Only edition of this monograph on the sensitive issue of entering the Temple Mount by R. Judah Noah ben Abraham Alexander Brawer. The title page describes it a saddressing the question of the permissibility of entering Har ha-Bayyit (Temple Mount) at present. R. Judah Noah ben Abraham Alexander Brawer was rav in Branovitch and subsequently was in Jerusalem. He was also the author of Shalom Yerushaliym, Hilkhot Shehitah be-Zman ha-Zeh, and Yalkut Peri Etz Hadar. R. Breuer informs that he entitled this work Delti ha-Lavanon from “Open your doors, O Lebanon, [that the fire may devour your cedars]” (Zechariah 11:1) and “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars” (Psalms 29:5).

The special status of the Temple Mount in halakhah derives from its being the site of the Temple, which stood approximately in its center. The special status applies not only to the actual site of the Temple and its courts, but to the whole of the mount. Jerusalem, the whole of which is holy, is regarded as equivalent to the "camp of Israel" that surrounded the sanctuary in the wilderness; the Temple Mount as a whole is equivalent to "the camp of the levites," which in the wilderness immediately surrounded the sanctuary; and the Temple with its courts, from the entrance of the court of the Israelites and beyond is regarded as representing the "camp of the Divine Presence" there, in respect of the halakhot applying to each of these "camps" (Sif. Naso 1; Zev. 116b). There were differences in degree of sanctity between the different sections of the Temple Mount. Into the most holy section, the Holy of Holies, only the high priest was permitted to enter, and then only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, for the service, and even this was dependent upon definite conditions. Besides this, those who were ritually unclean were forbidden to enter the Temple, as well as the courts of the priests and of the Israelites, by a positive precept (Num. 5:2) and a negative one (Num. 5:3). Those ritually unclean as the result of an unclean issue from their bodies were forbidden by a positive and negative precept from entering any part of the Temple Mount. By rabbinic enactment anyone ritually unclean was equally forbidden to enter the rampart (ḥel) and the court of the women. According to one opinion, anyone unclean, whether by biblical law or rabbinic enactment, was forbidden to enter any part of the mount. It was however permitted to enter the Temple, even the Holy of Holies, in order to execute necessary repairs, but under defined conditions. In addition, there are precepts which derive from the respect in which the area is to be held. It was forbidden to enter the area of the Temple Mount in a disrespectful manner or for mundane purposes: "A man should not enter the Temple Mount with his staff or wearing his shoes or with his feet dust-stained; nor should he make of it a short cut, and spitting [is forbidden] a fortiori" (Ber. 9:5). It was permitted to enter the Temple Mount from the right side only and to depart from it on the left side only, except in special circumstances (Mid. 2:2; Maim. Yad, Beit ha-Beḥirah 7:3). This raised a special halakhic problem, as can be gathered from most of the talmudic sources dealing with the subject (Eduy. 8:6; Meg. 10a–b). It appears that the most accepted view – and this too is the view of most commentators and halakhic authorities – is that the sanctity of the Temple site, and of the other parts of the Temple Mount according to their grades, and of Jerusalem as a whole – including any prohibitions against entry arising from these – remained even after the destruction. This is especially stressed by Maimonides (Yad, Beit ha-Beḥirah 6:14–16), but R. Abraham ben David of Posquières (the Rabad, ibid.) criticizes this view and rules that "one entering there nowadays is not liable for the penalty of karet ." Some have understood the latter to mean that no part of the Temple Mount is nowadays sacred, and unrestricted entry is permitted; and some acted accordingly, as reported by R. Menahem b. Solomon ha-Meiri (Beit ha-Beḥirah to Shevu. 16a) that the "the custom is widespread to enter there, as I have heard." However, generally speaking, his statement was understood to refer only to the liability for karet but not to the permission to enter. In any case his opinion was not accepted as the halakhah (Magen Avraham to OḤ 561:2). A secondary problem, not discussed, is to what extent the permission to enter which applied in Temple times obtains after the destruction. However, it is held that in general there is no one who has not been rendered ritually unclean by direct or indirect contact with the dead and there is no possibility of becoming cleansed, since there are no ashes of the red heifer , which are indispensable for such purification. According to the view that all ritually unclean persons are forbidden to enter the entire Temple Mount, the prohibition against entrance is clear-cut. Yet according to the view that the prohibition against entry in the case of one rendered unclean by contact with the dead is restricted to the area within the rampart, while the area outside is forbidden only if the uncleanness could have been avoided or if it is a form of uncleanness from which cleansing is possible even today, there are apparently grounds for permitting entry to that area. The problem remains, however, of identifying that permitted area, since no unequivocal conclusions on this can be derived from the sources. It is discussed by R. David b. Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (Responsa, pt. 2, no. 691) on the assumption that the Dome of the Rock is on the exact site of the Temple. With this as a starting point and with the aid of the measurements found in talmudic sources, he established into which area of the Temple Mount entry is forbidden nowadays and into which it is permitted. However, his premise about the exact site of the Temple is not universally accepted and many doubts remain. Most authorities take the view that entry is forbidden today to the entire area of the Temple Mount. recent generations, the rabbis of Jerusalem – particularly R. A.I. Kook – strongly upheld this prohibition.

 

Hebrew Description

... בשאלת היתר הכניסה להר הבית בזמן הזה, ממני ... יהודה נח <בראווער> ברה"ג ר’ אברהם אלכסנדר זצ"ל, הרב מבארנוב <פולני’> וכעת בירושלם ...