When people think of Jewdar, they think “reasonable.” Jewdar is a reasonable guy. Is it reasonable to allow Jews onto the Temple Mount? Yes. Is it reasonable to allow Jews to control the Temple Mount? Is it reasonable for Jews to have a poster showing a rebuilt Beys Hamikdosh on the Temple Mount?
Tacky, perhaps, but reasonable. So understand that on the subject of the Temple Mount, Jewdar is coming from a place of perfect reasonableness. Which is why we have little sympathy for the two guys recently arrested for trying to sacrifice a lamb on the Temple Mount. See, here’s the thing. We had a Temple, and we performed sacrifices. We will have a Temple again, where, by all accounts, we will once again perform sacrifices. But last time Jewdar checked, we haven’t had a Temple for a while, and even before there was a mosque, Jews in Jerusalem weren’t making sacrifices on the Temple Mount. And we’ll go further. Whatever halachic authorities these guys might be going by, to Jewdar, the inability to have a Temple and so forth on the Mount is a reminder that even though we are in control of the physical space, God has not yet ended our spiritual Exile in that He has not yet chosen to come back home, and all the lamb chops in the world aren’t going to change that. If these guys want to make a statement about their feelings regarding the Temple, we suggest they stick to posters. In the meantime, we wonder if Bibi could put a call in to Obama to find out where he sends his pardoned Thanksgiving turkeys…
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