{"id":100055,"date":"2025-08-24T20:41:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T17:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/%d7%a1%d7%99%d7%91%d7%95%d7%91-%d7%94%d7%a9%d7%a2%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%a9%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%9e%d7%a7%d7%94%d7%9c%d7%aa-%d7%9c%d7%95%d7%95%d7%99%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%a2%d7%95\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T21:25:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T18:25:52","slug":"jerusalem-gates-tour-levite-choir-sparks-palestinian-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/jerusalem-gates-tour-levite-choir-sparks-palestinian-anger\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerusalem Gates Tour: Levite Choir Sparks Palestinian Anger"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Muslim Waqf reported that more than 400 Jews marked the date of Av 30, which fell on Sunday morning, by ascending the Temple Mount ahead of the month of Elul \u2013 the month of penitential prayers. According to the report, 314 entered during the morning hours and another 105 at noon. Alongside this, the traditional monthly \u201cGates Tour\u201d was held on the eve of the new month. This time, however, the event stirred unusually strong Palestinian anger, as for the first time since the ritual began, it included the appearance of a \u201cLevite Choir<\/p>\n

Levite Choir joins the Gates Tour<\/h3>\n

Those who ascended the Temple Mount sang and danced, some chanting penitential hymns. Traditionally, Sephardic communities begin the Selichot prayers on the first night of Elul, while Ashkenazi communities begin only in the week before Rosh Hashanah<\/p>\n

This Gates Tour is expected to be exceptional. For the first time in nearly 25 years since the custom began, a Levite Choir was scheduled to take part. Flyers circulated on social media announced that the choir would recreate the songs once performed in the ancient Temple<\/p>\n

Special ceremony on the Temple Mount<\/h3>\n

Right-wing activist Neria Ofen, one of the founders of the Gates Tour, explained: \u201cThis tour will include a special event happening for the first time. The Temple Institute contacted us about the Levite Choir they have trained. They suggested joining forces with the tour, and with God\u2019s help it will happen. At the usual stop near the Lions\u2019 Gate, during the evening prayer, there will also be a public singing of Temple hymns together with the choir<\/p>\n

Palestinian backlash and Hamas response<\/h3>\n

The Gates Tour in its regular format already angers Palestinians every month. Shops are forced to close, movement toward Al-Aqsa Mosque is disrupted, and Palestinian passersby often face insults or spitting. The addition of the Levite Choir was seen as crossing a new line. Hamas issued a condemnation, and calls spread on Palestinian social networks urging people to come to Al-Aqsa Mosque to defend it from what was described as an unprecedented \u201cinvasion<\/p>\n

(Jerusalem Clash \u2013 City Seizes Church Accounts<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Across Palestinian social media, the ceremony was portrayed as a breach of the Temple Mount status quo and the addition of another Jewish ritual. Posts described the tour beginning at Al-Buraq Square (the Western Wall) with the participation of a \u201cmusical choir wearing special costumes resembling Temple priests.\u201d They added that the event would feature a religious musical performance at 8 p.m. at Al-Ghazali Square, facing the Lions\u2019 Gate, one of Al-Aqsa\u2019s most prominent entrances<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 400 Jews ascended the Temple Mount on Av 30, with a Levite choir joining for the first time \u2013 fueling Palestinian protests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":100046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"9333","_seopress_titles_title":"Jerusalem Gates Tour: Levite Choir Sparks Palestinian Anger","_seopress_titles_desc":"Over 400 Jews ascended the Temple Mount on Av 30, with a Levite choir joining for the first time \u2013 fueling Palestinian protests","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10327,9320,9314],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-100055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking","8":"category-jerusalem-news","9":"category-main-item"},"acf":{"subtitle":"Over 400 Jews ascended the Temple Mount on Av 30, with a Levite choir joining for the first time \u2013 fueling Palestinian protests"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}