http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/10-09-08.htmThree Sages Ask for Renewed BanLast month, Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, and former Sephardic chief rabbi Rabbi Ovadia Yosef - all renowned rabbis of the hareidi non-nationalist religious sector - sent a letter asking that the ban on Jewish entry to the Temple Mount be re-issued. The letter was sent to Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the Rabbi of the Holy Sites on behalf of the government of Israel.
The rabbis' letter is based on the grave Biblical prohibition on setting foot, while in the present impure state, on certain parts of the Temple Mount - and the lack of clarity as to where those parts might be. "As time passed," the letter states, "we have lost knowledge of the precise location of the Temple, and anyone entering the Temple Mount is liable to unwittingly enter the area of the Temple and the Holy of Holies. Entrance to the Temple Mount, and the defilement of the Holy of Holies, is more severe than any of the violations in the Torah."
Research Tells the StoryRabbi Tendler has sharp words for this approach: "When we were in Exile and the Kotel [Western Wall] was a topic for 'future Messianic times,' it was thought that the Kotel was the wall of the actual Temple. But now that we know the true situation, we have been there many times, we know what's going on, and even minimal research tells us that the Kotel is merely the outer wall of the Temple Mount, not the Holy Temple itself."
"We must be very respectful of the great work done by [former Chief] Rabbi Shlomo Goren and others; they have performed measurements and they know where the Holy of Holies was. There is a very large area where we are certain it was not located, and in that area even a funeral can be held... We can certainly visit these areas, but of course only after going to the mikveh [ritual bath] the day before, and without wearing any leather, and being careful to speak properly while there and to dress respectfully... There are no doubts [as to which places are forbidden to enter], and anyone who raises such doubts does so for ulterior motives..."
"In addition, to say that it is a violation of the Talmudic dictum not to force our will on the nations, as Rabbi Aviner has written, is also embarrassing; everyone knows that when we go up there, it is only with permission, and being very careful not to antagonize the 'foxes who walk there' or to mumble any prayers, Heaven forbid."