Jews on the Temple Mount

Question

My Birthright trip leader told us that, for religious reasons, he would not take private tours to the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. Why is that? That seems to be an opportunity to get closer to where the Beit Hamikdash once stood so wouldn’t a Jewish person seize that opportunity if they could?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The whole Temple area is comprised of different levels of spiritual sanctity and different degrees of impurity affecting a person define where it is permitted to go and where it is forbidden to go.

    There are three general areas on the Mount. The innermost, and most holy is the Azara – the Courtyard, which includes the Temple building itself and the place of the altar. The next is called the Ezrat Nashim – the Ladies’ Section, which is the open courtyard outside the Temple. The least stringent area is called Har HaBayit – the Temple Mount, which is the open area outside the Temple complex. The consequence of entering any of these areas while in a condition of most types of impurity is extremely serious. That is why you were told not to go up to the Temple Mount because, until the advent of the Messianic Era, we are all in a state of spiritual impurity.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team