On Sunday morning, the day before the fast of Tisha B’av which memorializes the destruction of the Holy Temples, 278 Jews ascended the holy Temple Mount, reported the Temple Organizations Headquarters.

After the lengthy brouhaha over the security measures which were implemented following the attack that left two Druze Israeli policemen dead, a new week began on the Temple Mount and hundreds of Jews crowded at the entrance, eager to ascend.

Among those who ascended on Sunday were such noted names as Rabbi Yaakov Medan, head of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Rabbi Shaul David Buccko, head of Yeshivat Heichal Eliyahu, Rabbi Yitzchak Levi of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Rabbi Elisha Wolfson, author of “Leshichno Tidreshu”, Rabbi Yehuda Chelouche of Netanya, Rabbi Chaim Chayat, a student of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and many other Israeli citizens.

Despite the official return of the Waqf, who had been absent for the duration of the security melee, Israeli police allowed only one Waqf official to accompany the Jewish groups, and ordered him to do so from a respectful distance. Other than that Jordanian agent, the Temple Mount was nearly devoid of Muslims on Sunday.

The number of Jews visiting the Temple Mount on Tisha B’av itself, which begins on Monday at sunset and lasts through Tuesday at nightfall, is expected to reach a new record, predicted the Temple Organizations Headquarters.