Har HaBayis
26. There are many opinions as to the precise location of Har HaBayis and the site of the Beis HaMikdash on it. While the boundaries of Har HaBayis are basically agreed upon today, the site of the Beis HaMikdash is not agreed upon. There are primarily three opinions: it is in the middle, north, or south (כפתור ופרח ) part of Har HaBayis (עי' בספרים המדברים על זה ).
27. The site of Har HaBayis as it appears today is a giant structure made up of four walls in a sort of square, the western one being the most famous. Today it is about 480 m long with a slight deviation of a few degrees. However, only a small, 57-meter section of it is visible and open to daven in front of. This is the part known to us as the Kosel Maaravi. The eastern side is about 465 m with a slight deviation; the northern side is about 320 m; and the southern side is about 275 m.
28. Kosel Maaravi. There were differing opinions as to whether the Kosel Maaravi is the wall of the Azara – in which case the Kosel Plaza side is already Har HaBayis – or the wall of Har HaBayis, with the Azara further in (see next issue for practical ramifications).
Site of the Beis HaMikdash
29. There are also many different opinions as to the precise site of the Beis HaMikdash, each with its own theories and evidence. Each of them has proofs and sometimes a mesora, but on all of them there are also questions, contradictions, and inconsistencies with the current reality, the dimensions given in the Mishna, and the differing opinions regarding the length of an amah. Thus, we have no consensus on the topic whatsoever.
30. Dome of the Rock. The golden Dome of the Rock is the Muslim structure on Har HaBayis topped with a golden dome. Some hold it is the spot of the Even Shesiya, which was in the Kodesh HaKodashim (רדב''ז סי' תרצ''א ); others hold the stone is part of the base of the Mizbach Ha’Olah; and others hold it is the spot of the Beis HaMokeid at the northern part of the Azara.
31. What all the various opinions have in common is that the site of the Beis HaMikdash is someplace within the walls of Har HaBayis. But precisely where the boundaries of the Azara are? There is no consensus at all on the matter.
32. It emerges that the entire area of Har HaBayis lies in uncertainty. Part of the Azara involves an issur kareis, and tevila does not work for tumas meis (above, 14); part of it involves an issur d’oraisa; and part of it involves an issur d’rabanan for those tamei due to bodily emissions, which a meticulous tevila helps for. But we already wrote that a meticulous tevila is not common at all among the general public (16). There is also the halacha of t’vul yom (17), tamei clothing (18), and women (19). Hence, the entire area of Har HaBayis lies in uncertainty, with the angles of issur greatly outweighing the angles of heter to enter.
