CARRYING ON THE LIFE CAUSE OF ITZHAK AND NATASHA

Yitzchak and Tali Imas, an Israeli couple gunned down by terrorists on August 31^st 2010 while driving home to Beit Haggai, a small town near Hebron. If you did not know them personally, you should know about these beautiful people, of blessed memory indeed. For their killers, they were nameless symbols of the hated "Zionist entity". For their many friends, Tali and Yitzchak were inspired souls.

Yitzhak and Tali believed that, like Muslims, Jews should be free to pray at the Temple Mount and that the Holy Land must not be dealt with frivolously. Educated intellectuals, with degrees in history and philosophy, they knew that whenever land was sacrificed for peace, the peace was not lasting. In the land of Israel they were home in a sense that extended mere physical presence.

As time goes on, we realize more and more what a terrible loss we have suffered. Nobody will replace their parents for the children and our great friends for all of us. And yet, notwithstanding, we must, we are simply obliged, to try and carry on their life cause in this world.

Financial assistance keeps flowing in. But we can never be at rest until all their children, down to the youngest Oz-David, become grownup family people.

But all this is not enough. The lives of Itzhak and Natasha were devoted to the Temple, the Temple Mount. Maybe down the years, will we be able to appreciate the amount of work done by them. Those who remain behind must fill this inconceivable gap. It is very hard to replace them on the Mount. But even this is not enough.

This terrible day must become a turning point. It is no longer tolerable to observe, on the Mount, groups of three and a half Jews against the background of scores of thousands of Muslims. The situation on the Mount must change radically – this is our answer to the villainous assassins.

At this spot, the Holy of Holies of the Temple was placed

If we turn to Itzhak’s experience, we will understand that the key word there was consistency. Time and again, phone calls to people who must be dragged out of bed, taken to the mikvah and then to the Mount. Hundreds of times the same explanations,   Halakhic instructions. Over and over again, arguments with the policemen and the religious opponents of the ascensions. In rain and heat, on holidays and weekdays, getting there by thumbing a lift or in an old “Subaru”.

Now we have to take it upon ourselves. Maybe together, we can do something comparable to what has been done by those two people. With this aim in mind, every one of us must decide how much he can take upon himself. There is no place for unachievable pledges. One can take upon oneself one ascension a year, every half year or every month.

In its turn, The Meeting Place will try to arrange four ascensions a month. At the beginning of every month, we are planning to publish the dates of ascensions.

What can be done?

One can:

– take a decision

– study Halakhic instructions

– disseminate, as widely as possible, this appeal – through your magazines, all relevant communities and other social networks, in your synagogue, at your place of work or study, among your acquaintances and relatives.

– join the Meeting Place Mailshot which will inform you, in particular, about the upcoming ascensions to the Temple Mount. If there is a group from some town or settlement which needs help with transportation or if you would like us to arrange the ascension for a specific date, let us know.

– contribute money to the development of the Temple Mount project. Money is needed for a wide advertizing of ascensions, for descriptive materials on the Temple Mount and the creation of educational films.

However, it is important to emphasize that monetary aid does not exclude or replace all the other points mentioned above.

Thank you for your help!

Author: Meir Antopolsky
September 6, 2010