In light of what Moshe Gafni said regarding Har Habayit and the issue with Hamas and the Palestinians (see previous post if you are not aware of what he said), many of his peers have since commented, some agreeing and some upset at him for it (even some who agree with him in theory disagree about giving in to Hamas's demands on this). I would like to add my own thoughts.
I reserve the right to disagree with Gafni, but mostly on a non-halachic aspect of this.
Maybe Gafni is right. My opinion will be "EVEN IF GAFNI IS 100% RIGHT....." - and I do not think he is. We can argue the halacha until we are all blue in the face, the fact is many rabbonim prohibit the ascension to Har Habayit, and all the ones Gafni would consider relevant are of this opinion. I could argue that plenty of rabbonim allow it. I could argue that the Torah itself allows it. I could argue if there is a takana in place or not. But I don't want to argue the halachic aspect of it.
As I said above, EVEN IF GAFNI IS 100% RIGHT - even if Gafni is 100% right that it is not allowed to ascend Har Habayit, Har Habayit should still not be closed. That is not a reason to close Har Habayit to Jews.
First, if we are basing this on halacha (again, and let's say Gafni is 100% right that it is prohibited for Jews to go up), it is far worse for non-Jews to be on Har Habayit (in the prohibited areas, which are more in space for non-Jews than it is for Jews) than it is for Jews (in most of the area of Har Habayit - in the azara area it is pretty bad for Jews as well). So if it is also prohibited for non-Jews to be there, and Gafni's position is a halachic-based opinion, Gafni should be telling Netanyahu to shut Har Habayit entirely, for non-Jews as well. Is it really a sign of our deep connection tot hsi holy place by banning Jews because of the halacha, but lett8ing the non-Jews run around Har Habayit against halacha?
And that was without even mentioning proper decorum on Har Habayit. The Arabs on Har Habayit, besides for praying, also play soccer, eat, sit around (except for king of Davidic family, sitting is not halachically allowed in some parts of Har Habayit), in addition to occasionally rioting and getting violent... behavior very unbecoming for being on Har Habayit. If Gafni is so worried about the halachic issues of Har Habayit, let us hear him speak up about all these other issues there,...
And lastly, Israel is not a halachic state. it is not a medinat halacha. Israel is a democratic and Jewish state, but not a halachic one. If Gafni wants Har Habayit closed to Jews, besides for this only being selective on the Har Habayit issue, it is also selectively applying halacha. Why not insist the entire state be shut down on Shabbos? Insist on no selling treif meat. No non-kosher restaurants allowed. Non-religious couples are not allowed to marry. He might be right that it is not alowed, and even if he is right that it is not allowed, that is not a reason for him to be able to prevent me or anyone else who goes up from going. you want halacha to be the deciding factor in the State of Israel? Pass a law turning Israel into a halachic state.
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