According to reports, Jerusalem police arrested 13 Israeli youth who were trying to perform the Jewish Shavuot sacrifice on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Friday, May 22, 2024.
The group apparently stormed the police checkpoint and broke through the gates controlling access to the Temple Mount. The youth scattered with hopes they could make the sacrifice during the confusion. They were quickly chased down by police and arrested.
The Shauvot sacrifice involves two loaves of unleavened bread that priests present as a wave offering to the Lord in Leviticus 23:17.
It was the third attempt by Orthodox Jews this year to conduct sacrifices on the Temple Mount.
On May 1, police arrested 21 Orthodox Jews who tried to smuggle a goat onto the Mount to perform a sacrifice during the second passover. This takes place a month after the actual passover to give Jews a second opportunity to perform the ritual if they were unable to do so earlier.
A similar attempt to sacrifice a goat was made in April during Passover resulting in the arrest of 14 Jewish men and boys.
Though Jerusalem is part of Israel, the Temple Mount is currently controlled by a Jordanian Muslim Waqf.
There are two Islamic building on the site, the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. While the Temple Mount is Judaism’s most holy site, the Noble Sanctuary, as it is called by Muslims, is Islam’s third most important religious site, behind Mecca and the Medina Mosque.
In 1967, the Israeli government passed legislation (Protection of Holy Sites Law) allowing Jews, Christians and Muslims full access to the Temple Mount for religious reasons.
However, in reality the government has enforced an unwritten ‘status quo’ provision which leaves the Muslims in control. As result, restrictions are in place as to when Jews and Christians can even visit the site.
Jews are also not allowed to perform any religious rituals on the Temple Mount, including praying or even bringing a Torah. This was implemented to prevent reactions from the Muslims.
Along with this, Jewish religious leaders have banned sacrifices on the Temple Mount, but for different reasons. In a statement released in 2022, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel reiterated that Jews were prohibited making sacrifices on the Temple Mount.
This is due to the uncertainty on the Jewish Temple’s original location. Consequently, individuals could inadvertently make sacrifices on the ground where the Holy of Holies once stood. This is the sacred area in the Temple that contained the Ark of the Covenant. The Jewish High Priest was only allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once a year during Passover.
The ultimate goal of Orthodox Jews is to rebuild the Jewish Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
However, a Temple is not necessary for making animal sacrifices said American Jewish Rabbi Joshua Wander in an interview with All Israel News.
”There are many people who mistakenly believe that we need to have either the mashiach [messiah] or the Beit HaMikdash [Third Temple] to start bringing sacrifices,” Wander stated. “That is faulty thinking.”
As evidence, he noted that when the Jews returned to the Promised Land under the Persians, Ezra initiated the sacrifices before the temple had even been rebuilt.
Secondly, he added that many of the Jewish sacrifices were communal. This meant they were conducted by every Jewish family and done on the Temple Mount, but outside of the Temple.
He called on the Jewish government to allow Jews to perform sacrifices on the Temple Mount. He added this could be done without removing the two Islamic buildings.
In recent months, there have been increasing calls for the government to allow Jews more religious expression on the Temple Mount. This includes Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir who is pushing the government to give Jews permission to pray at the site.
Warner’s call to allow sacrifices on the Temple Mount without the Temple is interesting, because I don’t believe God will allow a third Jewish Temple to be constructed.
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