MIKDASH-BUILD

22 Elul 5756
Volume I, Number 1
Table of Contents
1.LETTER FROM THE EMAIL EDITION EDITOR
2.JEWISH PRAYER ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT - INTERVIEWS
3.ISLAMIC PROFESSOR SUPPORTS JEWISH RIGHTS ON TEMPLE MOUNT
4.PERMISSIBILITY OF WALKING ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT

LETTER FROM THE EMAIL EDITION EDITOR

Welcome to the email edition of Yibaneh HaMikdash, and congratulations on your interest in our Holy Work of preparations for building the Third Temple.

We hope to publish once a week. We have articles by Rav Avigdor Neventzal, Rav Yitzhak Ginsburg, Yehiel Eitz Shemen, Rav Elitzur Segel, and other people involved in HaTenu'ah Lechinun HaMikdash that we wish to distribute. Topics of upcoming articles include placement of the Beit HaMikdash, the obligation to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash in this day and age, Halachic issues in going up to the Temple Mount, and prayer on the Temple Mount. Submission of articles on the Temple Service or any related topics is very welcome. Additionally, we will be happy to discuss any questions on related topics.

The Hebrew edition has been going on for years, so we have a plethora of material. If anyone is interested in translating articles from Hebrew to English, your help would be appreciated.

Hazak Ve-ematz,

Yirmiyahu Fischer
(Yirmiyahu Fischer yirmi@jer1.co.il )
Email Edition Editor

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JEWISH PRAYER ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT - INTERVIEWS

Aaron Lerner
18 June 1996

According to subparagraph III.4. of the Guidelines of the Government of Israel issued by the Netanyahu Government on June 16, "The Government will make prayer arrangements for Jews at holy sites in accordance to the guidelines of religious law." On June 18, IMRA interviewed, in Hebrew, Rabbi Gedaliah Schreiber, the Managing Director of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and Rabbi Ariel of the "Temple Institute", on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

IMRA: Has the Chief Rabbinate ever issued a ruling on prayer arrangements for Jews on the Temple Mount?

Schreiber: Approximately a decade ago, the Chief Rabbi Goren made a ruling in which he identified those areas on the Temple Mount in which it is permissible for people to be present. These are areas which border the Dome of the Rock.

IMRA: Are we talking about large, broad areas or narrow areas?

Schreiber: Narrow areas.

IMRA: So these areas are too narrow to allow for large groups of Jews to engage in organized prayer?

Schreiber: Right, the permissible areas are too narrow.

IMRA: Did any of the other Chief Rabbis rule on this issue?

Schreiber: Before Rabbi Goren served as Chief Rabbi, Chief Rabbi Unterman maintained that you could not go up onto the Temple Mount areas at all because it was not clear where the actual Temple and the Holy of Holies was located. Rabbi Goren based his decision on a very detailed study of the Temple Mount which enabled him to identify the relevant areas. Since Rabbi Goren's ruling there have been no rulings on this matter.

IMRA: Did Rabbi Goren's ruling include a detailed map?

Schreiber: Yes, you should check with Rabbi Ariel at the "temple Institute" for details.

IMRA: Where can Jews pray on the Temple Mount?

Ariel: The area of the Dome of the Rock is recognized as coinciding with the area which, because of its holiness, cannot be entered into. Already 500 years ago, Rabbi David Ben Zimra established where one can go on the Temple Mount.

IMRA: Does it correspond more or less to the areas identified by Rabbi Goren?

Ariel: Yes.

IMRA: Are these large areas?

Ariel: The width of the permissible area on the Temple Mount, which encircles the holy area which is off limits, runs from 20-30 meters to as wide as 200 meters.

IMRA: So there would be enough space to allow for fairly large groups to pray on the Temple Mount?

Ariel: Yes, very large groups.

IMRA: Are there any restrictions which apply to the entrance to this permissible area on the Temple Mount?

Ariel: Before entering the area it is necessary to immerse in a ritual bath if one had sexual relations or a nocturnal emission.

IMRA: What about women?

Ariel: Similar rules apply to women.

IMRA: How would this work? What happens if you immersed in a ritual bath and then touched someone who had to immerse in a ritual bath?

Ariel: Nothing. This is not like the type of impurity associated with contact with a dead body.

IMRA: What are the practical ramifications if someone who should have undergone ritual immersion did not do it before going into these areas?

Ariel: There are different opinions about the application of this requirement to the area. If the requirement does apply then such an action would represent a violation of Jewish Law and the violator, under Jewish Law [not the law in effect in the State of Israel - IMRA] would be liable to punishment by lashes.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Associate
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-904719/Fax 972-9-911645
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811

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ISLAMIC PROFESSOR SUPPORTS JEWISH RIGHTS ON TEMPLE MOUNT

(from Arutz 7 report Sunday, July 14, 1996 / Tammuz 27, 5756)

"There is nothing in Islam that negates Israeli and Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount," according to Professor Abdul Hadi Falatchi, Head of the Islamic Institute in Rome. Prof. Falatchi was participating in an international seminar on Jewish Law, organized by the Ministry of Justice. He also attacked the Arab objections to Jewish aliyah, saying that it has nothing to do with Zionism, but that "the Bible commands Jews to live in the Holy Land." Falatchi said that he is not afraid to make these remarks publicly, and that most Moslem religious leaders in Italy agree with him.

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PERMISSIBILITY OF WALKING ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT

written by Rav of the Tenu'ah translated by Yirmiyahu Fischer

[Translator's note: The laws of the Sanctity of the Temple Mount are based on the laws the Torah specifies for the Jewish Encampment in the Wilderness. Between the Exodus from Egypt and the entrance into the Land of Israel, the Jewish People dwelled in an ordered encampment upon Divine Command, with the Tabernacle in the center, the Levites surrounding it, and the twelve tribes on the outermost part. Since the Divine Presence rested among the holy encampment, people spiritually defiled could not enter the holy area.

["...They shall send out from the Camp every metzorah (one infected with the Torah-inflicted skin diseases) and every zav (one infected with halachic gonorrhea), and everyone defiled by contact with the dead. Males and females shall me sent out form the camp, and they shall not defile their CAMPS that I dwell in." (Vayikra 5:2-3) The Talmud (Pesachim 67a) states that the word "camps" being plural teaches us that each category has its own "camp". The metzorah was not allowed at all in the Israelite Camp, the zav and others defiled from a bodily emission were not allowed in the Levitic Camp but were allowed in the outer Israelite Camp, and those defiled from external contact were not allowed in the Divine Camp (the Tabernacle) but were allowed into all other camps.

[When the Jewish People entered the Land of Israel, the Divine Presence continued to rest upon them, but the system of encampment was changed to a system of residence. The sanctity of the Israelite Camp was transferred to all walled cities, including Jerusalem. The sanctity of the Levitic Camp was transferred to the Temple Mount, and the sanctity of the Divine Camp was transferred to to the Sanctuary and Inner Courtyard of the Holy Temple. Additionally, the Rabbis forbade gentiles and those externally defiled from entering the Outer Courtyard of the Holy Temple. (Mishnah Keylim 1:7-8)

[When the Holy Temple was destroyed, the Divine Presence and sanctity did not leave, and the prohibition of defiled persons from entering it remained intact.

[People spiritually defiled can cleans themselves by immersion in a mikvah, except those defiled from contact with the dead, who require sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer. Today, since we do not have ashes of the red heifer, we can cleans ourselves of all defilements, except for contact with the dead. Since we are not careful today about defilement, we are never allowed to enter area where the Holy Temple stood but are allowed to enter other parts of the Temple Mount after immersion in a mikvah.]

"All those that enter the Temple Mount go rightward, encircle, and leave leftward." (Midot 2, 2)

Since the government of Begin, Jews have been prohibited from walking next to the Eastern Wall, and they are forced to distance themselves all the way to the border of the Outer Courtyard, which is considered the Divine Camp on a Rabbinic level. Since we do not have the ashes of the red heifer, we do not walk unnecessarily into the Rabbinic Divine Camp, just like in what is Divine Camp on a Torah level. A calamity has been caused to our grasp on the Temple Mount because many have "been strict on themselves" not to go at all to the Easter part of the Temple Mount. I would like to prove that their caution is dangerous, and it is a holy duty on all that enter the Temple Mount to encircle it on all four sides.

As a side point, Rabbinic prohibitions lose their force when the are only observed by kosher Jews, according to the Radbaz's responsa, article 633.

Furthermore, the Rabbinic prohibition is questionable, since the measurements are not clear. [Translator's note: Rabbinic sanctions were only made in clear cases, and questionable Rabbinic prohibitions are ruled leniently.] The Rock itself is 13 X 17 meters, and it is not clear from which side to start the measurements to the Outer Court. [Translator's note: the measurements of the Holy Temple are spelled out exactly in Mishnah Middot.] Logic and topography dictate that the "religious trail" is outside the Outer Courtyard. Furthermore, there is a disagreement amount Medieval Rabbis whether the Holy of Holies was on the western side of the Foundation Stone or on its eastern side.

We can add [additional doubts to the prohibition by citing] the differing opinions regarding the actual identification of the Holy of Holies as the Rock, such as Rabbi Goren's opinion that the Rock is the place of the Alter [which would move the entire Temple westward], Professor Asher Kaufman's opinion that the entire Temple stood parallel on the northern side, and the archeologist Tuviyah Sagiv's opinion that the Temple stood parallel on the southern side.

Rabbi Shabtai Rappaport brought up the idea that the Outer Courtyard is not an prohibited area per se, but there is rather a prohibition on the person to cross the fence lest he or she enter the Inner Courtyard. When the outer border is not there, even though all sections of the Temple retain their sanctity even when they are in ruins, the Rabbinic distancing looses it force. In other words, the Rabbis did not prohibit entering the territory of the Outer Courtyard, but rather prohibited crossing the fence bordering the Outer Courtyard, which is no longer extant.

Here, I will add another aspect based upon a law stated in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 13b, brought down Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah article 372), "One may go to a fair of idolaters because he is rescuing his money from them, and if he is a Cohen, he may go outside Israel or to a doubtful graveyard." If to rescue money, one is allowed to violate Rabbinic prohibitions, certainly, one can do so for the Holy Temple Mount, on which it we cannot give up our grasp on. Refraining from going there is the final concession on that territory, as is stated in the Talmud (Kedushin 26a), "Hizkiyah said, the Torah says, 'And you shall return to the cities which you have taken.' How did you take (the cities)? By occupying them. Rabbi Yishma'el learned, 'You shall inherit it and dwell in it.' You inherited it by dwelling in it." And what generation is like ours to prove that every place in the Land of Israel which Jews live they keep, and every area which they do not settle they lose. Who has the shoulders to take responsibility for the loss of the entire eastern section of the Temple Mount to foreigners.

To this we will add the law stated in the Talmud (end of Erchin), "Anyone may enter the Sanctuary to build and fix and to remove defilement, Cohens, Levites, and Israelites, the bodily perfected and the bodily blemished, the pure and the defiled."

THEREFORE WE WILL ENCIRCLE THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN ITS ENTIRETY INCLUDING THE BORDER OF THE OUTER COURTYARD ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND IN THE MERIT OF OUR HOLDING ON TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT, MAY WE MERIT THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE BUILDING OF THE HOLY TEMPLE.

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