What is Hamas' greatest fear? That Israel will start to build the Temple!
One would have hoped that yesterday’s unique convergence of Passover, Easter and Ramadan would have led to a wonderful day of peace and brotherhood in the spiritual capital city of Jerusalem. Alas, any dream of religious harmony on a day holy to all three great Abrahamic faiths, was shattered by Muslim rioters who turned the Temple Mount into a bloody battlefield hurling stones at Jewish worshippers and Israeli vehicles.
Palestinian terrorists have been fanning the flames of religious violence in recent weeks, as Israelis have been preparing for the Passover holiday, observed this week. On Thursday evening, April 8, a Palestinian terrorist attacked Tel Aviv’s busy Dizengoff Square where mainly secular Israeli young people were crowded at bars and cafes, tragically murdering three Jews in their 20s.
Shortly after the deadly massacre, Hamas explained their motive and declared, “The continuing terrorism of the occupation and its crimes, attempts to Judaize Jerusalem and to perform sacrifices in the Al-Aqsa Mosque to build its so-called ‘Temple’ during what they call ‘Passover’ — against it stands blood and bullets.”
Through their statement, Hamas exposed their greatest fear: that Israel will start to build the Temple.
For thousands of years, Jews have been praying for a return to the Land of Israel. Over the last century, we have miraculously been restored to our homeland from the four corners of the earth, but are still awaiting the proper time to build the Temple.
Judaism is incomplete without the Temple, and Passover is a prime example, as Deuteronomy makes clear:
“You are not permitted to slaughter the Passover sacrifice in any of the settlements that Hashem your God is giving you; but at the place where Hashem your God will choose to establish His name, there alone shall you slaughter the Pesach sacrifice, in the evening, at sundown, the time of day when you departed from Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 16:5,6)