Rabbis Warn Jews Against Going to Temple Mount
Sepahardi, Ashkenazi chief rabbis, others issue statement amid increasing organized attempts of late to go up to the holy site.
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, along with several other senior rabbis, has issued a public statement to warn the public that visiting the Temple Mount is forbidden by Jewish law.
According to the statement, the warning is being made at this time because of increased organized attempts of late to go up to the holy site.
‘It is a sacred duty to awaken your hearts [to the fact that] it is completely forbidden according to Jewish law to go up to the Temple Mount,’ the statement reads. ‘This prohibition has been simple and clear for a long time, and has been forbidden by all of the great Torah scholars.’
Because many different organizations have been calling on the public to visit the Temple Mount in recent months, the declaration continues, it is incumbent upon the signatories to reiterate that the prohibition remains.
Many of the organizations wanting to visit and pray are orthodox (observant) organizations—who should know the law regarding this area. But they don’t, for some reason.
When working properly, this is an area that only a few were able to access. The center of the area could be accessed by only one man, who would enter an area blocked from sight. He would enter with a chain around his ankle so, in case he died while in there, the others could pull him out. In other words, this was a very intense area. Presently, we only have language to describe what was physically visible, but we do not have words or concepts to describe what was actually happening while everything was up and running.
The fact that in 2012 (5772), there are those who wish to take back the area by force only shows that even among religious Jews, cause and effect is backwards.