“It Is Time”: Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Calls for a Synagogue on the Temple Mount

Temple Mount Prayer

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu said in an interview with Galei Israel Radio that building a synagogue on the Temple Mount is “a basic thing.” He argued that Jews should be able to pray there in a dignified place.

“It is time to pray there like human beings, in a synagogue, in a dignified place,” Eliyahu said.

He said the idea should not be seen as unrealistic or extreme. Instead, he described it as a natural expression of Jewish prayer at Judaism’s holiest site.

“Each of us understands that the Temple may not be tomorrow morning,” he said. “We would very much want that, but there are stages.”

A Synagogue on the Temple Mount

Eliyahu said a synagogue on the Temple Mount is “completely realistic.” He pointed to Israeli sovereignty and the available space on the site.

“It is completely realistic, because the Jews control the site and there is enough open space,” he said.

He also criticized what he described as a double standard on the Temple Mount.

“Today on the Temple Mount, I saw Arabs playing soccer,” Eliyahu said. “A soccer field for Arabs is legitimate, but a synagogue for Jews is not legitimate?”

For Eliyahu, the issue is not only religious. It is also national.

“Israeli rule today is the sovereign power, and there is no one who can tell the State of Israel what to do,” he said.

Jewish Prayer and Sovereignty

The Temple Mount sits at the center of Jewish memory, Jewish prayer, and Jewish national identity. For generations, Jews prayed toward the place where the First and Second Temples once stood.

Eliyahu’s comments reflect a growing public debate in Israel. At the center are Jewish access, Jewish prayer, and Israeli sovereignty at the site.

His argument is simple. If Israel controls the site, and if the Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest place, Jews should not be treated as guests when they come to pray.

For Eliyahu, a synagogue on the Temple Mount would not replace the Temple. It would be one stage toward restoring dignified Jewish prayer at the center of Jewish history.

The question he raised was direct. If open space on the Temple Mount can be used for other activity, why should organized Jewish prayer be treated as impossible?