  This holiday celebrates the reunion of Jerusalem in 1967 when the Arabs attacked again, intent on wiping Israel off the map again, and not only lost the war, but territory as well.  This was not a day off, but we had another assembly, and Hallel with blessings was said in the morning.  I assumed that there was no way that the Waqf was going to let an observant Jew visit the Temple Mount this day, so I did not arrange my schedule for such a visit.  To my surprise, I afterward learned that Rav ’Ari’el of the Temple Institute did ascend on Yom Yerushalayim, lectured up there, and even laid a stone towards the rebuilding of the Temple.

OK, that is it for the moment.  I have other writing projects in the works.  I have learned of another passage in the Talmudh on Jesus (found in two places) and translated both versions; I now need to get around to writing commentary on it.  There is also a Jesus movie on Hulu which I ought to comment on.  Furthermore, Barry has alerted me to Ayn Rand becoming popular among the Republican Party lately.  Ayn Rand’s quasi-religion, Objectivism (a misnomer if there ever was one), is openly pro-selfishness—something rare in moral systems—leading to an obvious contradiction with Christianity.  I have started reading Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and it definitely merits moral commentary.  This may also lead me to reread material on LaVeyan Satanism, another pro-selfishness quasi-religion.  (Now somebody remind me to get back to reading The Golden Bough, which I am stuck in the middle of and need to get around to finishing.  Come to think of it, I am still in the middle of the Mahabharata, too.  So much material, so little time to review it…)

I would like to end with a bit of religious humor before it eats my brain.  I have finished unpacking all the books I had shipped to me here in Israel.  The last box contained the entire Scientology public canon.  The cover of one of the books struck me as shocking:

I realize that the Church of Scientology loves to recruit celebrities and have them promote Scientology, but HOW COULD THING (OF THE ADDAMS FAMILY) EVER BECOME A SCIENTOLOGIST?  SAY IT ISN'T SO!  SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

’Aharon/Aaron

The Old City of Yerushalayim

Greetings.

Jewish date:  7 Tishri 5771.

Today’s holidays:  Ten Days of Repentance (Judaism), Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows (Roman Catholicism), Paryushana (Hinduism), Feast Day of St. Gilles de Rais (Church of the SubGenius).

Worthy causes of the day:  “DemocracyForAmerica.com » Stand with Patrick Leahy”, “Save Darfur Coalition:  Give just 60 seconds for Sudan”, and “Tell Congress: Don't extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy”.

I apologize for not having posted earlier this week.  I am keeping busy with other things (such as getting ready to move to Israel) and allergies.  Expect a lot of posting disruptions for the next few months because of the move.  Also expect a different posting schedule after the move, at the very least posting happening at different hours.

I also would like to apologize for neglecting current religious news, such as everything surrounding the Cordoba Initiative’s planned mosque near Ground Zero (a lot of it paranoia, ignorance, immaturity, and dishonesty) and Dr. Stephen Hawking’s unjustified claims about the existence of God.  This is not a denial of the importance of these topics.  Rather, I feel it more important that I generate content than simply comment on other people’s content.  I was in Israel recently, and I saw things not discussed in the news, and no one can report on what I saw but myself.

Topic 1:  The Old City of Yerushalayim/Jerusalem.  The name is something of a misnomer.  The original city of Yerushalayim, at the time of Dawidh (David) was to the south of the Temple Mount.  Yerushalayim has been demolished and rebuilt a number of times since then, with the city walls in different places.  E.g., the wall from the First Temple Period runs through the current “Old City”:

The current “Old City”, which has the Temple Mount at its southeastern corner, was (re)built by the Ottoman Turks, making it the “Old City” by virtue of the fact that the rest of modern Yerushalayim grew (and continues to grow) around it.  It is not a modern city.  The streets are mostly narrow and unsuited for automobile traffic.  On those streets that can carry vehicular traffic, pedestrians are frequently dangerously close to vehicles.  Some streets are largely or entirely covered overhead and are more properly corridors rather than streets.

The Western Wall and the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, which are properly in the Old City, have been discussed previously in this series.  And the Temple Mount itself, as I have not visited it yet, I plan to discuss when I do visit it (YHWH willing).  So what does that leave to discuss?

1) The Temple Institute.  This organization housed in an unassuming building close to the Temple Mount is working to prepare everything necessary for the rebuilding of the Temple.  Unfortunately, they do not like people taking pictures of their exhibits (which I respected), so you will have to visit them yourself to see what they have created.  But closer to the Temple Mount, they have put on display one item:

This is the menorah (candelabrum), which they are probably willing to have out in public due to the fact that it is large and heavy enough that carrying it off would be at best difficult, given that people walk by it 24 hours a day and there is nowhere to park a getaway vehicle.  Many other utensils, such as the shulḥan (table for showbread) and incense altar, are housed in the Temple Institute itself.  Reportedly there has been work on the main altar, though I do not know where that is housed.

2) The Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

This is where Jesus is supposed to have been crucified and buried.  I did not visit it so much as stick my head in the courtyard where it stands and take two pictures.  (Maybe I will feel a bit braver next time about approaching it, though entering it is out of the question.  If I take a non-Jewish friend with me next time, I may get some pictures of the inside.)  This building is reported as being claimed by all the major pre-Protestant Christian churches, and the truce under which they share it is tense at best.  At the right upper-story window you will notice a ladder; it has been there for a few hundred years because the factions cannot agree on who has the right to take it down.  It has been moved around a bit in contravention of the refusal of the factions to agree on who can move it.  I am not sure what Jesus would have made about all of this, though I suspect Christians may find inter-Jewish squabbles just as impenetrable and weird.

3)  The shops.  Where there are tourists, there are inevitably people trying to sell things to tourists.  (And I am NOT talking about that Judaica/Jewish bookstore near the Temple Mount, which I entered to get out of the heat and was allowed to browse in peace.  I am talking about the little shops found on the way to the Temple Mount and Church of the Holy Sepulcher.)  You definitely want to stay away from those people who run the tourist trap shops in the Old City, because they are extremely aggressive and will do whatever they can to try to get you to buy something.  (They are even more aggressive than the beggars near and at the Western Wall.)  This includes the merchants claiming you will get a blessing if you buy something, even something inexpensive.  These merchants are not actually dangerous, even in the Muslim Quarter—physically attacking potential customers would be bad for business, especially with Israeli police with big guns around—but they can be a real hassle.  Under no conditions should you enter their shops, as the merchants may try to block your exit.  The interesting thing (in terms of religious fallacies and misconceptions) about these shops is the ecumenicism:  the merchants often have things to suit a variety of ideological tastes.  For example:

Notice the presence of pro-Israeli and pro-“Palestinian” T-shirts.

Notice a lot of Judaica—and a big crucifix.

Here is a real doozy.  Lots of Judaica, but also those fancy eggs favored by Orthodox Christians and evil eye amulets in a style favored by Turks.  Notice the menoroth have seven branches; such a style is supposed to be reserved for the Temple and not for general use.  (But it may be a bit much to expect a Muslim shopkeeper to know and respect this.)  There were also a number of other items, such as chessboards and six-string ukeleles, which kept showing up at the shops, but whose connection to religion or Yerushalayim I am unaware of.

Topic 2:  For today’s religious humor, this book which I found in a bookstore in Yerushalayim:

There is nothing wrong with this book, but somehow Green Eggs and Ham in a country where the two most popular religions forbid eating pig meat seems rather odd.

Peace.

Aaron