First red cow born in Israel in 2,000 years, September 2018/The Temple Institute
When Hamas spokesman Abu Obeidah spoke to mark the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one surprising statement he made escaped the headlines.
While detailing the motives for the massacre by the murderous terrorist organization on October 7 in Israel, he accused the Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
The red cows he spoke of are indeed now in a safe and unknown location in Judea and Samaria.
In an extensive CBS article on the subject, they explained that some Jews and Christians believe that they are the key to rebuilding the Jewish Temple that once stood in Jerusalem, and the times of Messiah.
The "Jordan News" website in English also reported on this: "Abu Obeidah mentioned the arrival of red cows in occupied Palestine, leaving many to wonder about the hidden meaning behind his words. An investigative report revealed that the Israeli government imported five red cows from the state of Texas in the USA and housed them on a secret farm, while allocating significant financial resources for the project that was created based on widespread Jewish beliefs that identify the appearance of an innocent red cow with the impending redemption, the arrival of the Messiah and the subsequent construction of the temple on the ruins of the Al Aqsa Mosque. Supporters of this claimed that the project would result in a mass arrival of Jewish settlers to the Al Aqsa Mosque."
"The report stated," added the Jordanian website, "that these actions are seen as preparation for the war of Gog and Magog.
This is also related to the construction of the temple on the remains of Al Aqsa Mosque.
Moreover, the report identified two right-wing organizations behind the search for the red cow: an Israeli organization of evangelical Christians and right-wing people headed by a man named Tzachi Memo, and the Temple Institute headed by Rabbi Israel Ariel. Both serve as spiritual figures for Minister Itamar Ben Gabir and Meir Kahana. While The Israeli Heritage Ministry denied involvement in the arrival of the red cows, its CEO personally welcomed them at Ben Gurion Airport.
CBS reports on the surprising role of red cows in the war between Israel and Hamas
To understand what this is about, you have to go back almost 2,000 years in the turbulent history of the Middle East, to the time when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
In order to rebuild it, there are those who found the answer in the book "In the Wilderness", which commands the Israelites to obtain "an innocent red cow that has no blemish on it and that has not been touched."
According to the Halacha of "Maskat Pera", ashes can be used to purify the impurity of a dead person.
The process described in the Bible includes, among other things, the slaughtering of the cow, throwing its carcass in front of the entrance of the temple, burning it and scattering its ashes on spring water.
After this (sprinkling) the water using moss on the impure person, he must immerse and wait for the evening to purify himself.
Sacrifice of a red cow is a condition for renewing the work of the temple as a series, and for maintaining a life of purity in Israel, therefore only after the sacrifice of a red cow can the temple be erected again, on the third day.
This is how the Third Temple will look according to the prophecy of Ezekiel/Third Temple
Pets that the altar is already waiting for
According to the article, a central factor in bringing the cows to the Holy Land was Yitzchak Mamou, from the organization "Wabana Yerushalayim" a group committed to the establishment of a new temple in the old city of Jerusalem.
"You can check if they have white hair or black hair," he told CBS News, explaining that any hair other than red would disqualify the cows from fulfilling their role in the prophecy.
Finding the red cows took years and the journey led Mamo to Christian ranches thousands of kilometers away from Israel.
"After a long search we found them in Texas," he said.
"Texan Red Angus".
To get around the strict laws that banned the export of American beef to Israel in 2022, cows were classified as pets, his mother said with a laugh.
But for those who follow the commandments of the Bible, these violations are really no laughing matter, he added and emphasized that this is not a publicity or marketing stunt. "Harry Potter is a good story.
The Bible is not a story," he explained, "the Bible is God's way of leading us."
But even though they are classified as pets, there are no plans to let these red cows live a happy, long life as a pet. A huge white altar is already waiting for them, where they are supposed to be burned on a plot of land overlooking the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Mamo explains that the ceremony must be performed while looking directly at the place where the Second Temple stood until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70.
The Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem describes the destruction and looting of the Temple by Roman soldiers.
Painting by Francesco Hayez/screenshot, Francesco Hayez, 1867
A Pandora's box that will open and no one will be able to close"
What Mammo does not mention in his planning is what now stands in place of the Temple: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which are among the holiest sites for Islam.
CBS mentions that today there are armed guards who ensure that only Muslims are allowed to enter the compound, but this does not prevent Jewish activists, such as Melissa Jane Kronfeld, from leading groups up the Temple Mount five times each week.
"There is one true God, and He began here," she said, before falling to her knees and bowing at the site where the First Temple, or Solomon's Temple, was built in 957 BC (the Second Temple, or Herod's Temple, was a reconstructed version of the first, (built in the 6th century B.C.) "It's so important for Jews to go back and rebuild the temple," said Kronfeld, a New York native who founded the High on the Har organization that leads the tours.
"The mosque will disappear in favor of the temple"
"It's not a matter of taking something from our Muslim brothers and sisters. It's not a matter of destroying holy sites for Islam. It's a matter of preserving this place and preserving the house of God for all people," she tells CBS, but she doesn't hide what she wants Lie to the Dome of the Rock.
"I believe it will disappear. 100%. The whole thing here will benefit the construction of the temple," she said, explaining that the Al Aqsa Temple and its golden dome should be preserved, but they should be moved to another place.
This is of course a proposal that has many who fear that, if implemented, it could make the current war much bloodier, and cause it to spread rapidly beyond the Gaza Strip.
"Everyone says that the building, the Third Temple, is what will bring the war and destabilize the Middle East," she admits, but adds that in her opinion "the Middle East looks quite unstable at the moment, and the war, if I'm not mistaken, is already here."
Palestinians during clashes in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
June 18, 2021/Reuters
In an investigation by News 12 that was published about six months ago, it was reported that Al Mamo and his efforts to bring red cows to Israel is also a member of the Temple Institute, headed by Rabbi Israel Ariel.
Ariel is the spiritual patron of Minister Itamar Ben Gabir, and formerly number 2 of Rabbi Meir Kahane in the So movement.
Moreover, there is also budgetary and regulatory involvement of the government in the promotion of the project, millions of shekels are transferred to organizations that promote the issue, the Ministry of Agriculture provided exceptional permits for the import of cows from the United States and also granted an exemption from their marking, while piercing the ear.
The Ministries for Religious Services, Settlement and Education are also in the picture and the Director General of the Ministry for Jerusalem and Heritage Nathaniel Isaac, not only supports - but came himself to receive the cows at the airport, although the Ministry of Heritage said in response at the time that "the arrival of the red cows to Israel was not carried out or budgeted for by the ministry .
The director general of the ministry participated in the ceremony of their arrival privately and during the tenure of the previous government."
In any case, the CBS article makes it clear that the dream of building the Third Temple in place of Al Aqsa Mosque is just a dream, and it is not a goal of the Israeli government or of the vast majority of Israelis and Jews in the world.
But the very proposal, along with the appearance of the red cows, was enough to incite many Islamist groups.
Hamas even called its murderous terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 "Operation Flood al-Aqsa", and the symbol of the terrorist organization shows the Dome of the Rock behind two crossed swords.
"The majority of Muslims in the world do not support the violence of Hamas, but they share its unwavering devotion to the Holy Land," says Mustafa Abu Suwi, a professor of Islam at Al-Quds University and imam at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to all Muslims. It provokes reactions from Indonesia, to Toronto and New York. Today there are 2 billion Muslims around the world," he told CBS News, warning that removing Al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock is an "unfathomable" idea and will be " Opening a Pandora's box that no one can close."
The evangelicals in the USA, the red cows and the second coming of Christ
There are Jewish activists in Israel and in the world who are not deterred by the massacre by Hamas on October 7 or the ongoing war in Gaza and some of them used the events as a means to advance their cause in the United States.
At the "National Convention for Prayer and Repentance" held at the end of January in Washington, D.C., Mamo spoke about his red cows and his hopes for the establishment of a third temple on the Temple Mount.
The gathering was organized by none other than the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, who led a prayer together with senior evangelical leaders and members of Congress.
Mike Johnson after his victory in the election for the speaker of the US House of Representatives, October 25, 2023/Reuters
Many American evangelicals believe that the red cows will be the ones that will herald the second coming of Christ, which is associated with Armageddon and the war of Gog and Magog that will begin in the Land of Israel.
"We are going to receive the Messiah, and we need the Messiah to come," Byron Stinson, one of the Texan ranchers who helped bring the cows to Israel, said at the gathering.
"For me, the red of the cow represents the blood of Christ. That's why it's red."
In the meantime, at his home in Ofra, his mother told CBS News that the cows only have to pass a final purity test.
The ceremony with which he hopes to revive the Temple and bring about the coming of the Messiah could take place any day and he said he understands why it could anger Hamas.
"But I cannot understand, even if they are right, why they have to slaughter and rape people to win their war," he said.
"The terrorists attacked us even before we ever dreamed of these violations," he explains.
"They don't need them as an excuse to kill Jews"
More on the same topic:
red cow
Temple
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords
The Temple Mount
Al-Aqsa Mosque