There are some national religious Jews who do insist on visiting the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit) from time to time. "We have to show the Arabs that we are still around and never forget our heritage !", so their argumentation. However, the vast majority of the haredi world refuses going onto the Temple Mount because we Jews today are all in a state of impurity and don't just wash this away by going to the Mikveh. We cannot get rid of our spiritual impurity until we purify ourselves with the ashes of the Red Hefer (Parah Adumah) and those ashes haven't been rediscovered yet.
Last week, while touring through Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter of the Old City, I had a short glimpse onto the Temple Mount and here are the photos.
By the way, this particular entrance is only for Muslims !
Israeli police and border police is securing the entrance.
It is an unbelievable sad feeling when you look at something which is yours but you cannot get there !
Photos: Miriam Woelke
Hi Miriam-
ReplyDeleteI think it should be stated that those who do ascend are exceedingly careful not to go beyond the outer perimeter which according to most poskim does not necessitate the Para Aduma ashes. They too want to grasp as much as what is theirs as possible and do so within the law-
Kol Tuv.
B"H
ReplyDeleteHi Shoshanna,
That's correct but many Haredim consider the exact locations of the Azarah or the Kodesh HaKodeshim as a Machloket and say that today, we simply don't know for sure where to step on.
Here are some pictures I took up there a few years ago on Sukkos. I have been up several times since and the extent of the construction (and DEstruction) has greatly increased.
ReplyDeletehttp://ishtam.blogspot.com/2006/10/kfar-tapuach-visits-temple-mount.html