HaRav Dovid Yosef Shlita, a member of Shas’ Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael, spoke about the slaughter of mispallalim in the Har Nof shul on Tuesday, 25 Marcheshvan. The rav’s words were carried on Kol Berama Radio.
The rav explained “we are all broken over the tragedy, the entire kehilla of Har Nof is broken over the tragedy”. The rav stressed it is not our jobs to question why HKBH brought this act upon us, but to look at ourselves and do a cheshbon nefesh and improve our midos, limud and tefilos and then look at HKBH and cry “Enough tzoros, please redeem us!”
The rav gathered with his kollel hours after the massacre in the shul, explaining “The Beis Hamikdash is full of security troops, everywhere. Police and soldiers are in every corner, walking around and standing on rooftops”, telling the avreichim their job at this critical hour was to continue learning.
He added “There is no doubt that there are those irresponsible individuals in our camp, wicked people who go onto Har Habayis. They are transgressing the prohibition of karess in the name of extremist nationalism. They violate karess in the name of the Torah and they are taunting the nations of the world”.
The rav explained a week ago he sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to close Har Habayis. “Har Habayis is ours but due to the awesome level of kedusha it must be closed until we are redeemed” he cried. “He did not even bother to respond to me at all. He is insolent and a person like him who goes against the Torah does not have Siyata Dishmaya”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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14 Responses
Much too simple Reb Yosef.
Once again its the har habayis issue that darkens the horizon, let us focus on the truth.
It’s ARAB insolence, hatred and war against HKBH, Jews living, worshipping and doing mitzvohs in Eretz Yisroel inflames the anger of the ARABS to kill, slaughter, chop and stab Jews.
All these massacres happen before, during the massacre at Mercaz Harav…..never saw a mention of HAR HABAYIT, why now??
This entire letter is based on two premise’s. First is that it is Assur to go on to Har Habayis and second is that the Prime Minister didn’t respond to your request. As for the second one, the Prime Minister is a very busy person and can’t respond to everyone who ever contacts him and calling him insolent for that is disrespectful, rude and unfair. As for the first part- while you are correct that some people hold that going on Har Habayis is Assur, there are Halachik authorities that disagree. Those authorities have looked over the Halachik sources and determined based on them that they think it is Muttar. Even if you disagree with their opinions, it doesn’t give you the right to say that they are wrong. There is a famous phrase- 2 Rabbis, 3 opinions. I am currently in YU right now and I am adamant that the Eruv here is Pasul, because Washington Heights is a Reshus Harabim De’oraysa, but I don’t scream and yell at people who carry here because they hold that it’s only a Karmelis
RULE IN JUDAISM: if the undisputed gedolim of our time ALL get together on one issue and take such a strong stance, its the truth. Chacham ovadia wasn’t known to be stringent, thus this unanimous decision by our generations leading scholars and disseminators of Torah must be a reliable one to follow and obey. Anyway it’s easier for me to say that cause I don’t get what the big deal is. You’ve got the kotel, underground tunnels, Davidson… Need to pray on contravertial ground?
Zach s whole comment is based upon the premise that he feels he can read a second or third hand news article and decide he understands exactly why this huge Talmud Chacham would say such a thing , also a premise is his relationship with Netanyahu is just like any random person. Also has a premise that since HE (Zack from YU) wouldn’t scream at people who have a diff halachic opinion. Rav Yosef must also realize that. Could it be that perhaps that rav Yosef knows that there are other opinions but still feels it necessary to speak out? Could there be a halachic reason behind it? Maybe according to the rules of psak that rav Yosef follows there is no room to rely on the opinions that permit it? As we find that when an opinion is ruled out halachicly there is no room to even rely on it בית שמאי במקום בית הלל אינה משנה among other reasons. PLEASE Zack
@zachweix – Famous phrase? Maamarei CHaZa”L are famous. Leitznus about Rabbinical authorities are not famous. And CHaZa”L say yochid v’rabim halachah k’rabim.
So, now if you don’t answer a letter, you’re insolent and anti-Torah? If two Rabbonim write and say the exact opposite, then you would be called anti-Torah by the one whose position you didn’t take. So it’s a lose-lose situation.
The labeling of anti-Torah for everything that you disagree with is so overused that it renders the comment meaningless.
zachweix,
this is R Dovid Yosef over here, not a joe shmo like you!
he is the brother of the sfardi Cheif Rabbi of Israel and the son of R Ovadia Yosef, someone who Netanyahu has run to his door to answer
When all gedolei yisroel say that it ia osur to go on Har Habayis who has the cheek to say there are other opinions. Other opinions are nationalistic ones and not real daas torah. Remember that Harav Eliashiv ztl warned Shimon Peres very strongly not to allow Jews onto Har Habayis so as not to antagonize the arabs. So why do people have to go there. M.Ks walk around proudly there. They have no sense and they are definately causing more hatred! Hashem yerachem.
All agree publicly denigrating a Rav is assur. The 1st 2 comments in my opinion are symptomatic of a major problem in klal yisroel. Lack of kavod hatorah. A keyboard and a screen name do not give you the right to disrepect a gadol batoeAh, even when prefaced with the phrase “with all due respect, but”.
To 1- you are right that we don’t know the exact reason why this happened but we do know that going up har habayit can be a reason. There are gedolim who say that going to har habayit is the reason. So who are we to mix our opinions with them.
To 2-the psak of leading gedolim (such as Rav Ovadia, Rav Eliyashiv and others)overrule others. There’s no split of opinions between leading gedolim. They all ruled against going up har habayit. So all those who ruled otherwise are not considered leading gedolim so there is no reason for any g-d fearing Jew to follow them.
When we have a brutal attack we respond with lashon harah, and rechielus? We try and divide our community. Chazal have told us the cause for this horrible galus, and thus all the tzarah involved. Ever think that maybe WE caused this horrific attack with lashon hara,(maybe even from a website which call itself furm?).
I find it bizarre why people think they can argue with a psak from Rav . Eliyashav. I am a fan of gedolim who adhere to halacha and don’t let politics or emotion get in the way. When Rav Eliyashav says ” no” to ascend the temple mount, NO MEANS NO.
Arabs will continue their massacres, terror, attempts at murder no matter what…this is a WAR till all “infidels are destroyed”.
By relinquishing ownership of Temple MT. to the ARABS does not solve or diminish any of these acts of terror, that is why to keep pointing in that direction is incorrect and a simple excuse/answer/solution for a much larger problem.
It is once again pushing the button of ‘passivity’ when we must show consequences to Arab murderers/rock & firecracker throwers/auto drivers.
Are we prepared to NOT HIRE Arab workers as the Gadol Hador in Bnei Brak has requested???? I have heard already the reasons NO, it is incitement and will rebound in worse Arab behavior. We just have to make due!! with what?? funerals, widowers, orphans and property damage.
“if the undisputed gedolim of our time ALL get together on one issue and take such a strong stance, its the truth”
Such conditions do not exist today. Dati and modern orthodox poskim have never followed the charedi gedolim and have a much more limited concept of daat Torah.