Jews prepare for Passover; Temple Mount welcomes more Jewish visitors

This year's Passover will take place from sunset on Friday, April 22, until Saturday, April 30. With this, Jews are preparing for the eight-day holiday period.

According to Israel National News, around 300 Jews went to the Temple Mount this past week, which is about twice the average number in the previous weeks. They went through the required preparations, including taking the ritual bath, and they also underwent security checks and were given instructions and rules to follow while in the holy place.

The increase, according to Elishama Sandman, director of the temple group Yira'eh, is likely due to the improved attitude of the police toward Jewish visitors.

The numbers reported by the Jewish Press show that in 2009, only 5,658 Jews visited the Temple Mount, steadily increasing to 5,792 in 2010, 8,247 in 2011, 7,724 in 2012, 8,528 in 2013, and 10,906 in 2014. Last year, however, the numbers decreased to 10,766 because police reportedly restricted Jewish visits to the site. Only four hours per day, five days per week were allotted to religious Jews by the end of 2015, and only 15 were allowed to enter at any given time. Many Jews would reportedly wait in line, only to be denied entry. Moreover, the report says that Muslims have harrassed and assaulted Jewish visitors at the site.

There has also been a steady decline in the number of non-Jews/non-Muslim tourists, including Christians. From 401,182 in 2010, it went down to 192,998 in 2015. According to the Jewish Press, the atmosphere has been rather threatening and unpleasant for non-Islamic visitors, and last year, a group of Christians who "looked too Jewish" were forced to leave.

The hill in the Old City of Jerusalem is considered as a holy site for Jews, Christians and Muslims, with 10 gates reserved for the latter and one gate for the former two.

Meanwhile, Jews from all over the world are preparing for Passover, in commemmoration of the time when their ancestors prepared for their freedom from slavery. They are prohibited from eating leavened bread as well as a number other foods. This, according to Market Watch, has caused prices for Passover goods to increase. With this, the Rabbinical Assembly, an international association of Conservative rabbis, has reportedly made a ruling in late 2015 that allows Ashkenazi Jews -- Jews of Eastern European origin -- to expand their menu to include legumes, corn, and rice.

"There's a tradition of feeling a certain responsibility to protect the financial resources of the people, not to burden the people in terms of what they need to spend to survive," said Amy Levin, one of the Rabbis who drafted the ruling otherwise known as teshuvah.

Sephardic Jews already include these in their Passover diet.