[Avodah] Going up to Har HaBayis

[Dov Bloom]

The subject of going up to Har Habayit nowadays has been written about in dozens if not hundreds of tshuvot and articles over the last 40 years since 1967, as well as a number of monographs, books and scholarly articles and lectures. The main effort is to determine the exact location of the "mekom hamikdash" and therby identify the parts of "har habayit" - the area enclosed in the inner walls of the Temple Mount - that Jews should be permitted to enter. 

The recent efforts to have Jews ascend in tahara are led by such diverse figures as R Shear Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa and son of the famous Nazir of Jerusalem;  R Shlomo Riskin Chief R of Efrat; and R Meidan now one of the Rashei Yeshiva of Har Etzion. Those opposed include such RZ leaders as R Avraham Shapira RY of Mercaz Harav and former Chief Rabbi, R Shlomo Aviner of Ateret Cohanim and R A Lichtenstein , RY of Har Etzion (however the Rosh Kollel of Har Etzion  R Levi gives classes and leads groups ascending to har habayit).

Those in favor of such ascents feel that it is a kiyum of the mitzva of "mora mikdash" that we can do nowadays after many centuries of not having this opportunity. Many seem to feel it is important geo-politically as the Arabs say that the Jews have no connection to Har Habayit, ve-ho-ra'aya they just daven at the kotel while the Arabs have free run of the Mount. My guess is that many proponents feel that it is also eschatologically important as a sign of "it-orruta de-la-tata".

The mishna in Midot says that the "halachic" har habayit is ' ta"k ama al ta"k amah '  500x500 amot, or less tan 200 by 200 yards (i'm not being exact and there are plenty of machlokot about the exact length of an amah).  The present kotel Western wall is nearly half a kilometer so the present enclosed space included a lot of areas that are not halachicly "har habayit" in terms of the issurim involved. 

Har habayit is considered machane leviah, and forbidden to a zav, zava, nidah, yoledet and baal keri. That is why those who ascend to har habayit all go to the mikve immediately before, and women are not part of these groups.  There are 4 hour and 16 hour "courses" preparing people before they ascend, where they learn the relevant dinnim.

An important question is to delineate the exact areas that are mutar. Those who go up on har habayit after going to the mikve, and while not wearing leather shoes , basicly follow what is know as the Radbaz's shita. This allows them to make a circuit keeping relatively close to the walls, see ad be close to the makom hamikdash, while staying away from the area near "the dome above the rock" which many shitot hold is "even hashtiya". 

See the Meiri Shavuot 15b where he says "vehaminhag hapashut lehikaneis sham lefi ma sheshamanu".

See Igrot Moshe OC V2 siman 113, RMF's tshuva to R Efraim Greenblatt in the last paragraph where he metions agav urcha that there are places on har habayit where tmei meit are allowed and other tumot you can tovel.

The question of the machloket rishonim about kedushat har habayit and the exact location of the mikdash seemed to be a subject of discussion between two Gedolim at the beginning of the 20th century who were both "before their time" as they forsaw many issues which became important after the establishment of the State of Israel. I refer to Rav Kook and R Chaim Hirshenson of Hoboken, in chelek 4 of RCH shut Malki Bakodesh p 4 ff. 

A series of articles with halachic sources as well as maps, and physical and archeological arguments can be found in Tchumin, put out by Machon Tzomet, V 9 p 461-511.

Rav Goren wrote a whole "kuntres" on the location of the makom hamikdash using in addition to poskim, maps and photographs of Har HaBayit belonging to the IDF, when he was Chief Chaplain after 1967.

A Hebrew shiur of R Shear Yashuv Cohen given at KBY can be found at http://kby.org.il/article_details.asp?pid=1895&itemid=8430. He claims that "rov haPoskim" agree that Jews did/or could bring korbanot even without a Mikdosh, so this implies that you could go up on Har HaBAyit, Ayein sham. He also mentions the machloket between RCH in Malki Bakodesh who was matir to ascend on Har Habayit and Rav Kook who was opposed. 

There are some Hebrew internet "popular" explanations like Machon Hamikdash's site http://www.temple.org.il/show.asp?id=6524 and a very brief English map and "ikarei halachot" for those who are interested in going up to har Habayit on http://www.geocities.com/mikdash-build/ascent.html