Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount

Motti Inbari

Description

The Temple Mount, located in Jerusalem, is the most sacred site in Judaism and the third-most sacred site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The sacred nature of the site for both religions has made it one of the focal points of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount is an original and provocative study of the theological roots and historical circumstances that have given rise to the movement of the Temple Builders. Motti Inbari points to the Six Day War in 1967 as the watershed event: the Israeli victory in the war resurrected and intensified Temple-oriented messianic beliefs. Initially confined to relatively limited circles, more recent "land for peace" negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors have created theological shock waves, enabling some of the ideas of Temple Mount activists to gain wider public acceptance. Inbari also examines cooperation between Third Temple groups in Israel and fundamentalist Christian circles in the United States, and explains how such cooperation is possible and in what ways it is manifested.
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Religious Zionism and the Temple Mount Dilemma: Key Trends

2. Messianic Naturalism as the Product of Dissonance: The Activities of the Temple Institute

3. The Movement for Redemption and Yehuda Etzion: Theocratic Post-Zionism

4. Gershon Salomon and the Temple Mount Faithful: Apocalyptic Messianism

5. Haredi Messianic Activism: The Movement for the Establishment of the Temple

6. Yitzhak Ginzburg and “Od Yosef Chai” Yeshiva: Theocratic Messianic Revolutionism

Concluding Remarks
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Israel
• History of the Middle East

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438426419
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

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Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount

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Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount Who Will Build the Third Temple?

By Motti Inbari

Translated by Shaul Vardi

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2009 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Inbari, Motti. [Fundamentalizm Yehudi ve-Har ha-bayit. English] Jewish fundamentalism and the Temple Mount : who will build the Third Temple? / Motti Inbari. p. cm. — (Suny series in Israeli studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-2623-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-2624-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Temple Mount ( Jerusalem) 2. Religious Zionism—Israel. 3. Jewish fundamentalism—Political aspects— Israel. 4. Israel—Politics and government—21st century. 5. Messianic era (Judaism) 6. Judaism—-Relations—Christianity. 7. Christianity and other religions—Judaism. I. Title. DS109.28.I5313 2009 296.4'82—dc22 2008036209

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Contents

1. Religious Zionism and the Temple Mount Dilemma: Key Trends

2. Messianic Naturalism as the Product of Dissonance: The Activities of the Temple Institute

3. The Movement for Redemption and Yehuda Etzion: Theocratic Post-Zionism

4. Gershon Salomon and the Temple Mount Faithful: Apocalyptic Messianism

5. Haredi Messianic Activism: The Movement for the Establishment of the Temple

6. Yitzhak Ginzburg and “Od Yosef Chai” Yeshiva: Theocratic Messianic Revolutionism

Concluding Remarks

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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Acknowledgments

For the past ten years I have been studying active messianic movements in modern-day Israel. I joined End of Days cults, I interviewed “prophets,” and I demonstrated at the gates of the Temple Mount. I witnessed the strength of millennial expectations, followed by the failure of prophecies and the subsequent decline of messianic faith. So, why is a secular Jew who comes from a leftist, almost antireligious, family involving himself with people so enchanted by religious dreams and aspirations? Truthfully, I was drawn to this study by accident. In 1994, as a junior freelance journalist, I was assigned by my editor, along with my wife who was also a reporter, to explore the story of a strange new phenomenon. A rabbi named Uzi Meshulam, who lived in a small town near Tel-Aviv, had organized a violent demonstration with his followers that started when they barricaded themselves inside Meshulam’s home. The po- lice eventually broke into the house after they had had it under siege for forty-seven days. As journalists, we came to the conclusion that this group was fueled by acute messianic expectations that encouraged them in their violent behavior; they believed that the messiah would come to rescue them. During this time, I had started graduate studies at the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The inci- dent so interested me that I wanted to investigate it further, so I decided to take a course on messianism. I enrolled in a seminar with Jonathan Frankel and I wrote a paper based on what I had witnessed during the un- fortunate affair. That seminar paper later became my master’s thesis. In 2001 I began doctoral studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Under the supervision of Jonathan Frankel and Menachem Feidman, I started a new project that became my doctoral dissertation. The book you are holding now is a revised version of that study. I wish to express my gratitude to many people who have taught me and assisted me in the years in which I prepared this work. I consider it a great honor to be the student of the late Professor Jonathan Frankel, who has guided my academic studies for more than ten years. With his help I learned how to conduct research and produce aca- demic papers.

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Acknowledgments

I am also grateful to have Menachem Friedman as an adviser for this study. It is an honor for me to thank Eliyahu Schliffer for reading the draft manuscript. His advice was essential to the success of the work. I am also for- tunate to have the support of generous colleagues including Yaakov Ariel, who shared his expertise, critical insights, and friendship, and Kenneth Wald, who offered dedication and devotion to my research. The same goes for Israel Bartal. I wish to express my gratitude to Dov Schwartz, Yoram Bilu, Maria Leppakari, Ted Sasson and Gerald Murray. Their insights and collegiality were of major importance. I would like to express my thanks to the following institutions for their generous grants: the Cherrick Center for the Study of Zionism at the Hebrew University; the Tami Schtinemitz Center for Peace Studies at Tel-Aviv University; the Francis Gunter Prize in the Study of Jerusalem and its Environs; the Ben-Shemen Best Dissertation Award for the Study of Zionism and the State of Israel; and the Dorot Fellowship from the Jerusalem campus of the Hebrew Union College. I send special thanks to Dr. Mitchell G. Bard and the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise and the Schusterman Family Foundation for supporting my postgraduate studies and granting me the best publication award in Israel Studies. This research was conducted with the support of several of the activists studied in this book. I would like to thank Rabbi Yossef Elboim, Baruch Ben-Yossef, Gershon Salomon, Yehuda Etzion, Yoel Lerner, and Hillel Weiss. It is a pleasure to thank the Institute for Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was, and still is, my intellectual home. I am grateful for the support of the Center for Jewish Studies at the Uni- versity of Florida that granted me the Schusterman Visiting Assistant Pro- fessorship that allowed me to translate and revise this research. I wish also to thank the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, headed by a dear colleague and friend, Dr. Ilan Troen, for granting me a postdoctoral fellowship that allowed me to finish preparing this book. I am pleased to have the State University of New York Press as my publisher. I especially appreciate Russel Stone, editor for the series in Israel Studies. Finally, I owe thanks to my wife Aliza for her patience and support over the long haul. Without her encouragement, advice, and gentle prod- ding, this work would not have reached publication. To her and to our children, Shani and Shir, I dedicate this book. Portions of the first chapter are reprinted by the permission of Indi- ana University Press. Originally published as “Religious Zionism and the Temple Mount Dilemma,”Israel Studies12, no. 1 (2007): 29–47. Portions of the fifth chapter are reprinted by the permission of the Hebrew Union College Annual. Originally published as “The Oslo Accords and the Temple Mount: A Case Study—the Movement for the Establish- ment of the Temple,”Hebrew Union College Annual74 (2003): 279–323.