THE TEMPLE MOUNT
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(The Temple Mount) Translated by Lenny Goldberg Question: The settlement rabbis which include first-rate scholars such as Rabbi Dov Lior, Shlit"a, from Kiryat Arba, as well as Rabbi Zalman Melamed, Shlit"a, from Bet-El, publicly called for Jews to ascend the Temple Mount. In contrast, the head of the Council of Rabbis, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shlit"a, said that one should not ascend the Temple Mount. What stands at the crux of this argument? Answer: Someone who wants to really get down to the nitty gritty of this controversy may be surprised to discover that in essence, there is no basic halachic dispute between these two opinions. No one differs with the fact that there are areas on the Temple Mount which are forbidden to enter, and there are areas on the Temple Mount which are permitted to enter. Since we are "spiritually impure due to our contact with the dead", we are forbidden to enter the area of "Azarat Cohenim", and he who enters this area for any reason other than to build the Temple is obligated death. On the other hand, all other parts of the Mount are permitted for us to enter. For such areas, most Jews taken it upon themselves to immerse in a "mikve" before entering. Furthermore, there are large areas (on the southern side) that are not even part of the Temple Mount, but rather are additions which were built on by Herod, rendering such areas absolutely permissible. If so, what is the reason for Rav Ovadia Yosef's sweeping prohibition on all parts of the Mount? The answer is found in Rav Ovadia's book, "Yicheve Daat". In this book, he says that since not everyone knows which places are forbidden and which places are permitted, it is preferable to set up a fence ("siyag") which prohibits across the board. This is the dispute. Anyone with a little perception can understand from all this that this controversy is not halachically based, but rather it is contingent on other considerations. Someone like Rav Ovadia, who as part of his overall outlook does not feel that Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount in our generation is something of burning importance, has no problem setting up a fence to distance people from ascending the Mount, even if such a decision means abandoning the Mount entirely. On the other hand, he who holds the subject of the Temple Mount as something critical, and wants to erase the desecration that occurs on the holiest site in Judaism, cannot so easily set up a prohibiting fence across the board, when the halacha doesn't demand such. And indeed, today, anyone who wants to ascend the Mount according to Jewish law can do so, with the guidance of G-d fearing rabbis who hold an expertise in the subject, thereby preventing the problem brought down in Rav Ovadia's book. |
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