Jew Wears Tefillin on Temple Mount
Michael Pua managed to enter the Temple Mount compound with a concealed set of Tefillin. While walking around the site, Pua put the tefillin on his head and arm and continued his circuit of the holy site unhindered. Upon exiting, he was detained by police for questioning. It is unclear whether Pua was charged with an offense as Israeli law mandates religious equality and freedom of religion at holy sites.
While this protects the rights of Jews to pray freely on the Temple Mount, the Israeli police choose to curtail freedom of religious expression at the site claiming security concerns rather than require Palestinians to adhere to the law. Non-Muslims may only visit the site during limited daylight hours and are restricted from entering at night or on Shabbat. The site is frequently closed to non-Muslims on Muslim holidays.
Christians and Jews are prohibited from bringing religious objects onto the Temple Mount. While the Israeli police have given their tacit approval to uphold the law and allow Jews to pray at the site, this does not include permitting holy objects essential to prayer, such as tallit (a prayer shawl), tefillin (phylacteries), prayer books, and a Torah scroll,
Former member of the Knesset Moshe Feiglin and Temple Mount activist Rabbi Itai Elitzur joined the group with him.
In another section of the Temple Mount, a group of Jews were permitted to pray as a quorum of ten. This permitted them to perform the Kohanic blessing. It should be noted that when reciting the Kohanic blessing on the Temple Mount, the non-Kohanim being blessed respond “Blessed be the glory of His Majesty’ (ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו). When the Kohanic blessing is performed outside of the Temple Mount, the congregation responds simply “Amen”.
Tom Nisani, CEO of Beyadenu Temple Mount advocacy group praised the events
“The plot of our enemies did not succeed,” Nisani said. “Instead of the Al Aqsa Flood, the Jewish people fill the Temple Mount en masse on Jerusalem Day to prove that we cannot be defeated! Although dozens of Jews have already been detained in the mountain since this morning, discrimination will not prevent us from continuing to establish our sovereignty in the holiest place for the Jewish people. This is the overwhelming answer to all the pictures of the mosque in the Hamasnik homes.”
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