Chief Rabbi Rav Kalman Ber Issues Strong Warning Against Ascending Har Habayis and Bowing There

Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Rav Kalman Meir Ber, has published a comprehensive halachic essay strongly warning against ascending Har Habayis and engaging in acts of prostration there in contemporary times, emphasizing that such conduct may involve serious Torah prohibitions in addition to the longstanding ban on entering the area itself.

Rav Ber opens his discussion with the pasuk, “Hishamru lachem alos bahar u’negoa b’ktzeihu — Beware of ascending the mountain or even touching its edge.”

The article comes amid the growing phenomenon of organized groups ascending Har Habayis and publicly encouraging participants to bow and prostrate themselves there. It also follows recent public discussion sparked by reports regarding statements attributed to the Amshinover Rebbe concerning the subject.

In his essay, Rav Ber stresses that beyond the fundamental prohibition against ascending Har Habayis—a position upheld by gedolei Yisroel from across the Torah spectrum and by successive generations of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate—there is an additional and severe halachic concern regarding the act of bowing on the mountain itself.

The Chief Rabbi writes that entering the precincts of Har Habayis in our times constitutes an extremely serious prohibition and notes that the guidance of gedolei Yisroel and the chief rabbis throughout the generations has been unequivocal: Jews should not ascend any area of Har Habayis.

Rav Ber then addresses the separate issue of hishtachava’ah upon a stone surface. The Torah prohibits full prostration upon a stone floor, as the pasuk states, “V’even maskis lo sitnu b’artzechem l’hishtachavos aleha — You shall not place a stone surface in your land upon which to prostrate yourselves.”

While such prostration was permitted in the Beis Hamikdash itself, Rav Ber explains that a significant halachic question remains as to whether that dispensation applied only within the Azarah or extended to other areas of Har Habayis as well.

The Chief Rabbi notes that a number of later halachic authorities discussed the issue and remained uncertain about its parameters. Among those cited is the Minchas Chinuch, who treats the matter as unresolved.

Because the question involves a possible Torah prohibition, Rav Ber warns that individuals who prostrate themselves on the stone surfaces of Har Habayis may be placing themselves into a situation involving a serious safek issur d’Oraisa.

The article presents additional halachic arguments against prostration on Har Habayis beyond the general prohibition of ascending the site. Rav Ber emphasizes that the matter is not merely a theoretical discussion concerning the boundaries of the mountain or questions of ritual purity, but also involves a practical action that may itself constitute an independent and severe halachic violation.

In his concluding remarks, Rav Ber urges the public to distance itself from the growing trend of ascending Har Habayis and bowing there. He writes that the various guides, instructions, and public campaigns encouraging such behavior run contrary to the position maintained by gedolei Yisroel and the Chief Rabbinate throughout the generations.

According to Rav Ber, the halacha is clear: Jews should refrain from ascending Har Habayis and avoid placing themselves into serious halachic uncertainties at the holiest site of the Jewish people.

{Matzav.com}