Unaccompanied Jews on Har Habayit

Har Habayit has been closed since the terror attack last week in which 2 policemen were shot and killed.

This morning Har Habayit was reopened and Jews were allowed on. The news sites are making a big deal, and it is a big deal, about the fact that while normally Jewish groups on Har Habayit are escorted by the police and by representatives of the Waqf, today there were no Waqf reps present.

While publicly prayer is still not allowed, I did hear from people that as long as they did not do anything publicly against the rules on Har Habayit, without the Waqf reps present the police were more lenient in what they allowed the Jewish visitors to get away with.

Baby steps, as they say. Little by little. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

The one thing I am not sure about is why the Waqf representatives were not present. None of the articles I read explained why. Was it because the police "punished" them and did not allow them to escort the Jews? Was it because they are protesting the Israeli police/government installing metal detectors through which the Arabs have to pass upon entry to Har Habayit? Is this a temporary change or a permanent one?

Even if only temporary, it is good to see the symbolic "shualim" - foxes - as referred to in Rabbi Akiva's vision - not scampering around Har Habayit.

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