Hamas Spokesman: Oct 7 Attack Launched To Stop The Red Heifers & Jewish Temple

Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for the Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas terrorist organization, made a televised appearance on the 100th day of the Israeli war on Gaza. The televised speech was the first time he had appeared in seven weeks as, during that time, all of his public statements were either audio recordings or written statements. A lapse of several weeks even led to speculations that he had been killed. 

The Palestine Chronicle reported that in his speech, Abu Obeidah spoke about the usual topics including the number of tanks destroyed by the Resistance and the number of military operations. Abu Obeida also claimed that Hamas is "manufacturing its own weapons, which makes it possible for Al-Qassam and others to carry on with the fight for much longer"

The Palestine Chronicle translated his speech. In the third paragraph, Abu Obeidah listed the motives for the Hamas attack on Israel:

"We look back 100 days to remember the educated, the complicit, and the incapacitated among the world powers governed by the law of the jungle, reminding them of an aggression that reached its peak against our path (Al-Quds) and Al-Aqsa, with the start of its actual temporal and spatial division, and the 'bringing of red cows' as an application of a detestable religious myth designed for aggression against the feelings of an entire nation in the heart of its Arab identity, and the path of its prophet (the Night Journey) and Ascension to heaven."

In his speech, he referred to the October 7 attack as " the Al Aqsa flood". Palestinians call the gray-domed mosque on the Temple Mount as "Al Aqsa", literally meaning "the further mosque", referring to a myth created by the Umayyad Calif in 682 CE, 50 years after Muhammad's death. According to the myth, Muhammad was carried to the site of the destroyed Jewish Temples in a miraculous overnight journey by al-Buraq, a magical horse with the head of a woman, wings of an eagle, the tail of a peacock, and hoofs reaching to the horizon. He tethered the horse to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount and from there ascended to the seventh heaven together with the angel Gabriel.

Abu Obeidah continued:

"We will not tire or falter in calling all the free people of the nation to rise to support their Aqsa and the path of their prophet, which the criminal Zionists are practically advancing towards destroying and establishing their temple. This is what we have chosen with our blood in Gaza for 100 days and for which the epic of October 7th was about."

In his speech, he frequently describes Israelis as "Nazis" and calls on "every Muslim on the face of the earth" to join the war.

Arab-language media covered Abu Abeidah's speech extensively, focusing on the red heifer while noting that five red female calves were brought to Israel in September 2022. After the announcement of the arrival of the cows, Hamas reacted almost immediately, warning that the potential Jewish ritual posed a threat to Al Aqsa and they have been preparing to respond ever since.

The red heifer was the main component in the Biblically mandated process of ritual purification for impurity that results from proximity or contact with a dead body.  Because the elements needed for this ceremony have been lacking since the destruction of the Second Temple, all Jews today are considered ritually impure, thereby preventing the return of the Temple service. 

The Temple Institute launched its Red Heifer program about a decade ago, led by Rabbi Azariah Ariel. But even in Temple times, an animal that fulfilled the Biblical requirements was exceedingly rare. Failing to produce a suitable candidate from ranchers in Israel, The Temple Institute began investigating alternative sources for a red heifer.

Boneh Israel, an organization that connects Christian lovers of Israel to the Holy Land, stepped in to help. Led by Byron Stinson, a native Texan, Boneh Israel understood ranchers.

"I didn't set out to do this, but right now, I am probably the best red heifer hunter in Texas," Byron quipped. "The Bible says to bring a red cow to purify Israel, and I may not understand it, but I am just doing what the Bible said."

"The prophecies came true, and the Jews are back in Israel," Byron said. "Now they need to build a Temple. But it's like buying a really nice car. If you don't have the key, you aren't going anywhere. The red heifer is the key to making the Temple work like it's supposed to."

Boneh Israel took out full-page ads in ranching magazines, explaining the situation to ranchers. They requested that any red calves be set aside.

"Several years ago, the farmer is a devout Christian who became intensely interested in the Biblical commandment," Stinson explained to Israsel365 News."He began breeding cattle for this trait. So when my team and I set out to search ranches in Texas for a red heifer, his were already better suited."

One of the major difficulties was that the government requires tagging calves right after birth. The ear tag creates a hole in the calve's ear, a blemish that disqualifies the calf for the Mitzvah. The farmer explained that because of COVID, the employee who normally puts in the tags did not come to the farm when these five calves were born.

A team of rabbis from the Temple Institute flew out to inspect the calves last year. The requirements are incredibly demanding, requiring that there be no more than two non-red hairs on the entire calf.  It must also never have been used for any labor or have been impregnated. 

The heifer must be two years and one day old to be suitable for the ceremony. Sometimes, a calf that is perfectly red when it is young develops black or white hairs as it grows older or may develop a blemish. 

Sometimes, the colored hairs fall out or disappear. Certifying the calf requires a complete and intensive inspection in which a rabbi knowledgeable in the laws goes over the entire calf with a magnifying glass.

Learn more about the Red Heifers and plans to rebuild the Jewish Temple: