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Jerusalem

Jerusalem means the Temple Mount, and the Temple Mount means the Temple site. When the Moslems conquered the Middle East with Jewish financial and military help, the Caliph Omar came to receive the keys of Jerusalem from the Christian monks. The Temple site was then a rubbish heap. He offered it to the local Jews telling them to clear it and rebuild the Temple. The Jews refused the offer, saying they cannot touch the site until the coming of the Messiah.

Omar then arranged for the site to be cleared, but the Moslems left the site vacant for a Jubilee period of fifty years, and since the Messiah did not come, the Caliph Abdul Malik built the present Dome of the Rock to protect the holiness of the site of Solomon's Temple. The Aqsa Mosque from which Mohammed is said to have travelled to heaven is a long distance away.

With the establishment of Israel what should be Jewish policy to all this?
I believe the Jews should realise that by now they cannot take over this holy site from the Moslems and re-build a new temple. Rather, we must ask the Moslems to open the Dome of the Rock for all believers to become an inter-faith shrine, for Jews, Christians and Moslems as well as other people who believe in God.

In return, Jews should offer to regard Jesus and Mohammed as "missionaries'' of God, together with Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses. "Missionary'' means messenger but a little short of it, in that the connection does not emanate from God but from mankind.

Can anyone deny that in the name of Jesus 2 billion people now believe in the Jewish God, and that because of Mohammed one billion people believe in the Jewish God?

 

 

 

 

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