"Temple Mount Is More Important Than Peace"

When I first read the headline on this story, I cringed. I'm not one generally given to extremeism and this seemed to be crossing that line. But after reading it, I absolutely agree with the premise.

The Temple Mount is, most certainly, the most important piece of religious ground in the world. More than the Vatican, more than Mecca, more so even than the Church of the Nativity; the Temple Mount plays a key role in all three of the major monotheistic religions.

But it has a special importance to the Jews. The Christians controlled the Mount for a while during the Crusades, but we never really went back. The Muslims controlled it and built a couple of temples on it, but it is relatively insignificant to the Muslims - Mecca and Medina are far more important. But the Jews, every year for nearly two thousand years - "Next year in Jerusalem."

Jerusalem and the Temple Mount aren't just important to Judaism - they almost are Judaism. The city and the Wall are the physical links to everything in the Jewish history. There is no place else of any real significance in Judaism, just Jerusalem.

Would the Jews survive without Jerusalem? Yes, they did for nearly two millenia. But if something were to happen to their beloved Jerusalem, they would only return to the mantra - "Next year in Jerusalem." And they would find a way to either retake the city if conquered or to rebuild the city if destroyed.

It is the idea of Jerusalem, the home of God on earth, the site of the Temple, and now the site of the Western Wall that is so important to the Jews. Jerusalem represents all that was good and pure and right. Jerusalem is as much an ideal as it is a physical location.

And in all of that, the Temple Mount is the highest ideal in the city. The Temple Mount is everything about Jerusalem raised expotentially. To voluntarily surrender the Temple Mount would be tantamount to voluntarily abandoning the ideals of the Jewish faith.

The Temple Mount is absolutely critical to the Jewish faith. It is a physical representation of that faith. Walking away from it cannot and should not be an option for the Jews.

There cannot be another "Next year in Jerusalem."