Hundreds gathered in Jerusalem to witness history as Menorah lit using pure olive oil to Temple standards for first time in 2000 years.
On Monday, the seventh day of Hanukkah, a truly unique and historic event took place for the first time in nearly 2,000 years.
In the Old City of Jerusalem, hundreds gathered to witness the lighting of a hanukkiah, or menorah, using pure olive oil made to the precise specifications as the oil used to light the menorah in the ancient Jewish Temples.
The event was jointly organized by the Temple Institute and the Association of Temple Movements.
In accordance with Jewish law (Halakha), fully organic olives had to be sourced from Israel’s northern Golan Heights, and were picked by volunteers. The oil was then extracted in a state of ritual purity, under the supervision of the Temple Institute’s Rabbi Azaryah Ariel.
Rabbi Richman has been one of the leading campaigners for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. Jews are currently forbidden from praying there due to pressure by Muslim organizations and Islamist extremists.
“In these very days in which we are struggling for the rights of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, we recall and commemorate our ancestors’ struggle for religious freedom in this land under the cruel occupation of the Greek invaders,” he continued. “When Israel truly exercises full sovereignty over the Temple Mount with the building of the Holy Temple, Israel and all of humanity will finally experience true freedom.”
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