Religious Temple Flag (Israel) (original) (raw)

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Last modified: 2025-10-04 by martin karner
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[[Temple Flag]](../images/i/il%5Ftemple2.jpg)image located by Esteban Rivera
(picture, source)

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Religious Temple Flag

The flag is seen during the "סיבוב שערי הר הבית" (Rounding gates of the Temple Mount), more commonly known as "סיבוב שערים" (Rounding gates) which is a unique prayer ceremony, more like a Procession, that is mentioned in ancient Jewish sources thousands of years ago. The participants in the ceremony use to tour around the gates of the Temple Mount, reciting Psalms, observing the customs of mourning the destruction and special prayers for rebuilding the Temple. In modern times, during the British Mandate, Prof. Ze'ev Vilnai renewed the custom, surrounding the gates of the Old City on the evening of "תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב", (transliterated Tisha B'Av), meaning literally the "ninth of Av" (Av being the eleventh month of the civil year and the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar and it is observed by fasting in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BC (Other sources, mention 587 BC) and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem in 422 BC).
The observance of the day includes five prohibitions, most notable of which is a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem is read in the synagogue, followed by the recitation of kinnot, liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temples and Jerusalem. As the day has become associated with remembrance of other major calamities which have befallen the Jewish people, some kinnot also recall events such as the murder of the Ten Martyrs by the Romans, expulsions from England, Spain and elsewhere, massacres of numerous medieval Jewish communities during the Crusades, and the Holocaust, the AMIA bombing and even the Disengagement plan.
There are a total of 10 Gates.
The goal is to create a public event that will express the connection of the people of Israel with the Temple Mount.
As for the carts carrying speakers, they are to amplify the sound of the readings since there are some open areas along the route where it is necessary for all participants to listen to the prayers properly.
Here's a video illustrating the ceremony.
Now, regarding the so called "Flag Day", the annual "יום ירושלים" (Jerusalem Day, also known as Liberation Day) on the 28th of Iyar event sees thousands of nationalist Jews march through Muslim-majority parts of Jerusalem toward the Western Wall, in a show of sovereignty to mark the Hebrew anniversary of the city’s east side (East Jerusalem, or the Old City) being captured by Israel during the Battle of Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967. It is an Israeli national holiday and it is officially marked by state ceremonies and memorial services.
The route has long been deemed provocative by Israeli and Palestinian critics since local Arab proprietors are forced to shutter their stores so law enforcement can secure the Palestinian-majority area for the mainly nationalist Jewish revelers.
This year's constant flag day change, which was originally scheduled to take place from Sunset, 9 May – to nightfall, 10 May which came amid heightened tensions over planned evictions of Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and a police clamp down of rioting on the Temple Mount, had also been rerouted to avoid the Damascus Gate and the Muslim Quarter, following pressure from the US, which expressed concern that the parade could cause tensions to boil over. Moreover, it was stopped short by rocket fire from Hamas at Jerusalem, which sparked an 11-day bout of intense fighting until a cease fire came into effect on May 21.
It was marked by protests and police riot control, rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Israeli air strikes targeting the Gaza Strip. The crisis was triggered on 6 May, when Palestinians began protests in East Jerusalem over an anticipated decision of the Supreme Court of Israel on the eviction of six Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah. Under international law, the area, effectively annexed by Israel, is a part of the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel applies its laws there. On May 7, according to Israel's Channel 12, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police forces, who then stormed the compound of the al-Aqsa Mosque using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. The crisis prompted protests around the world and reactions from world leaders. The violence coincided with Qadr Night (8 May), observed by Muslims, and Jerusalem Day (9 –10 May), an Israeli national holiday. The confrontations occurred ahead of a planned Jerusalem Day march, Dance of Flags, by far-right Jewish nationalists that was later canceled.
References: source #1, source #2, and source #3.
And here's a video displaying this year's Dancing flags (or parade flags), transliterated as Rikodglim).
More References: source #4, source #5, source #6 and source #7.

Photos:

Variant with "prophetic" inscription

[[Temple Flag]](../images/i/il%5Ftemple4.jpg)image located by Martin Karner
(source)
Another version of this flag, with the writing מהרה יבנה המקדש (Soon the Temple will be built).
This lets me think that these flags could be part of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement. Looking up there, we get no sure information about it, but Nathan Lamm reported in 2004, that he spotted such a flag in a publication, with another inscription: "Build the Temple soon". So this flag is, if not inspired, but at least being used also by this movement. We know now different surroundings, where this kind of flags has been and is being used.
Martin Karner, 17 September 2025