Jews and Christians remember Charlie Kirk on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

JERUSALEM — About three dozen Jews, along with some Christians, ascended the Temple Mount earlier this week to offer prayers, sing psalms, and remember slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick led the Wednesday afternoon procession. Glick is president of Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, an organization that lobbies for expanding Jewish access to the contested Temple Mount.

“We are Jews and Christians—praying people—who are in pain and hurt and traumatized by the terrible assassination of a good friend, Charlie Kirk, who inspired so many people around the world, mainly through his belief in dialogue,” Glick said. He went on to characterize Kirk as a man who loved God, Israel, and Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) and who understood the value of family.

Wednesday’s date was significant. It marked seven days since Kirk’s assassination, the traditional mourning period when Jews sit shiva for close friends or family members. While the Jewish members of the group did not sit shiva for Kirk, the date was chosen for its symbolic significance.

Organizations that promote Jewish access to the Temple Mount, such as Glick’s foundation and Beyadenu, the group that organized the event, took note of Kirk’s ardent support for the state of Israel. Kirk regularly defended Israel in debates hosted on college campuses. Prior to a debate in July, Kirk said some of his greatest experiences were visiting the state of Israel and defending it publicly. Both Shalom Jerusalem Foundation and Beyadenu regularly give tours of the Temple Mount and opted to hold a special tour on Wednesday in honor of Kirk’s memory.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick leads pilgrims on an ascension to the Temple Mount to honor the late Charlie Kirk. WORLD News Group / Photo by Travis K. Kircher

A contested site

Visiting what Jews refer to as the Temple Mount is a complicated endeavor, one governed by carefully negotiated rules. Both Jews and Muslims claim the same location as a holy site. Jews revere it as the site of both the first and second Jewish temples, described in the Old and New Testaments. Muslims consider it the third-holiest site in Islam and the spot where Muhammad ascended into heaven. Muslims in the seventh century built both the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine on the very place where many religious Jews want to rebuild the Jewish Temple.

As a result of competing religious claims, a status quo has emerged around the governance of the site. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has maintained de facto control over all of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. But in a compromise, it allows an Islamic charity, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, to administer the site, with Israel providing security.

As a result, the Waqf permits Jews and Christians to visit the Temple Mount but forbids them to pray there. Enforcement varies, however. Recently, such religious activity has been overlooked in predesignated areas, particularly the eastern side of the site. 

Rules for outsiders

There are currently 11 gates to the Temple Mount. But according to Akiva Ariel, head of public relations for Beyadenu, which promotes Jewish access to the site, non-Muslims are permitted access to only one of them—the Mughrabi Gate, near the Western Wall. Before passing through the gate, the pilgrims on Wednesday went through a checkpoint equipped with metal detectors and secured by Israeli police. The police help ensure no prohibited religious activity takes place on the Temple Mount.

“They check our pockets,” Ariel said. “Not for weapons, but if we have a holy book—a Bible, a prayer book,” or Jewish religious attire, like the tallit or phylacteries.

Ariel helped organize the event but was unable to attend himself due to a six-month ban from the site. The ban was imposed, he said, after someone complained that he pushed to have visitors bring Israeli flags to the Temple Mount.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick and other Jewish worshippers prostrate themselves before the former site of the Jewish Temple. The Islamic Dome of the Rock is visible before them. WORLD News Group / Image by Travis K. Kircher

A little off schedule

The crowd was larger than usual at the gate on Wednesday and it led to the tour starting later than planned.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” Rabbi Glick said. “We’re a little off schedule. Like 2,000 years off schedule.” Several of the pilgrims laughed.

One of the Israeli police sternly listed the guidelines for the Temple Mount: no touching of objects, dancing, or wearing of religious attire—and most importantly, always listen to the officers.

“Meanwhile, he said he’s excited you’re all here,” Glick said to more laughter. “And he said, ‘When are we all ready to rebuild the Temple?’ and his heart was so moved …”

At that point, the officer cut Glick off. The tour was about to begin. 

An unusual view

As the pilgrims entered the gate, they emerged on the southwest corner of the mountain, providing them with an unusual view: the opposite side of the Western Wall, the last remaining part of the Second Temple. The group began walking through a courtyard and Glick launched into a recitation of Psalm 24.

Several women dressed in Islamic garb were sitting nearby. They watched the procession silently.

As the group made its way to the northeastern side of the mountain, Glick, flanked by Israeli police, led them in a Jewish song based on Psalm 122, first singing in Hebrew and then in English:

“For the sake of my brethren and my friends,
For the sake of my brethren and my friends,
I will speak shalom upon you.”

One of the officers filmed the events with a small camera elevated on a stand above his head.

“To our left right now is the location of the altar,” Glick said. “The altar was surrounded every single day with Levites who would sing with trumpets, and with lyres, and with harps, to praise the name of God. I think that anybody who ever was in the presence of Charlie [knows] … there is never a chance where he does not mention God.”

As the group continued, the Dome of the Rock moved into view off to their left. Glick led them in a recitation of Psalm 27.

He went on to further discuss Kirk’s life.

“I want you to understand: The fact that he was assassinated doesn’t prove that every word he said was true,” Glick said. “But he fought for the truth. And he said everybody should take it upon himself to read everything! Read all the books until you decide the way you choose.”

Rabbi Yehuda Glick reads prayers on the Temple Mount, with the Islamic Dome of the Rock in the background. WORLD News Group / Image by Travis K. Kircher

Prayers for shalom

On the eastern side of Temple Mount, many members of the procession adopted a physical posture of prayer. Glick and a few others lay prostrate, face down, pointing in the direction of the Dome of the Rock. They did so not because of the shrine itself, but because it is on the former site of the Jewish Temple. Glick led them in prayers for the state of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces, as well as President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. He then returned to the topic of Kirk’s death.

“Who are people likely to be assassinated?” Rabbi Glick asked. “Only people who have a truth, have a faith, they stand up for their truth and their faith, and there are people listening to their truth and their faith. And there are weak people who don’t know any other language except the language of the weak, which is violence.

“We have to be sure that the voice will be heard louder and clearer and be heard by many, many more people.”

At the conclusion of the pilgrimage, the group approached the Dome of the Rock shrine. They stood at the bottom of several steps leading up to the shrine. Non-Muslims are forbidden in or near the shrine, but Jews wish to pray as close as possible to it, since it’s built exactly where they believe their Temple should be. At least three Israeli officers stood at the tops of the steps, blocking Jewish and Christian worshippers from ascending and Muslims from descending, preventing any interaction between the two groups. At the bottom of the steps, the group held a brief prayer, sang songs, and took pictures. As a woman dressed in Islamic garb started to make her way down the steps leading toward the group, one of the Israeli officers stopped her and pointed her in another direction.

One of the participants in the Charlie Kirk remembrance was Gidon Ariel, Akiva’s father. Gidon is a religious Jew and the founder of Root Source, a group that fosters communication between Jews and pro-Israel Christians.

“He, of course, was extremely popular in the United States, and he was popular amongst many people of similar views here in Israel,” Ariel said. “But I think just like in the United States, his popularity has grown tremendously in the mere week since his assassination.”

But Kirk wasn’t the point of Wednesday’s event. The main attraction was the Temple site itself—a place mentioned frequently in the Gospel accounts describing Jesus’ life. Jesus attended festivals there as a child, cleansed it of merchants and money changers, and prophesied of the Temple’s fall. Some Christians believe a new Temple will be built there again someday when Christ will return to rule for 1,000 years. 

“With all due respect to Charlie Kirk, the most important thing that we’re doing over here is going up to the Temple Mount,” Ariel said.

Three Israeli police officers at the top of the steps leading to the Islamic Dome of the Rock. The officers provide protection for Jewish and Christian pilgrims, prevent them from ascending the steps, and prevent Muslim visitors from interacting with them. WORLD News Group / Photo by Travis K. Kircher