Rabbi Who Took 4 Bullets For Non secular Freedom To Honor Charlie Kirk With Prayer Rally In Jerusalem

[ad_1] Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a former Israeli Knesset member and distinguished advocate for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, has introduced plans to steer a prayer rally in honor of slain American conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Glick, himself a survivor of a 2014 assassination try, views Kirk’s dying not solely as a private tragedy however as a symbolic assault on values they each championed — religion, freedom of speech, and biblical reality.

In an emotional interview with Israel Nationwide Information, Glick expressed deep sorrow over Kirk’s assassination, calling it “a private shock” and a reminder of the risks confronted by those that converse brazenly about their values. Drawing a parallel between his personal near-fatal taking pictures and Kirk’s focused killing, Glick emphasised that individuals of religion and conviction are sometimes those most susceptible to extremist violence. “Who're the folks which are focused for assassination? It’s individuals who imagine in freedom of speech, but in addition have reality and religion that they’re keen to talk about,” he mentioned.

Glick sees Kirk as greater than a political determine — he represents a rising and highly effective alliance between evangelical Christians and supporters of Israel. Glick described Kirk as a person who lived by biblical ideas, together with the sanctity of household and respect for spiritual custom. He famous that Kirk had proven reverence for the Temple Mount and advocated for the precise of all believers to wish there, no matter religion.

In tribute to Kirk’s legacy, Glick is organizing a joint Jewish-Christian prayer rally on the Temple Mount simply earlier than Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New 12 months. He selected this symbolic date to align with themes of renewal, creation, and divine justice. The rally, he defined, might be a religious gathering of Jews and Christians “calling out collectively to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Glick’s objective isn't solely to honor Kirk but in addition to strengthen the interfaith alliance that he believes is crucial to the way forward for Israel and the world.

This transfer is deeply private for Glick, whose activism has lengthy centered on spiritual freedom and mutual respect amongst faiths. Regardless of surviving an try on his life in 2014 — shot 4 occasions at shut vary by a Palestinian assailant who accused him of being an “enemy of Al-Aqsa” — Glick stays dedicated to nonviolence and dialogue. He rejects the notion that his imaginative and prescient for the Temple Mount excludes Muslims. As an alternative, he envisions it as a “world heart for spiritual tolerance,” the place Jews, Christians, and Muslims can all pray freely. “I respect their proper to wish, and I don’t hassle their prayer. And I anticipate them to respect my proper to wish with them,” Glick said.

(For a complete rationalization of the centrality of the Temple Mount for Jews, see right here.)

Glick’s expertise of surviving the assassination try — an assault that left him severely wounded and hospitalized for weeks — has solely strengthened his dedication. He continues to steer efforts for better Jewish entry to the Temple Mount and now sees the momentum shifting. The place as soon as he was a lone voice within the spiritual neighborhood, as we speak 1000's of Jews, together with distinguished rabbis, have joined the motion. Glick additionally based the group HaLiba (“The Coronary heart”) and leads excursions of the Temple Mount, selling a peaceable Jewish presence there.

He's additionally deeply concerned in humanitarian work by Amitim, an Israeli group supporting widows and orphans. In mild of Kirk’s dying, Glick sees renewed urgency in supporting households shattered by violence — whether or not in Israel or overseas.

Finally, Glick’s choice to steer a prayer rally for Kirk is a end result of his life’s mission: selling interfaith unity, freedom of worship, and peace by shared biblical values. By bringing Jews and Christians collectively on the holiest website in Judaism, Glick hopes to ship a message that the values Kirk stood for — religion, household, reality, and freedom — is not going to be silenced, however elevated by prayer, solidarity, and mutual respect.