ON THE NET

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem Highlighting Scientific and Archaeological Research Concerning the Location of the First and Second Jewish Temples Material provided by Tuvia Sagiv (This has the most information of any site I have encountered. "The Temple Mount Faithful" also has a page on that site. There is also a "Recent Developments in the News" page, which posts material from Mikdash-Build)

THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM An Archaeological / Architectural Analysis by Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, former chief architect of the Temple Mount excavations

PROJECT CORNERSTONE The Jerusalem Education Fund's Project Cornerstone desires to educate toward real and comprehensive peace. This can only be accomplished through the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. Project Cornerstone was created with the knowledge that a brighter future can be found through making our hopes and dreams into reality.

B'TZEDEK MAGAZINE including an article by Rav Yisrael Ariel of the Temple Institute

The Lubavitcher Rebbe on learning halachot of the Beit HaMikdash (Master Lubavitch web site --

http://www.chabad.org/)

A PEOPLE'S HEART AND SOUL The Temple remains at the core of Jewish consciousness * A. Engler Anderson Jewish Exponent Staff

IN THE NEWS

Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, February 25, 1997

GOVERNMENT NEVER FORBADE TEMPLE MOUNT PRAYER

A document that was presented to the Jerusalem District Court this week shows that the Government of Israel never made an official decision to forbid Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount. The document, which was presented by the defense lawyers in the trial of Chai V'Kayam members, was prepared by the Cabinet Assistant Secretary in 1986. The implications of the document are that the Supreme Court justices were repeatedly deceived when they were told that the government had forbidden Jewish prayer. The government did make one decision on this issue: a one-time ban on Jewish prayer on the Mount, some two months after the Six-Day War. Yehuda Etzion, leader of Chai V'Kayam, told Arutz-7 today that the proof that the decision was not meant to be binding is found in a protocol of a government meeting that was held some weeks later. According to the protocol, one minister attempted to cite the decision as grounds for forbidding prayer on the Mount, and then-Minister Menachem Begin protested, "I was the one who suggested the original proposal then, and the decision applied only to that specific case. We never made a decision to forbid Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount."

CORRESPONDENCE

1. The Placement of the Beit HaMikdash

Shalom Yirmiyahu:

I downloaded information on HaMikdash. I am very happy to see you do want to build The Temple on the Temple Mount.

One thing keeps bothering me about The Temple. In my humble opinion our Hashem will not allow pagans to build the madjiid on his Temple. Especially on the Holy of Holies. Since you raised the question "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 (MKDSH001), I would like to bring it your attention following passage from the other Yehudi writings. May be it will shed some light on the HaMikdash. Yochanan was a Yehudi and his book called Revelation in the Christian New Testament may give us some clues. May be it is worth reading a few sentences from that book.

Revelation 11:1-2 "Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations."

If the above makes sense then it tells me that the Dome of the Rock is in the outer courts. And does support my theory that Hashem will not allow pagans to build their Madjiid on his Holy of Holies,

I was on the Temple mount in September 1996. There is enough room for The Temple to be built on the east side of the Dome of the Rock.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Ranjan

Certainly, understanding the true placement of the Beit HaMikdash is of utmost importance. The Beit HaMikdash must be built, not just where there is room for it, but on the exact original place. When King Shlomo sanctified the Beit HaMikdash and the alter, he sanctified the place for all generations, and it is hence forbidden to erect an alter any place other than where the original alter stood.

The disagreement as to exactly where on the Foundation Stone the Holy of Holies stood is a matter of a few meters, but the most widely accepted opinions agree that the Beit HaMikdash stood there, and that the Dome of the Rock stands on it.

As to how Hashem could allow strangers to stand in the Holy of Holies and build a structure there, His ways are mysterious and beyond us, so I am unable to fully answer this question, or why Hashem allows people to violate His will. However, this seems to be the fact, as Yehuda Halevi writes in the last to Kinot (dirges) recited on the Ninth of Av In "Tziyon Geveret", he writes, "Benei Se'ir uMoav betoch heichal devirayich." (The sons of Seir and Moab are inside your sanctuary.) In "Eli Tziyon", he writes, "Ve'al biat mecharfei Kel betoch mikdash chadareha..." (regarding blasphemers coming inside the inner rooms of the Beit HaMikdash.) It's true that strange and difficult things are allowed to occur in a state of exile, and it is a disgrace to Hashem that the Dome of the Rock remains were the Beit HaMikdash should be, but that's the way it is.

Additionally, it is the custom of Moslems to erect shrines and mosques in places that other religions regard as holy. In Israel, this has been the case at the Machpela Cave (where the patriarchs and matriarchs are buried), at the Prophet Shmuel's grave site, at the the prophets Gad and Natan's grave site, etc. Even in India, Moslems have built mosques on the sites of Hindu temples. The fact that Moslems do keep a shrine there is a proof that this was considered to be the placement of the Beit HaMikdash.

May we merit seeing the Beit HaMikdash built on its true foundation.

yirmi

2. The Necessity of the Beit HaMikdash

(for more information about Rav Frand's list, see http://www.torah.org/)

Rav Frand wrote: (on Parshat Ki Tisa)

The Kotzker Rebbe asked, "Why is it that someone who doesn't own land is excused from going up to Jerusalem?" The Kotzker Rebbe answered, "Because he doesn't need to."

Only the person who owns land, who has a connection to this world, who is into materialism, needs to go up to Jerusalem to see the Shechinah. The person who is unencumbered by materialism does not have to go anywhere to see the Shechinah, because he sees it everywhere.

One who has the property, the mortgage, the two garages and the Jacuzzi, etc., etc., has to go to Jerusalem to see the Shechinah. But one who is free of the materialism of this world sees the Shechinah _everywhere_, so he is excused from the mitzvah of 'Reiyah,' going to see.

It is with much reservation that I openly criticize the the great talmid chacham and rosh yeshiva Rav Frand's telling over the Torah of the Kotzker Rebbe ztl. However, there are serious implications to the above explanation, which belittle the greatness of Eretz Yisrael and the Beit HaMikdash. For the sake of Jerusalem I could not be silent.

Additionally, it is hardly conceivable that the Kotzker Rav ztl lived in a world of "the property, the mortgage, the two garages and the Jacuzzi", so I must assume that this is not the Kotzker's words, but an Rav Frand's American anachronism.

First of all, the above article implies that our connection to Eretz Yisrael is equivalent to "the property, the mortgage, the two garages and the Jacuzzi". Our connection to Eretz Yisrael, however, is a source of vitality to us as a nation. The Ramban (on parshat "vahaya im shamo'a") says that the main fulfillment of mitzvot is only in Eretz Yisrael. Additionally, the Ramban (in his commentary on Sefer HaMitzvot) considers ownership of property in Eretz Yisrael as an integral part of the mitzvah of "Yishuv Eretz Yisrael" (settling the land of Israel).

Rather, it is proper to say that ownership of property in Eretz Yisrael is a necessary precondition to our being able to go up and be received by the Shechina. The Torah Temima explains that the Rambam does not bring down this halacha because every Jew ultimately has a portion in Eretz Yisrael. In the Musaf service we pray "veshavu Yisrael linvehem" (return Israel to their property) -- that we should be returned to our ownership of land. The Brisker Rav explains that we are praying to be "metzuve ve'ose" (doing because we're commanded) when do "aliyah laregel".

The second implication is even more problematic.

The article further states:

Only the person who owns land, who has a connection to this world, who is into materialism, needs to go up to Jerusalem to see the Shechinah. The person who is unencumbered by materialism does not have to go anywhere to see the Shechinah, because he sees it everywhere.

The implication is that if one has spiritual values, he does not need mitzvot, and this is problematic, to say the least Jews must come close to Hashem by fulfilling mitzvot. There is no true substitute for the Beit HaMikdash. The "Shechina" (Divine Presence) is revealed only HERE in Eretz Yisrael, more specifically in Yerushalayim on the Temple Mount. Saying something else is a substitute is a disgrace and an insult to the Shechina.

Yours truly,

yirmi

p.s. I had some difficulty actually getting the letter to Rav Frand. If anyone can personally deliver it to him, I would appreciate it.

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