Rabbi Leo Dee detained for putting on tefillin on Temple Mount on wedding day
On April 7, 2023, Rabbi Leo Dee lost his wife and two daughters in a terror attack.
Israel Police officers apprehended Rabbi Leo Dee at the Temple Mount on Sunday morning. Dee, who lost his wife, Lucy, and daughters Maia and Rina in a roadside terrorist attack in the West Bank in April 2023, ascended the Mount ahead of his upcoming wedding to Aliza Teplitsky.
“This morning, I found myself standing on the Temple Mount. Tonight I will be standing under the chuppah, smashing a glass to remember the destruction of our holiest place. That glass is supposed to symbolize brokenness. But here’s the thing I’ve learned in the two-plus years since the tragedy that took my wife and two young daughters: commemorating brokenness is never enough,” Dee told The Jerusalem Post.
He was held by police after wearing tefillin as part of morning prayers, and was released after receiving a summons for a hearing.
Footage from the scene on Sunday morning shows Dee dancing and singing in celebration in the Temple Mount plaza, donning the tefillin.
On April 7, 2023, the British-Israeli family was driving along Highway 57 in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, amid the Passover holiday. Lucy, 48, and her daughters, Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were ambushed near the Hamra Junction when Palestinian terrorists opened fire on their vehicle, causing it to crash after it rammed off the road; they then shot them at close range before fleeing the scene. The sisters were declared dead at the scene, while Lucy succumbed to her wounds a few days later.
Rabbi Leo Dee (L) with his fiance Aliza Teplitsky during their engagement. (credit: Leo Dee)
Leo, along with his three other children, was driving in a separate car along the same route. The attack drew widespread international condemnation.
“Life is like walking up a down escalator. The moment you stop moving, you start sliding backward. Standing still is not an option – not for me, not for Israel, not for the Jewish people,” Dee continued.
A dream, an action, and a recovery
He continued, “For me, rehabilitation has meant three things: a dream, an action, and a recovery. My personal recovery began a year ago when I started dating again, and the action comes today when I marry my beautiful bride, Aliza. But my dream – my dream is bigger than myself, bigger than my children. It’s about the Jewish people, the state of Israel, and the hostages still held in Gaza.”
The attack was attributed to the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization. Special forces later conducted a raid in Nablus in May, where the assailants – Hamas operatives identified as Hassan Katnani and Muad Masri – were located and killed in a firefight.
Dee concluded with a call for full Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount.
“For two millennia, Jews have prayed to ‘return to Jerusalem,’ and in our liturgy that phrase overwhelmingly means one thing: the Temple Mount… history has a funny way of nudging us. When Jews don’t act, God creates conditions where we have no choice. When we divide, our enemies attack, forcing us to unite. When we ignore the Temple Mount, God allows Hamas to brand their war ‘The Al Aqsa Flood’ – a reminder of what we should really be fighting for… My prayer this morning is that our leaders will soon choose this option – for the sake of Israel, for the sake of our people, and for the speedy return of our hostages,” he said.
