JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s chief rabbis and other senior rabbis have called on Jews not to visit the Temple Mount because it is against Jewish law.
The declaration is being presented now, according to the statement’s signers, because many Jewish organizations are calling for the public to visit the Temple Mount.
"It is a holy obligation to make you aware that it is completely forbidden by Halacha to ascend to the Temple Mount, and this prohibition has always been a simple and clear one, and this thing has been forbidden by all of the Great Ones of Israel," the statement reads. "Since, in the recent period, all kinds of organizations are calling on the public to ascend to the Temple Mount, we hereby proclaim the Torah opinion, that the prohibition still stands, and it is completely forbidden to ascend to the Temple Mount at this time."
The declaration by Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar was co-signed by Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi Yona Metzger, former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi Doron, Old City Rabbi Avigdor Neventzal, and the rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinovich, among others.
Rumors of extremist Jewish groups’ planned visits to the site have sparked riots by Muslims at the Temple Mount in recent weeks.
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