Question Anyone visiting the vicinity of the Temple area of the Old City of Jerusalem will find there self-appointed Jewish "guards" who advise Jews not to enter the Temple Mount compound, even to pray. Why do the "guards" object to Jews setting foot on the Temple Mount?

Answer After the Jews returned from exile in the 4th century B.C.E., Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the Temple, which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.E. At that time they consecrated the site to God. The Sages in the Talmud debate whether that consecration was for all time, or whether it lapsed when the Temple was destroyed. Their conclusion is that the consecration of the land was for all time. As such, they rule that no Jew who is ritually impure - and in our days everyone is presumed to be in this category - may set foot on the Temple Mount. While the Israeli government, as a secular body, does not forbid Jews from entering the Temple Mount, there are devout Jews that regard such an action as a grave violation, and who have taken upon themselves the duty to warn Jews against entering the Mount. As to when Jews will be permitted by Jewish law to enter the Temple Mount, we have a Catch 22 situation: to become ritually pure, one needs the Temple to be rebuilt, but no Jew can enter the area to rebuild it because he is ritually impure. The Sages resolve this dilemma by declaring that the Third Temple will be rebuilt by God Himself in His time, without human intervention.

Question What are tzitzit and when are they worn?

Answer The word tzitzit means a fringe. The word refers to a four-cornered garment with fringes in each of the four corners. The Torah commands (Num. 15:38), "Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations." As interpreted by the Oral Law, any garment which has four corners or more must have a fringe in each of its four outermost corners. A small hole is made at the corner, and four strings, made specially for the purpose, are passed through. These are then doubled over and tied together, giving eight strings at each corner. As tzitzit are only worn during the daytime (for the Torah stresses, "you shall see them," implying the tzitzit are to be worn when it is light) and are thus a “time-related commandment”, women are exempt. Strictly speaking, this is one of the discretionary commandments. The Torah requirement is that if a man wishes to wear a four-cornered garment, he must ensure that he has fringes in the corners, but there is nothing forcing him to wear such a garment. Jewish custom, though, dating back hundreds of years, is that men make a point of wearing a special four-cornered garment with fringes in each corner, usually under their shirt. This way, they can observe an additional commandment each day. The tallit which is worn in the synagogue, a rectangle piece of cloth with fringes in each corner, is also worn in fulfillment of the commandment to wear tzitzit. Generally speaking, nowadays there are no men's clothes that would have four corners, but there is one exception. Many rabbis wear a long black jacket (a Prince Albert), and the split at the back of the coat, which goes up more than half the length of the fabric, might result in four corners. As a result, these jackets - which nowadays are custom-made - are deliberately cut with one of the two flaps at the back rounded off rather than square, so that there are only three corners to the jacket, and it thus does not require tzitzit.

Question What are the different ways that tzitzit may be worn?

Answer As we pointed out above, it has been generally accepted that all males should wear tzitzit, even though this is a discretionary commandment. After all, why should one forgo the opportunity of being able to observe another commandment? While there was a time when four-cornered garments were common, this has not been the case for many centuries. As a result, a special garment was designed. It consists of a large cloth rectangle in which a section is cut out, so that the rectangle may be slipped over the neck. Each corner of the rectangle then has one of the four fringes inserted. This garment is generally referred to as either " tzitzit," tallit katan ("small tallit" - as opposed to the "tallit gadol," the "large tallit," which will be described below) or arba kanfot" (literally "four corners"). The most common way that the tallit katan is worn is under the shirt, where it is generally not visible. Some men, especially those who have studied in yeshivot, will so arrange it so that at least the four fringes dangle outside the shirt. Others, particularly hasidim, will wear the tallit katan over their shirts and under their jackets. The latter two practices are based on their interpretation of the need to "see them" (i.e., the tzitzit), where they take this to be a literal rather than figurative requirement.