Posted on 10/29/19
| News Source: MATZAV
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro called for the building of a shul on Har Habayis, days after he was kicked out of the holy site for davening.
Shapiro, 35, who visited Yerushalayim and recorded a special podcast over the Kosel Plaza last week, dedicated the beginning of his show to a segment on the Har Habayis and the Jewish connection to the holy site.
“The Western Wall is thought by many to be the holiest site in Judaism. It’s not, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism,” said Shapiro. “The Western Wall is actually a retaining wall for the platform where the Temple stood. It’s kind of weird. We’re actually praying at the retaining wall not for the actual Temple itself, there was another wall that surrounded the Temple. It’s sort of like praying at the fence of a parking lot that contains the building you actually care about.”
In discussing how he was evicted from the site after being caught in davening, Shapiro said it is “absurd that you are not allowed to openly pray up there.”
“[Jews] should obviously be allowed to openly pray up there. Muslims not only are allowed to openly pray up there, they have the Dome of the Rock and a mosque up there. In fact, I think there’s a strong case to be made that Jews should be building, if they can’t build the Temple, because there’s the Dome of the Rock right there. They should at least build a synagogue up there so you can have regularized prayers. If Muslims are able to build a school on one end which they have done, it seems to me the Jews should be able to build a synagogue in a space that is roughly the size of three football fields.”
The majority of poskim and gedolim have ruled that is in not permitted to ascend to Har Habayis.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.