By Dr. Alex Sternberg, JNS
Ascending it is controversial in Judaism, but I found it spiritually uplifting.
I have wanted to visit the Temple Mount (Har Habayit)for some time. However, for many years, Jews were not permitted to do so. But they are increasingly visiting the site where the Holy Temples once stood. And during a recent trip to Israel, I finally got the chance to see it for myself.
The Temple Mount serves as a religious and a national heritage location. It defines the Jewish nation and our claim to the Land of Israel. For this very reason, Arabs attempt to prevent Jews from exercising ownership and deny our right to pray there. Unfortunately, the Israeli government continues to adhere to a misguided policy enacted shortly after the Six-Day War in June 1967 that ceded control of the mount to the Arabs.
On the second day of Chol Hamoed Passover—the intermediate days of the holiday—my son, Yonatan, and I went to Jerusalem. We stopped first at the mikvah of the Gur Hassidim. After immersing in the ritual bath, we made our way to the Western Wall, joining about 25 other pilgrims at the Mughrabi Gate. This is still the only permitted entrance for non-Muslims. We were greeted on the wooden ramp by a unit from Israel’s Temple Mount police, who guided us on our journey.
We walked onto the mount and were instructed by the police to walk quickly and not linger at any one spot. Har Habayit opened up before us, revealing a vast expanse filled with fallen rocks that resemble those seen at the Western Wall ruins. Could they date back to the destruction of the Second Temple? I wondered. We continued walking, and soon, the majestic Dome of the Rock was in front of us. Seeing the shrine, built over the ruins of the ancient Jewish Temple, saddened me.
Our group stopped opposite the Dome of the Rock. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised to see a minyan (public prayer quorum), formed since I thought Jews were not allowed to pray there. Still, I answered with a loud “Amen” as Kaddish was recited. Some in the group even prostrated themselves on the stone floor with outstretched arms in commemoration of the Temple worship that was done during the time of the Temple (Beit Hamikdash).
It’s interesting to see how the situation has changed since the days when Arab women would come and stand alongside Jewish visitors to ensure that they wouldn’t pray or even move their lips. Those women would even spit on visitors, making their experiences more uncomfortable. Now, though, the Israeli Temple Mount police accompany us, gently encouraging everyone to complete their visit in a timely manner. While they may wait impatiently during the prayer, they respect the process and do not interfere.
Ascending the Temple Mount is controversial in Judaism, but I found it spiritually uplifting. The controversy stems more from rabbinical disagreement about the exact location of the Holy of Holies, a sacred area Jews are not allowed to enter. The Holy of Holies was so sacred that during the time of the Temples, the high priest was only allowed to enter it once a year—on Yom Kippur. Today, although the temples have been destroyed, the Temple Mount itself maintains a holy status that we must not desecrate.
After Israel unified Jerusalem, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the chief rabbi of the Israeli Defense Forces, requested that IDF engineers map out the Temple Mount site to determine the various locations of the Beit Hamikdash. He published the findings in a book, laying out the areas Jews may visit.
Goren, however, warned that immersion in a mikvah must precede visiting even the areas permitted.
He encouraged Jews to join the many great Torah sages who have been praying on Har Habayit for more than 1,000 years. Such rabbis included Moses ben Maimon, the revered Rambam (Maimonides), who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1165. After his visit, he wrote a letter about praying at “the great and Holy House.”
“Even though nowadays the Temple is destroyed because of our sins, nevertheless, even today everyone is required to show it respect [fear] as was practiced in the days when it stood. No one may enter it except the places that one is permitted to enter,” Maimonides wrote in “H. Beit Ha-Bechira” 7.7.
Unfortunately, Goren encountered a setback in his plans.
Israel’s defense minister at the time, Moshe Dayan, made a bizarre gesture of granting the defeated Jordanians rights over the Temple Mount. A nonreligious Jew, he either didn’t grasp the significance of the site for Jews or simply didn’t care. Once again, Jews were barred from praying at the location of our ancient Temple.
Many Jews defied this ill-considered agreement, and more are visiting and praying there annually. Yeshivahs conduct daily scheduled classes there. According to a report in the Haredi publication Kikar HaShabbat, during Passover 6,315 Jews visited the Temple Mount, nearly 2,000 more than visited during Passover 2022. Each year, more Jewish visitors come, reinforcing our longstanding bond with the two Temples that once stood there.
Israel needs to construct a synagogue on the Temple Mount and prevent Arabs from erecting any more mosques on the site. They have built five mosques there since 1967, which they had agreed not to do.
Dayan not only ceded the Temple Mount to Arab control but also the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron. However, a motivated Israeli government arranged for Jews and Arabs to share the site, and to this day, daily Jewish prayers take place there. Perhaps an increase in worshippers at the Temple Mount would encourage the government to facilitate sharing that space, too. So we can say, “Next year in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.”
