A group of Chareidi Jews ascended the Har Habayis today, with one man fully prostrating himself in prayer (as can be seen in the attached photos).
According to reports, the group was led by Rabbi Yitzchak Brand of the city of Emanuel and Rabbi Yisrael Ariel of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. The group say they intend to bring ever-larger groups of Jews to the Mount with the purpose of eventually holding a Korban Pesach (Passover sacrifice) there.
It must be noted that according to the Poskei Hador one is absolutely forbidden to visit the Temple Mount.
This past Sukkos, Israeli President Shimon Peres paid a visit to the Sukkah of Maran Hagon Rav Elyashiv Shlita, where Rav Elyashiv called on the President to prevent Jews from visiting Har HaBayis, stating it is an act that that is viewed as extremely provocative by the goyim. Maran stated everything possible must be done to avoid a religious war, and the provocateurs are playing with fire.
Maran is quoted as explaining to the president that Halacha forbids going onto Har HaBayis but today, it is more than this, it is an act that may lead to a religious war and bloodshed.
In the summer of 2008, Rabbi Moshe Tendler visited Har HaBayis and caused a firestorm amongst Gedolei Eretz Yisroel.
Following his visit Maran Rav Elyashiv, Maran Rav Chaim Kanievsky and Chacham Ovadia Yosef sent a letter to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the overseer of holy places in the Western Wall complex, urging him to reiterate the religious decree signed 40 years ago by most Gedolim in Eretz Yisroel forbidding Jews from entering the Mount. This letter triggered a response by Rabbi Tendler in the Jewish Press in which he accused the Gedolei Hador (both Ashkenazim & Sefardim) of “issuing a political statement, and not talking Halacha”.
Click HERE for photos.
(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN)
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24 Responses
It is so sad to watch as people stroll across the mountain that Hashem’s shechina rests on. And for Yidden to go against Halacha and our Gedolim and step on such a holy place! And to be proud of it! it hurts. It really hurts!!
How can one be labled Chareidi a term refering to fear
and tremble before Hashem, If he is not scared of Koreis
R”L
Probably better than rioting in the streets of mea shearim and burning garbage cans…
what is the point of this article? To incite readers?
Also, if it’s forbidden for Jews to go up because we are impure, then it’s forbiden for gentiles to be there because they are 40 times more impure.
Also, it’s aggrevated exponentially because the gentiles (Arabs) are not just going there to tour, but to worship their false (albeit not avoda zora) religion. On the Temple Mount! Our holiest place!
Also, it’s aggravated even worse, because they are not worshiping a peaceful (false) religion there, but are daily preaching death to Jews, and defiance against the Torah.
So let’s get some perspective here, YWN editors.
Our generation has arrived at the time when a pasuk din can be a YES and NO at the same time. It is evident that there are rabbonim that are allowing and perhaps encouraging this aliyah regal.
Baruch Hashem, these “Charedi” acts over the last few weeks will culminate in the War of Gog U’magog.
Oy Vey! Oy Vey! What is happening to our generation. We’re being smarter then our manhigim, poskim, from now and before. But if someone can state (in a comment on another article) that “we can’t live in the olden times” and “gedolim could make mistakes” (and he’s the one to decide when they make the mistakes), and that “Over the course of history many dinim were changed or sometimes abbrogated” Then why not say that this Halacha also abrogated and the poskei hador are in error ch”v. We definately are living in Moshiachs times where the emunah pshita, Emunas Hashem and Emunas Chachomim is unfortunately so weak. Let’s be mechazek ourselves the most we can, and not become chas vesholom influenced by these enlightened and crooket hashkafos.
#2 and everyone else who is pained:
I strongly suggest you watch the video to understand what moved this group and how holy their reasons are.
“It must be noted that according to the Poskei Hador”
Does that include Rav Moshe?
Check out http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/har-habayis for an ongoing discussion about this topic.
Seems some people will do anything to get on to YouTube.
Chotim umachtim ess horabim , they will pay just wait
Doom777 –
Actually, non-Jews are NOT more tamei than Jews are, as they cannot become tamei at all halachically.
Interesting that YWN editor chose the word “defy,” as if talmid chachamim like Rav Brand and Rav Ariel are not entitles to form their own opinion.
In fact, this is not a matter of the halachos of whether one gets kares for walking in these places, as it is well established that this is not true.
Rather, the issue is one of hashkafa. As reportes by YWN. rav Elyashiv believes that this will antagonize the “nations” and lead to bloodshed, while the other Rabbonim do not agree with that political assessment and believe that the principle of not abandoning Har HaBayis to the Arabs is more important.
#8 Unfortunately I do not understand either Yiddish or Hrbrew so which ever of those languages are being spoken in the video, is not helping me to understand any “holiness” on the part of those who apparantly seem to be going directly against the Gedolim and their psakim not to do this.
#14 — Wrong. The Gedolim, incl. Rav Elyashuv shlita, said it is assur halachicly since we dont know the exact boundries that are forbidden by kares.
I fully agree that one should not go up onto Har HaBayis and I personally hold that he is playing with fire. But others disagree. Does it mean since the over whelming majority of Gedolim hold that something is ossur that I cannot follow my Godol/Rav who holds that it is muttar?
I agree with Shlomo2 that there are other issues also at work here, not just Halacha. There are clearly areas of Har HaBayis that are muttar to go to. It’s nothing to do with abrogating or changing halacha. We seem to live in a generation where everyone has to go with the mainstream and cannot hold or follow a dissenting opinion.
I think that cdkra should deal with issues not the emotions.
my question…for all the “chareidim” who are making fools of themselves lately in the news…WHY ARE THERE NO CHAREIDIM PROTESTING THEM?!? THAT would be worth protesting. where are the machaos? where are the public condemnations of these fools?!?
as one who lives in Eretz Yisroel and speaks Hebrew, and DID listen to every word Brand said on the YouTube video he recorded, let me just say a couple of the commenters here have everything upside down and backwards. he clearly states that his point is to announce to the world and to the arabs that all of eretz yisroel and all of yerusholayim belongs to us, and that this announcement is more important than some halachic concerns that gedolei yisroel have. in other words, HE’S THE ONE with the “political assessments”!
Also, notice in the second part of the video that this is actually a Nationalist, Zionist-Mizrachi group, with TWO chareidi Jews JOINING! They focus the camera in the beginning segment ONLY on these two AS A POLITICAL STATEMENT!
please please stop using the title Chareidi
you are making such a chilul hashem and loshon hara
this people are not chareidi call them jews who THINK they are
sorry, now i see in the pics that, unfortunately, there were actually SIX chareidi Jews there, not only the two leaders of the chareidi group.
in any case what should be pointed out halachically, is that there really is very real and great doubt as to the layout of the mokom hamikdosh on har habayis.
The mosque of the Dome of the Rock is not necessarily built on the site of the Temple. The Kodesh HaKodoshim was built around the even sh’sia or foundation stone. The theory that the Dome of the Rock is built on this stone is well grounded. The famous Jewish explorer Benjamin of Tudelo (Spain, 1100s) wrote, “On the site of the Holy Temple, Omar ibn al Katub built a large and beautiful dome”. This appears to be the opinion of Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura (1400s, born in Italy and buried on the Mount of Olives opposite the Golden Gate), who wrote, “I investigated the location of the even hash’siya and many say its under the dome built on the site of the Temple”. Finally, the renowned sage of the Land of Israel, Rabbi David ben Zimra, (1479-1573) stated explicitly that the rock under the dome is the foundation stone of the Holy of Holies.
Nevertheless, based on ancient texts, archeological finds and scientific studies, some rabbis of the last hundred years have suggested that the Temple was actually located on the vacant part of the Temple Mount opposite the Western Wall.
First, the Zohar suggests, as understood by one of its classic commentators, that the foundations of the Temple remain hidden and that no building will be built there until the restoration of the Third Temple. Also, a disciple of the Arizal states that the writings of his master refer to this idea, explaining the matter in great mystical depth. But there are sources other than the esoteric.
The Talmudic sages record that the huge, open courtyard of the Temple was washed by opening an aperture to let water from an aqueduct run into the courtyard and out the other side. This aqueduct originated in Solomon’s pools in Bethlehem, made its way to the present day Jewish quarter, and on to the Temple Mount via Wilson’s bridge. The problem is that this water source entered the mount many meters below its current level. This suggests that the original level of the mount was much lower, and the rock under the dome was not in the Temple, but part of a rocky high place outside of it. What was this rocky high place?
Our Sages describe that there was a high point on the north of the Mount upon which was built a fortress to protect the Temple from invasion. This fortress, originally built by the Hasmoneans and later enlarged by King Herod, was called Antonias fortress. It has been suggested that the rock under the dome is the top of the high place that was originally exposed, upon which the fortress was built. It overlooked the Temple to the south, which would place the Temples location opposite the Western Wall. Josephus refers to this fortress and says it was built on a rocky hill that was steep on all sides. He also describes secret, underground passages to the north and south of the Antonia. Interestingly, early archeological research revealed long and narrow passageways north and south of the Dome of the Rock. But these are only a few of the underground caverns discovered below the Mount.
About a hundred years ago, archeologists found about thirty such spaces. Oddly, all of the caverns in the area of the Dome of the Rock are relatively small and symmetrical, whereas those to the south of the dome are very large, deep and asymmetrical. Some of these chambers were reported by the archeologists as having decorated ceilings, ruling out the possibility of their being cisterns. This suggests that the ruins of the Temple and its underground chambers are not in the area of the dome but rather opposite the Wall. Recent electro-magnetic and infrared tests have revealed other, previously unknown spaces under the mount, which may also have resulted from the same phenomenon. Somewhere in those deep, hidden recesses may be the holy objects hidden and lost so long ago.
On the verse, “you shall inquire after His dwelling and come there” (Deut. 12:5), our sages instructed: Inquire and find. This teaches that G-d will not reveal the secret of the Temples location through a prophet until the Jewish people make an effort to inquire and search for it. Only then will He send a prophetic spirit from above to reveal it. In the merit of our inquiry, may we deserve to see the building of the Temple speedily in our day.
Sources:
Yoma 54b
Rambam, Beis HaBechira 4:1
Beis HaMikdosh HaShelishi, Shalom Dov Steinberg, pp 159-183
Shut HaRadbaz, 4:648,691
Bartenura, Darkei Tzion
Nitzutzei HaZohar on Zohar p. 480
Emek HaMelech (intro ch. 9) in the name of R. Moshe Vital from the Arizal
Tosephta, Pesachim 4:10
Yoma 2a
Josephus, War of the Jews 5.5.8, Antiquities 15.7
Sifri 8
Harav Sholom Ber Shteinberg, who is (one of) the main source(s) for this piece, was a choshuver ehrlicher talmid chochom in Yerusholayim who treated this subject thoroughly k’darkoh shel Tora in his monumental work “Beis Hamikdosh HaShlishi”. His work – which contained, among other things, quotations from Zohar Hakodosh and Kadmonim – was written as part of a serious work on the Bayis HaSh’lishi.
#21 Goodbye, Very well done, thanks for a well written and very informative explanation.
There is even a bibliography, Shkoach
I think a major point that most of the chachomin here either forgot or just dont know, is that the current temple mount is not har habayis. Now before those of you who don’t know where I am going start writing, just relax. The current Temple Mount is the remains of the platform built by Herod to EXPAND, har habayis. It was an amazing architecture and engineering job, especially when it was done but it does not make the extended areas har habayis with all the restrictions we have.
Just as a question, to everyone, lets say Moshiach comes tomorrow and we pray that he does. He is as tamei as every other Jew. What then?
yeshiva, read up in chazal. We get the eifer poroh with moshiach. there really isn’t room for a whole lot of speculation… 🙂