D’var Torah for the month of Kislev ‎5770‎

‏
‎“…Thereafter your children came to the Holy of Holies of Your House, cleansed Your ‎Temple, purified the site of Your Holiness and kindled lights in the courtyards of Your ‎Sanctuary, and they established these eight days of Chanukah to express thanks and praise ‎to Your great Name.”‎

For over two thousand years, we, Jews have celebrated the purification of the ‎Temple, by the Hasmoneans. For three thousand years we have been turning in the ‎direction of the ‎î÷ãù‎, Temple, when praying. This small spot on the globe has been the ‎focus of our longing, our hope and our devotion from the beginning of our history.‎

This is written on a day of unrest and violence on the Temple Mount. The Moslems, who ‎have freedom of worship on the sacred site, accuse Israel of attempts to damage their ‎mosque. They do not allow Jews to utter a word of prayer, when they visit in limited ‎numbers on the mountain. They deny the historic fact of Jews ever having a Mikdash ‏‎ on the ‎Temple Mount. The lies, the falsehoods are easily spread and accepted by the Arab ‎population in Israel and in the Moslem world.‎

Our connection to this Holy Site goes back to Bereshit, when HaShem tested ‎Abraham with the ultimate test of the binding of Isaac, He sent him to the land ‎of Moriah:‎
‏
Abraham called the mountain:‎

‏‎“On the mountain HaShem will be seen”‎

Indeed, when Ya’acov had to leave home he passed the site and saw in his prophetic ‎dream the ladder, connecting heaven and earth. He declared:‎

‎“Frightened he said: How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God ‎and this is the gate of heavens!”‎

Ya’acov consecrated the place to be the future site of House of Hashem.

This site was purchased by David as mentioned in the last chapter of the book of Samuel ‎and in Chronicles II.‎


Solomon then began building the Temple of HaShem in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, ‎where He had appeared to his father David. He established it at David’s place, on the ‎threshing floor of Ornan the Yevusite.”‎

All one has to do is to read the  Tanach, and read the countless prayers in the  ‎sidur, and ‎îçæåø‎, festival prayers, to understand the depth of our connection to Har Habayit‏‎ ‎and the memory of Beit Hamikdash. This is an unbreakable bond.‎

May we see the return of the Divine Presence, to its dwelling place speedily in our ‎time. ‎
Miriam Hauer