Is it Permitted to Enter the Temple Mount, According to Maran Ovadia Yosef zt"l?

The Temple Mount is the hill upon which the First and Second Temples stood, until almost two thousand years ago, when due to our sins it was destroyed by the wicked Titus. Since then, the mountain remained desolate until the Muslim Ishmaelites came and built mosques on it, as is known to this day, for foxes walked upon it.

It is known that the sanctity of the Temple is great, and a person who is "ritually impure from contact with the dead" is forbidden to enter the Temple. In our time, without the ashes of the red heifer, we are all impure from contact with the dead, as there is no one among us who has not touched someone who touched a deceased person, or touched someone who stayed in the same room as a deceased person and the like. Therefore, in our time, we are all absolutely forbidden to enter the area of the Temple. Anyone who enters the Temple area is punished with "karet" (divine excision), and transgresses several explicit prohibitions in the Torah. We are left only to discuss two matters.

First, does the sanctity of the Temple remain until this time, when the Temple is destroyed? And second, is the entire area of the Temple Mount forbidden to enter, or are there places within it where entry is permitted?

The First Sanctification Sanctified for the Future
Rambam wrote (Laws of the Chosen House 6:14): "The first sanctification that Solomon sanctified the Temple and Jerusalem, sanctified it for its time and sanctified it for the future (meaning, the sanctity never ceases), even though it is in ruins. And why do I say regarding the Temple and Jerusalem that the first sanctification is sanctified for the future? Because the sanctity of Jerusalem and the Temple is due to the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence is not nullified, as Hashem says, 'I will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries into desolation,' and the Sages said, even though they are desolate, they stand in their sanctity!"

In other words, it is clear from Rambam's words that the sanctity of the Temple, which prohibits those who are ritually impure from entering its area, remains forever and is not nullified even when the Temple is destroyed and desolate.

Therefore, one who enters the Temple area in our time is liable to karet, his sin is too great to bear, and he transgresses several prohibitions from the Torah.

Entering the Temple Mount
However, all this applies specifically to the Temple area, but the rest of the Temple Mount areas are not forbidden for those who are ritually impure from the dead to enter. As Rambam ruled (Laws of Entering the Temple 3:4), "One who is impure from contact with the dead, and even the dead body itself, are permitted to enter the Temple Mount" (although, in our time there are types of impurity that cause prohibition of entry to the entire Temple Mount, but we will not discuss this now).

Therefore, all the great poskim in recent generations discussed whether there is a way to permit entry to certain areas on the Temple Mount.

Our great master Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt"l also discussed this in his responsa Yabia Omer, Part 5 (Yoreh Deah, Section 26) and in his book Chazon Ovadia (Fasts, p. 454), where he discussed at length and breadth, bringing several proofs from the words of the poskim that we are not proficient in our time to know exactly where the Temple stood, and therefore most of the Temple Mount area is in doubt whether it is the place of the Temple (and even if there is some place that is out of doubt, it is still sacred in its holiness and not everyone is permitted to enter there). In his words, he quoted Rabbi David of Karlin in Responsa She'eilat David (Kontreis Drishat Tzion V'Yerushalayim 14:73), who wrote that it is impossible for us in any way to determine the location of the altar, and one must be concerned about the punishment of karet. Therefore, one should certainly distance oneself and be cautious not to enter the Temple Mount even after immersion and for the purpose of a mitzvah, because the masses will come to breach and enter in impurity to the area of the courtyards and the sanctuary. Currently, the great rabbis of the generation have already gathered, decreed, and agreed with full force to build a fence and warn with a severe warning that no person should dare to enter the area of the Temple Mount, until Shiloh comes, when it will be fulfilled in us, "And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean." The following scholars agreed on this prohibition: Rabbi Yitzchak Weiss, Rabbi Shalom Messas, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Waldenberg, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky, and many others, all agreeing on the severity of the prohibition to enter the Temple Mount at this time due to the concern of the punishment of karet.

Therefore, those who rely on the words of whoever it may be, and say that there is a special virtue in ascending the Temple Mount, are acting incorrectly and are touching upon the prohibition of karet, and in the words of the Gaon, author of Minchat Yitzchak (5:1), "All their words are diminished from vanity." And although there are those who interpret the Ra'avad's opinion to mean that there is no punishment of karet for entering the Temple area in our time, nevertheless, the Ra'avad's opinion on this matter is rejected from the halacha, and so ruled Radbaz, that according to the law we certainly rule according to the opinion of Rambam and other poskim who forbid entry to the Temple area even in our time, and anyone who enters there is liable to karet. Especially since according to many poskim, the Ra'avad also holds that there is a prohibition from the Torah, as written by Rabbi A.Y. Kook in Responsa Mishpat Kohen (Section 96). Furthermore, even though according to the Ra'avad there is no karet, there is certainly a negative commandment from the Torah in this.

Sir Moses Montefiore
In the year 1867, the righteous Sir Moses Montefiore visited Jerusalem, and during his visit he entered the area of the Temple site (in those days he was moved to renovate the area of the Western Wall, and to add the rows of small stones at its top so that it would not tilt). At that time, Rabbi Yosef Moshe of Lissa (son of the Gaon of Lissa, author of Chavot Da'at) was in Jerusalem, and he took a shofar and blew it in the streets of Jerusalem and excommunicated Sir Montefiore for entering the forbidden place. Since the Sir was very God-fearing, he approached, together with his rabbi Dr. Levi, the rabbis of Jerusalem, and they apologized for doing this with innocence of heart, as they mistakenly relied on the Ra'avad's opinion. Indeed, the rabbis of Jerusalem appeased them, saying that the excommunication of R. Yosef Moshe had no validity, as he was not responsible for his actions, and they should not be concerned about his excommunication. Our master Rabbi [Ovadia Yosef] wrote about this that it is clear that the geonim of Jerusalem did not mean to say that the Sir acted according to the law and halacha when he visited the Temple site, contrary to the opinion of Rambam, Ra'ash, and most poskim, but their entire intention was to say that he is not liable to excommunication for this, since he was inadvertent.

In a collection called Sha'arei Yerushalayim (printed in 1879), it was written that Sir Moses Montefiore dared to enter the Temple site, through a special permit from the Sultan in Constantinople, and by distributing much money to the Pasha of Jerusalem and great Muslims, and he did this against the will of the wise great rabbis of Jerusalem. In the book Vayilkot Yosef (Section 134), it was added that Maran HaGaon Rabbi Shmuel Salant rebuked him to his face for inadvertently entering the Temple site.

In summary: It is absolutely forbidden to enter the area of the Temple even in our time. It is a severe prohibition from the Torah. The correct approach is that it is forbidden to enter the entire area of the Temple Mount in our time, because we do not know exactly where the Temple boundaries are, and all the words of rabbis and experts who tried to determine the inner boundaries on the Temple Mount are not based on compelling evidence. Therefore, the great poskim have deliberated and concluded to completely forbid entry to the area of the Temple Mount. Those who are lenient in this matter are touching upon the prohibition of karet and are acting against the law.