Passover sacrifice at the Temple Mount?

According to this article there is a new Sanhedrin court in Israel (and there has been one for several years - where have I been?) and they intend, weather permitting, to perform the ritual Passover sacrifice at the site of the Temple this year.

The present-day Sanhedrin Court decided Tuesday to purchase a herd of sheep for ritual sacrifice at the site of the Temple on the eve of Passover, conditions on the Temple Mount permitting.

I can't even begin to imagine the reaction the Muslim world would have to this. Particularly when their sensitivities to that spot are inflamed by statements like this:

Professor Hillel Weiss, a member of the Sanhedrin, told Haaretz on Tuesday that the action, even if merely symbolic, is designed to demonstrate in a way that is obvious to all that the expectation of Temple rituals will resume is real, and not just talk.

In other words, this is to be viewed as a first step in reconstructing the Temple. Even if that's not what he means, that's what he will be perceived as having said. Performing a ritual sacrifice at the Temple Mount will, I would expect, inspire a far stronger response than Ariel Sharon saying prayers there. Something to keep an eye on, one way or the other...

H/T to Dappled Things.

Tags: Jerusalem, Judaism, Sanhedrin, Sacrifice, Islam