Judge Bilha Yahalom and Jews praying on the Temple Mount.
Jewish Press: Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Bilha Yahalom on Wednesday revoked a restraining order that was handed to a Jew who prayed on the Temple Mount, and confirmed that it is permissible for Jews to pray quietly in the holiest Jewish site, Israel Hayom reported (תקדים: ביהמ”ש אישר קיום תפילה יהודית בהר הבית). This constitutes the first explicit legal decision allowing Jews to pray quietly inside the Temple Mount compound.
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.” Psalm 2:6
According to the group Yera’eh that promotes Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount, a record number of Jewish worshipers prayed on the Temple Mount in the summer: 4,239 Jews conducted prayer there during the month of Av, 5780. This is a jump of 76% compared to the same month in 5779 during which 2,759 Jews prayed on the Temple Mount.
Last Yom Kippur, a policeman approached Rabbi Aryeh Lipo, a frequent and well-known visitor to the Temple Mount, who was quietly praying and ordered him to leave the place because he was praying. Rabbi Lipo was promptly yanked from the site for allegedly violating the rules there. Rabbi Lipo petitioned the court, claiming that he had not done anything wrong and that Jewish prayers had been conducted on the Temple Mount regularly.
The Magistrate’s Court accepted Rabbi Lipo’s appeal and ruled that Jews were indeed allowed to pray quietly on the Temple Mount. Read More
