Legends of the
Dome of the Rock:
8 / THE
STONE AND MESSIAH
If the Foundation Stone that hovers in the air should
fall to the surface of the earth, it would be a sign and an omen that the
Messiah is approaching, bringing redemption to Israel, his people.
Rabbi Binyamin Lilienthal, who went to the Holy Land
in 1847, writes his impressions of his visit to Jerusalem and to the site of
the Holy Temple on which a mosque, the Dome of the Rock, has been erected. He
says: "In one of the mosque's hall there is, according to the general
belief, the Foundation Stone, which is not fastened but is suspended above the
floor. The Turks hold that when the stone falls, it will be the sign that the
Messiah comes. Therefore they [the Turks] have built it a base and a support.
And thus do the Turks hope to prevent the advent of the Messiah of
Israel."
Source: Das treue Zions-Waechter, III, 1847, Nos. 4—44.
Culled
from: Zev Vilnay: Legends of Jerusalem, Jewish Publication Society,
1973.
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