01 March 2007
A fringe group of extremist rabbis wants to resume the biblical practice of animal sacrifice at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, defying centuries of religious bans, according to a report by the Associated Press (AP) news agency. A group called the "Re-established Sanhedrin", after the Temple-era religious high court, has decided to buy some sheep and try to find one that is ritually suitable for sacrifice, with an eye toward resuming the practice at Temple Mount. The site is also holy to Muslims as they believe that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven there.
After the 1967 war Israel turned the day-to-day running of the site over to the Muslim Religious Council, but Palestinians take the Jewish fringe groups seriously. "Regrettably, there are many extremist Israeli groups who want to carry out their plans," Jerusalem's senior Islamic cleric, Mohammed Hussein, told AP, adding "Let them say what they want, al-Aqua is a Muslim temple."
Jewish prayer at the site is forbidden by most rabbis and by Israeli authorities. The 71 members of the "Re-established Sanhedrin" say they want to begin sacrificing animals again, despite the absence of the Temple, the ritual altar and all the required implements listed in the Bible. Rabbi Dove Stein of the group admitted that it would not be any time soon. "We want to do the sacrifice, but we have political problems," Stein told AP, adding: "We hope there will come a time when the government will agree. We will push for that to happen.
