Ascending Har Habayis Today?

Ask the Rov: Is it permissible to ascend Har Habayis today?

By Rabbi Chaim Hillel Raskin – Rov of Anash in Petach Tikvah

The kedusha of the Har Habayis after the churban is disputed among rishonim. The Rambam rules that Har Habayis retains its sanctity even when the Beis Hamikdosh is destroyed and therefore has kedusha,¹ while the Raavad disagrees and holds that the kedusha doesn’t remain after the churban. ²(Yet there may still be restrictions on entering the area.³)

Regarding the criteria for entering the area of the Beis Hamikdosh and its surroundings, there are many different halachos about who is allowed and in which zones.⁴ (These zones apply to entering the airspace in an airplane as well.⁵)

Individuals with tumah coming from the body itself (hayotzei alav migufo, e.g., a woman who gave birth) may not allowed onto Har Habayis as a whole. A t’mei mes, someone who came in contact with a corpse at some point in their life — and, l’havdil, a goy — may ascend the mountain but not enter a space outside the azara called the cheil. A tevul yom, who already went to mikvah but the night did not yet set in, may go there, but not to the Ezras Nashim.

Today, we are all t’mei mes as we do not have the ashes of the parah adumah, which are necessary for the purification process. Still, that would only preclude going past the cheil. Most people would be required to go to the mikveh before ascending to remove any sort of bodily tumah so they could enter the Har Habyis.

The challenge, however, is that there is debate as to the precise mapping of the various zones on Har Habyis. Since the mountain is larger than the original 500 by 500 ama, some perimeter isn’t part of the halachic Har Habayis, and it’s not sufficiently clear where the location of azara is and so on.

Moreover, notes the Rebbe, in the unfortunate current state of affairs, the mere discussion of an allowance to ascend will inevitably cause some people to enter prohibited areas.⁶ In a letter from 5746, the Rebbe responded that the Rabbonim had already prohibited it.⁷ On another occasion, the Rebbe noted that learning Hilchos Beis Habechira is like taking part in the construction; however, to ascend Har Habayis, we need to know where it is allowed.⁸

Interestingly, the Rebbe was upset when the government restricted Yidden’s dominion over Har Habayis, which was motivated by weakness in the Yidden’s ownership of Eretz Yisroel.⁹

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From The Weekly Farbrengen by Merkaz Anash