Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld

It is now close on sixty years since the Almighty privileged me to come to the Holy Land “to take pleasure in its stones and to favour the dust thereof.” Providence privileged me to be an eye witness to the reconstruction of the ruins of Jerusalem, to the extension of its settlement without the walled city. Houses were built, colonies were founded. Torah, religious and charitable institutions were established, as well as houses for old people. People living on the labour of their hands or on business came to the Holy Land.

During my stay in the Holy Land, especially inspired people were awakened to perform the precepts of Yishuv Eretz-Israel (Revival of Palestine) by agricultural work, also “to eat of its fruit and enjoy its produce,” thus creating the opportunity to exercise those precepts connected with the earth. Thus, with the help of the Almighty, colonies were established in Judea and Galilee, wherein I afterwards had the pleasure to walk and give praises and thanks to Him Who set up the “border of the widow.”

The Wailing Wall, the place whence the Divine Presence has never moved even in its ruined state, has been a place of refuge for prayer for all the inhabitants of the Holy Land.

Wherever the Jewish soul I craved to be near the Divine Presence, whenever a Jewish heart felt a need for prayer or supplication, it was in this holy place that it found relief and from here the prayer ascended to heaven.

This holy place serves also as a beacon-light for the whole world. The scattered of Israel at the farthest ends of the world direct their hearts, whilst at prayer, towards this divine place; and when they are in trouble they apply to their brethren in Jerusalem to offer up a prayer for them at this wall.

There has been no fixed time for such prayer. Whether by day or by night, this holy corner has not been deserted by the Jewish people. I, as one of the frequenters of this place, have never known any fixed hour for it, and many times I found myself at this holy place at a late hour of night alone, quite alone with Him Who “caused His name to rest in this House.”

During all those tens of years also after the country had come under the mandate of His Britannic Majesty's government, peace and tranquillity prevailed in the land. Its non-Jewish inhabitants looked with favour upon the flourishing of the settlement. Religious hatred, prevailing in some places abroad, had no footing in this holiest of countries. “He Who establishes peace in His Heights” spread His tabernacle of peace over His chosen land and city, and quietness and tranquillity reigned in our streets.

Our conscientious neighbours endeared the Jews and the Jews felt sympathy and esteem for the rest of the inhabitants. On no few occasions they were mutually helped by one another as becomes quiet and peaceful neighbours, mutually wishing the progress of their homeland. Also the Arabs themselves knew and know that the Jews mean well towards them and bring blessing to the country at large. All together they hoped for the Great Almighty's Day when “He would bring again His divine presence unto Zion” and the Holy Land would be given back its holiness and glory which it had in the days of old, to be again a light unto nations and kingdoms.

Behold now, woe unto us that such things have come to pass in our days! A spirit of confusion has caused a storm to hover over the Jewish people in the Holy Land. Hatred is destroying order, false allegations are taking root and cause the shedding of innocent blood and the ruining of holy settlements. The soil of the Holy Land is saturated with blood of pure and innocent souls, the voice of brothers' blood is crying to us out of the earth.

To our great sorrow there are being circulated false rumours and allegations, invented by lovers of strife, attributing bad meanings to the Jewish inhabitants in order to awaken anger, take revenge and turn our tranquil holy land into a field of murder and a place of punishment. The bitter results of these quarrels cause great injury to the whole population, and should the situation last still longer it is likely to spell havoc and ruination to the whole country and its myriads of inhabitants.

I have now attained the age of eighty and am punished by the Almighty to witness at my old age the shaking of the foundations of what has taken scores of years to build by the hard toil and sweat of the brow of people who sacrificed their live, with holy love and strong will, on the altar of establishing a sound and healthy settlement in the Holy Land.

I here appeal to all classes of the population in our holy land, particularly to our non-Jewish neighbours; and out of the depth of my broken and aching heart I beg them to have pity on the Holy Land and stay the evil and destroying hand. Remove hatred from your heart and do not allow yourselves to be misled by people who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by mistaken apprehensions, endeavour to sow seeds di separation among the various classes of the inhabitants.

Lend no ear to reports and libels which have no foundation.

Jews Mean No Harm

The Jewish inhabitants of the Holy Land mean no harm to any of the rest of the population. They, like all the inhabitants of the country, strive for the progress of the land to the benefit of all its inhabitants. There is in the Holy Land sufficient room for all to live therein peacefully without one interfering with what belongs to the other.

The Jewish People do not, under any consideration, desire to lay hands on that which is not theirs and much less to touch any of the rights of the rest of the inhabitants to the places they have been holding and toward which they have been cherishing respect and holiness. There is, particularly no foundation whatsoever to the rumour that the Jews wish to acquire the “Har Habayit” (Mosque of Omar site). On the contrary, since, by reason of our sins, we were exiled from our land, our Temple was destroyed and we are without the means of purification set out by our Torah, it is forbidden to any Jewish person to put his foot on the site of the Har Habayit (Mosque of Omar site), until the arrival of the righteous Messiah who, by the spirit of the Lord, will righteously reign for the welfare of entire humanity and who will give us back the means of purification prescribed for in our Torah.

We only plead that we should be allowed holiest place left to us the place of the Wailing Wall, so that we may still be able to pour forth our hearts before our Father in Heaven, in time of trouble and at any time when the Jewish soul craves for this holy place, without hindrance and tranquil mind, as heretofore.

I publish my words for all to hear and I hope that all just people of the nation will recognise the justice of what I say and will use every possible effort to re-establish peace in the Holy Land, removing suspicion and jealousy from the hearts of all the inhabitants. Then the Almighty will favour our work and direct our activities, so that we may be privileged to see the upbuilding and flourishing the Holy Land for the happiness of the whole world, and will cause the Divine Presence to rest among us, as in years of old.

Hoping for speedy salvation,