Against the backdrop of increasing visits to the Temple Mount, including by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and members of his party, Chief Rabbi Kalman Meir Ber has issued a sharp denunciation of the phenomenon. In a detailed 19-page explanation, the rabbi wrote that there is a “grave prohibition against ascending and bowing on the Temple Mount.”
In recent years, the practice of bowing on the Temple Mount has spread among various groups visiting the site, accompanied by the publication of practical guidance and public encouragement of the act. In his paper, the chief rabbi wrote that beyond the severity of ascending the Temple Mount itself — which, in the view of leading rabbis from all communities and streams, including generations of chief rabbis, is forbidden — “there is an additional grave prohibition against bowing on the Temple Mount’s stone pavement at this time.”
Jewish people pray and bow on the Temple Mount
(Video: Arnon Segal)
In his article, Rabbi Ber stressed that the prohibition applies to the entire area of the Temple Mount. He also addressed the gravity of the actions of those who bow there, saying they place themselves in possible violation of a severe Torah prohibition.
Rabbi Ber wrote: “It is strictly forbidden to ascend and bow on the Temple Mount at this time. Entry into the Temple Mount compound is strictly prohibited at this time, as ruled by the leading sages of Israel throughout the generations. This has also been the position of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate throughout its history. The Torah prohibition against bowing on a stone surface forbids full prostration with outstretched hands and feet on stone flooring, and one who does so violates the prohibition: ‘You shall not place a figured stone in your land to bow down upon it.’”