<div>Daniel Israel's three responses:<br><br><em>1) With TM we have a continuous mesorah on how to handle these<br>issues. WRT Har Habayis we do not.</em></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Actually, we do, to a certain extent. We know the Rambam ascended. We know the Ridbaz expressed</div>
<div>his opinion. We know the Ravad disallowed any k'dushah. We know Rav YM Tucachinky's opinion about</div>
<div>there being loads of room for a bet knesset there. So it seems that we only need to apply ourselves and</div>
<div>with the new-fangled technologies like thermal photographing, etc. it would seem to be no problem.<br><br><em>2) The investigation he is talking about all involves non-halachic<br>sources. There does not appear to be any way to figure out the
<br>metzius of the various parts of Har Habayis from looking at our<br>mesorah, one has to use non-halachic sources like archeology.<br>True, in TM we sometimes rely on doctors, but we have clear<br>halachic sources to tell us what we can and cannot rely on doctors
<br>for. I don't think we have any clear mesorah to tell us what we<br>can rely on archeologists for.</em></div>
<div> </div>
<div>As Rav Getz once told me, it's easier to figure out Halachically how to enter the Har Habayit</div>
<div>than to be matir milking a cow on Shabbat. It's just that people want to drink milk, but they</div>
<div>are doubtful whether they want to enter Har Habayit or consider that over one-third of all</div>
<div>Torah mitzvot are Mikdash-related.<br><br><em>3) If marriage would cease, so would the Jewish people. Perhaps if<br>the issue at hand was geulah shleimah and rebuilding the Bh"M, one<br>might argue that this is the same as marriage, because in either
<br>case we are talking about stopping klal Yisrael from fulfilling<br>it's ultimate purpose. But in that case we would have a Sanhedrin<br>and a Moshiach to help answer the questions. Here we are talking<br>about walking around up there and davening. Not even korbonos
<br>according to almost everyone.</em></div>
<div> </div>
<div>But the ascent is the beginning of that process. And how does one know that Geulah Shleima is</div>
<div>at hand if one doesn't do anything about it? Or do we all accept the Satmar position that until</div>
<div>Mashiach comes, we don't do a thing? Anyone who has studied the literature, from the Chatam</div>
<div>Sofer and until today, knows that it is not a Halachic problem. It's a mindset. As the Hareidi</div>
<div>world has said, "thank G-d the Ishmaelim are holding on to the place".<br><br>-- <br>Yisrael Medad<br>Shiloh<br>Mobile Post Efraim 44830<br>Israel </div>