| Dozens of rabbis ascend Temple Mount in unprecedented visit |
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| Written by Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent | |
| May 16, 2007 at 02:10 AM | |
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Dozens of rabbis from the national Zionist camp visited the Temple Mount on Sunday in order to increase awareness and emphasize Jewish linkage to the site.
A few days ago, the rabbis had released an announcement permitting Jews to enter the Temple Mount.
Sunday's visit marks the first time such a large group of rabbis, including the head rabbi of the Yesha Council Rabbi Dov Lior, Ma'ale Adumim Yeshiva head Rabbi Nahum Rabinowitz, and Rabbi Daniel Shaleh, have visited Temple Mount together.
Last weekend, the religious media published a notice signed by Bnei
Akiva Yehiva head Rabbi Chaim Druckman, his colleague Rabbi Avraham
Zuckerman, and Kiryat Shmona Chief Rabbi Tzfania Drori. The rabbis
called on "the entire holy public to ascend the Temple Mount in purity
... to arrive in coming days to the allowed sites near the entrance to
the Temple Mount."
By publishing the announcement, rabbis Druckman, Zuckerman, and Drori
joined dozens of other rabbis from the national Zionist camp who have
recently decided to permit Jewish entry into the Temple Mount, subject
to halakhic (Jewish law) restrictions.
Allowing the entry is a clear deviation from the general halakhic
rabbinical consensus, including both from the ultra-Orthodox camp and
the national Zionist camp, which maintains that Jewish entry to the
site is forbidden.
The accepted explanation for the entrance ban throughout the years was
that the exact location of the temples and the Holy of Holies is
unknown, meaning Jews could unknowingly set foot in forbidden areas.
Another central explanation maintained that by allowing a general
entrance, the general public would arrive at the site, and could set
foot in the forbidden areas as well.http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/858937.html |
