Going On Har Babayit/Temple Mount?

Halacha Moment
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The Daily Halacha Moment - Going On Har Babayit

״כל השונה הלכות בכל יום - מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא״ (נידה עג ע״א, מגילה כח:)

“Anyone who studies Halachot every day is guaranteed that he is destined for the world-to-come” (Megilla 28b, Niddah 73a)

Question:

May one go on Har Habayit?

Answer:

It is absolutely forbidden to ascend or enter Har HaBayit in our times. The reason is that the Beit HaMikdash was built in precise areas of extreme holiness, including the Kodesh HaKodashim and other sacred zones, where entry is strictly prohibited without the proper state of ritual purity. Since today we are all considered tamei ritually impure. It is impossible to determine with certainty which areas are permitted and which are forbidden. Even the slightest miscalculation could lead to entering a section of the mountain where entry carries the punishment of karet.

For this reason, leading poskim across the generations, including the Rambam and virtually all contemporary gedolei Yisrael, have ruled that one must not step foot on Har HaBayit today. Out of reverence for its holiness and in order to avoid even the possibility of violating one of the gravest prohibitions in the Torah, Jews are strictly forbidden to enter. Instead, we stand and pray from the outside, pouring out our hearts at the Kotel, which is the closest accessible point to the Makom HaMikdash. This restriction itself serves as a reminder of our great loss and fuels our yearning for the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash, when we will once again be able to enter in purity, as prescribed by the Torah. [1]

Sources:

[1]. Magen Avraham 561:2; Rambam Bet Habechira 6:14-16; See also Yabia Omer, vol. 5, Y.D. §26 and Chazon Ovadia, Arba Taaniyot, p. 454, which state that one may not even fly over Har HaBayit in an airplane. See also Teshuvot HaRishon LeTzion, vol. 1, O.C. §13.

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