Ascending the Temple Mount, and Finding Meaning During the Three Weeks, with Rabbi Danny Myers (167)

It’s sometimes challenging to feel the aveilut, the mourning of the destruction, when the Jewish people live in a time of unparalleled prosperity, when we can visit and live in a thriving State of Israel, and when we see a beautiful city of Jerusalem filled with Jewish people from around the world. Am Yisrael still absorbs terrible blows; terrorism, the deaths of young soldiers, antisemitism and more continue to plague us. For many people, however, our day-to-day lives are comfortable enough that the destruction of a now-rebuilt city 2000 years ago feels distant from our everyday concerns.

One of the ways that some people experience the lack of a Beit HaMikdash is to ascend the Temple Mount. Admittedly, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has prohibited Jews from doing this, and the majority of great halachic authorities also say that it is not allowed. Rabbi Danny Myers, however, has a very different approach, and suggests that praying on the Temple Mount is not only allowed, but may even be an obligation. Scott discussed this contentious issue with Rabbi Myers, alongside the question of how people can find spiritual meaning during the Three Weeks when we are directed to mourn the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.

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