The prohibition of ascending to the Temple Mount in our time.

The prohibition of ascending to the Temple Mount in our time.

Introduction:

The Sages said, "Zion, there is none that seeks her” (Jeremiah 30:17) — it can be learned by inference that it requires seeking". In this article we will clarify the different opinions as to the location of the Temple, and its sanctity and its holiness. May it be God's will that we will soon merit ascending to the Temple Mount in purity and sanctity and fulfilling the commandment of being seen there, and serve Him there constantly.

Due to our sins, in recent years, there have been thirteen breaches in the holiness of the Temple, and today, different people present various half-baked opinions regarding ascending to the Temple Mount, causing confusion on the matter. In this article, we will try to clarify the halachic issues and may our involvement in the mitzvah of respecting the Temple bring us closer to atonement, purity, sanctity, and serving God blessed be He, according to His law, in the Temple of our G-d.

I’d like to emphasize that various measurements were not performed professionally. Rather, they were made on a household map, just to give an approximate idea of where things are. And they are simply not precise at all.

Laws of the three camps:

There is a mitzvah of sending impure individuals outside the camp, and there are three camps:

1. The Shechinah camp, which is the location of the Tabernacle. We are obligated to send someone who became impure as with a corpse impurity from it.
   
2. The Levite camp, which is the place of the Levites' tents in the desert. We are obligated to send a person with impurities that emanate from his body (such as a nocturnal emission, menstruation, zav, zavah, metzora (a leper), and a woman who has given birth) from it.
3. The Israelite camp, which is the place of the Israelites' tents within the cloud. We are obligated to send a metzora (a leper) from it. 

The holiness of Jerusalem is also divided into three sanctities: the place of the temple courtyard is the camp of the Divine Presence. All of the Temple Mount is the camp of the Levites. The entire city of Jerusalem is the camp of Israel.(Zvachim 116b; Rambam (“Bias Ha-Mikdash”, ch. 3, “Beis Ha-Bchirah”, ch. 7)). And according to the rabbinic law, gentiles, individuals who became impure with corpse impurity, and those who engage in sexual intercourse with a niddah are sent away from the temple courtyard and the rampart. Concerning sending these away from the temple courtyard, there is an opinion among early commentators that the law has a prophetic origin, and is included in what the Sages derived from the verse in Chronicles, "And Jehoshaphat stood in the courtyard of the new temple,". There were new rulings, one of them being that someone who immersed himself in a mikveh that day (and did not yet become fully purified, since the sun did not set yet) cannot enter the camp of the Levites.

In summary: a metzora (someone with a biblical skin disease, a leper) is forbidden to enter Jerusalem, someone impure with an impurity that emanates from his body is prohibited from ascending the Temple Mount, and someone impure due to contact with a corpse is forbidden to enter the temple courtyard, the area that begins the rampart which encircles the courtyard and the women’s courtyard.

In our time

However, since we cannot purify ourselves from corpse impurity until the arrival of the Messiah, when he will sprinkle us with purifying waters, there is simply no permission to enter the camp of the Divine Presence. Nevertheless, in the Levite camp, even though everyone becomes impure once with an impurity that emanates from his body, it’s possible to purify oneself by immersing in a mikveh is. According to some of the early authorities, one also needs to wait for nightfall. However, immersion has to take place in a mikveh that is kosher, just like the immersion of a niddah (a menstruating woman), as mandated by the Torah. One also has to make sure there is nothing that will prevent the water from touching his skin. Therefore, apparently it is technically possible to enter the camp of the Levites, up to the rampart and the women’s courtyard.

Concerning Ziva

However, a Zav needs to maintain seven clean days and immerse in flowing water, and in the case where there is suspicion of Ziva, immersion is much more complex and requires many laws that are not known to the general public. We will not elaborate on whether there is an obligation to suppose that there is the impurity of Ziva for those who don’t have a specific reason to suspect that they have this impurity.

The way of immersion

However, one must be very careful in this immersion, since it is required by the Torah law. There are several details of the laws regarding immersion to remedy an impurity that emanates from his body, and we are not familiar with these laws. We will quote an example in which is brought in Minchas Yitzchak (vol. V, ch. 1), according to what the Magen Avraham (357:8) and Mishnah Berurah (ibid. 21) ruled regarding challah that is separated from a dough whose origin is outside the Land of Israel that is eaten by a priest who immersed after a night emanation. In any case, he should hurry to eat it before urinating, since there might be something in his urine that will make him impure again. And in practice, what we should do is immerse near sunset and wait until the stars come out without urinating, and then ascend to the Temple mount. However, in reality, in our days, it is impossible to ascend except in the morning hours. So, in reality, what one would have to do is to immerse before sunset and not urinate until morning.

The reasons for the prohibition in our time

First, it should be noted that there are two completely separate issues regarding ascent to the Temple Mount in our time:

• The ruling of contemporary halachic authorities that any ascent to the Temple Mount, even to the area that is certainly the Levite camp, involves likelihood of transgressing serious obligations and prohibitions, such as the fear of the sanctity of the Temple, the prohibition of causing impurity to enter the place of the Temple, the prohibition of putting a stumbling block before the blind, and the obligation of being responsible for others.
• The actual prohibition for someone who is impure with the impurity of a corpse to enter into the camp of the Divine Presence. And in practice its exact location cannot be determined in a way that will satisfy the opinions of all the early commentators, as will be explained below.

All of our contemporary rabbis have prohibited any ascent to the Temple Mount, even if we could pinpoint exactly, where the Levite camp is, and where the camp of the Divine Presence is. And the reason for this is that today in reality any ascent to the Mount requires the presence of security forces, and it also attracts many people to ascend to the Mount. As most of them ascend wherever they wish, and it is impossible to limit them to ascending only to places that are parts of the camp of the Levites, and not the camp of the Divine Presence. And it is also impossible to instruct them to immerse according to the law and to make them wait for the sunset in purity, and then to be extra careful not to emit any impurity from their body from the time of immersion until the ascent, and if they see any evidence of impurity, not to ascend until they immerse again and wait for sunset, etc. And this is especially true if there is a suspicion of an actual Ziva, and all the women are included in that last category.

And all this is in addition to the fact that most of those who ascend to the Temple Mount the do not pay attention to the sanctity of the Temple as it should be, as stated in the Mishnah (Berakhot 9:5): "One may not enter the Temple Mount with his staff, shoes, money belt, or dust on his feet, how much more so should one not make it a shortcut or a spittoon." As is clearly evident in pictures of those who ascend to the Temple Mount, many of them, including people who claim to be meticulous about their strict fulfillment of all the commandments, carry nylon bags, streiml-valises etc. Not to mention conversations about mundane matters and other things that are prohibited even in a synagogue that wasn’t built with a special stipulation. All the more so this is forbidden on the Temple Mount.

Because of the commandment of fearing the Holy Site, it is incumbent upon us to do everything in our power to prevent people from entering the Temple Mount improperly. There is also a prohibition to cause impurity to enter the Temple, whether it be an impurity of a person, or impurity of vessels and garments. Similarly, there is an obligation to send impure people and gentiles away from the Temple Mount, which applies to all the areas that include the rampart and what is inside its perimeter. And we have to do everything in our power to prevent impure people from ascending to the Temple Mount and from bringing impure things into its area, whether this be done by Jew or be gentile. And if we had the authority to do this, we would certainly be obligated to prevent all nations from ascending to G-d’s Mount, but our rabbis instructed us not to forcibly prevent the Ishmaelites from ascending to the Temple Mount for fear of provoking the nations. However, it is obvious that each of us is obligated to do everything in his power to reduce or prevent any entry to the Temple Mount by anyone, especially tourists and security forces, even if they are Jewish, unless this is done for the sake of saving lives. And all the more so this applies to our brothers, the children of Israel. As is known, for many years the Temple Mount was closed to tourist visits and anyone who was not Ishmaelite, and only with the efforts of some antireligious forces was the Temple Mount reopened, and it is estimated to have over 300,000 tourists per year. May G-d have mercy upon us.

Here's what the sages of earlier generations wrote: every Jew is bound to the Creator with thirty-six connections, and they are like the thirty-six prohibitions that involve the punishment of kores, "cutting off", that we were commanded not to transgress. And when, God forbid, a Jew fails to observe a prohibition that involves kores, he cuts one of these connection between himself and his Creator.

And in our current situation, due to our sins, most of the children of Israel did not merit to observe Torah and commandments, and many connections between them and the Creator were severed. But by the grace of Heaven, even those far from the life of Torah and commandments still have a few connections, and are still connected in some way to the Creator. Even if there is no strong connection, consisting of all thirty-six links, they’re like a loose limb, because there are still a few connections that keep them from being completely severed. After all, they did not burn incense, nor defile the Temple grounds, and presumably even if they transgressed some of the prohibitions of sexual immorality, G-d forbid, they have not transgressed all of them.

And anyone who has even a little bit of love for Israel in his heart should try with all his might to save those precious souls who have been captured, to preserve the few connections to the Creator that they still have. How much indifference for the community of Israel and for the awe and fear of the Temple is needed to encourage people to ascend, knowing that a significant portion of those who go will not do so while fulfilling the requirements of the law. Such an encouragement amounts to tearing and severing one of the last remaining connections that our brothers, the children of Israel who did not merit the light of Torah have to their Father in heaven.

Besides this, ascent to the Temple Mount causes nations to be provoked. We are obligated to obey “the judge in your days”, that is, the Rabbis, in these matters to the same extent that we are obligated to obey them in matters of halacha.

The Kaftor Vo-Perach (chapter 6), after clarifying the boundaries of the place of the Temple according to his opinion, writes thus regarding this matter: "Therefore, we should not approach the entrance of the Temple Mount and inward, as from there and onward is the camp of Levites." And he also wrote below: "If so, today, when due to our sins, we have to stay outside, we can approach those walls in prayer and prostration. And this is what people do: they come to those walls and pray to the Almighty before those two gates that we mentioned [that is, the Gates of Mercy in the eastern wall of the Temple Mount]. And Solomon in his prayer (1 Kings 8:9) asked the Almighty that the prayer in that place should be accepted."

And the later scholars (Derech Ha-Kodesh, R. Chaim Alfandari and others) proved from this that the ancient custom is to pray specifically outside the Temple Mount, even though they could immerse themselves. And even though the author of Kaftor VoFerach held like the Rambam regarding the place of the Temple, and according to his opinion, he identified the Gate of Susa, and according to what he writes, he knew where the place of the Temple was, nonetheless, he held that it is forbidden to enter the Temple Mount at all, even if we knew where the camp of Levite is, and where the camp of Divine Presence is.

In Derech HaKodesh it is written that the reason for the custom that is cited by Kaftor VoFerach, not to enter the Levite camp even after immersion, is because of “building a fence around the law”, and also because the Ark is hidden there, and they treated it with extra holiness. And this is a custom with a reason, therefore, once it’s been accepted, it cannot be discontinued.

And most of the public sacrifices were brought to atone for the impurity of the Temple and its sanctities. And it is known what the Maharil wrote (Minhagim, Yom Kippur, chapter 18), that most of the prayers on Yom Kippur were established to correspond to the goat that was sacrificed inside the Temple. This goat atones for one who entered the Temple accidentally, and only a few piyutim (passages of prayer) were written about the scapegoat that atones for all the sins of the People of Israel, even though in his time hardly any Jews lived in Jerusalem, and they were also careful not to enter the place of the Temple. And nevertheless "those living outside the Land of Israel seek atonement for the people of the Land of Israel if the Temple is defiled, for all Israel is responsible for one another." They established most of the prayer abroad for those few Jews who lived in self-sacrifice in Jerusalem in their time, and were pious and Godfearing, and presumably did nothing without the knowledge of the rabbis of Jerusalem. But nevertheless they feared that one of them might transgress the laws of purity of the Temple, and most of the piyutim that they established were devoted to this topic, and not to the scapegoat that atones for all sins.

And the Menchat Yitzhak (Ch. 5, sec. 1) brought the words of the Sepher Hasidim (sec. 209) that the foreigners do not have any independent power to desecrate the House of G-d without Jews’ desecrating it, and those who breach the fences of sanctity are the ones who delay the complete redemption by the coming of our righteous Messiah. And who knows how much power these intruders give to the Ishmaelites to defile and disgrace our holy place.

The current location of the Temple Mount

In the preceding introduction, we emphasized that even if it were possible to determine the exact location of the Levite camp and the Shechinah camp, it is still forbidden to ascend the Temple Mount. We will now explain why in practice, until the coming of the Messiah, there is no possibility of knowing this location and deciding on the matter.

In the Mishnah (Middot 2:1), it is stated that the Temple Mount is 500 cubits by 500 cubits in size. The length of the western wall is 490 meters, and the length of the opposing eastern wall is 462 meters. The southern wall is 283 meters, and the northern wall is 315 meters. This creates a trapezoid shape. According to the opinion of the Chazon Ish (regarding the actual size of different Torah measures), the length of the Temple Mount is over 800 cubits, and according to the measurement of Rabbi Chaim Noeh, it is almost 1,000 cubits. Its width, according to the measurement of the Chazon Ish, is approximately 500 cubits, and according to the measurement of Rabbi Chaim Noeh, it is about 600 cubits. We can explain the discrepancy between what the Sages transmitted to us and what we come up with by measuring the physical walls that exist today, by looking at what Josephus wrote (Wars of the Jews, 5:5), that Herod doubled the area of the Temple Mount by expanding it to the north when he renovated the Temple. Therefore, the additional section is the Herodian addition and is not considered sacred. However, it is impossible to rely on this to determine that the addition is indeed in the north.

Where on the Temple Mount was the camp of the Divine Presence

However, even if we were to know for sure which 500 cubits by 500 cubits area within the complex is the location of the Temple Mount that was sanctified, we still wouldn't know where the altar was, as will be explained. Although the Mishnah in Middot describes the Temple and its dimensions in great detail, it only hints at the location of the Temple Mount on the mountain (Middot 2:1) with the enigmatic words: "Most of it was to the south, a smaller portion to the east, a third to the north, and only a minority to the west. The place whose measurement was greater was also its place of greater use."

Early commentators who explained this Mishna thoroughly disagree as to the meaning of this. In the opinion of the Rambam (Laws of the Temple 5:6), the commentary to tractate Tomid (27a), the Meiri (on Midot ibid.) the Mishnah provides the dimensions of the empty space between the Wall of the Courtyard and the walls of the Temple Mount, and that the number of cubits from the southern Wall of the Courtyard to the Wall of the Temple Mount is greater than the number of cubits from the eastern Wall of the Courtyard to the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, and so on. And while this still leaves much of the mountain in great doubt, we can surmise that the location of the Courtyard tended to be in the northwestern part of the Temple Mount, while the southeastern part of the mountain was more open. And in fact, there is another debate among later commentators whether the measurements are taken from the Wall of the Israelite Courtyard or the Wall of the Women's Courtyard.

However, the opinion of Rebeinu Shmaryahu, Rabeinu Asher (Midot, ibid) and this also seems to be the meaning of Rashi (Ezekiel 40:2) is exactly the opposite of this. They say that most of the Courtyard was in the southern part of the mountain and then towards the east, and it was far from the north and even further from the west. [Here is not the place to elaborate on all the measurements according to this opinion].

In summary: according to the Rambam, there are mainly places in the southeast of the mountain that are definitely a camp for the Levites and not a camp for the Divine Presence, in the area where the Mosque of al-Aqsa is located and slightly above it. However, according to the opinion of the Rash and the Rosh, it is specifically in this place that there is more reason to suspect that it is a camp for the Divine Presence. Therefore, if a person enters the Gate of the Moors today, there is a dispute as to whether he is entering a camp for the Divine Presence or not. However, it should be noted that even according to the Rambam, a little to the north of the Gate of the Moors, it is already doubtful whether this was the place of the Rampart.

Opinion of the Kaftor VoFerach

The Gate of Shushan faced the entrance of the Temple, and if we knew the location of the Shushan Gate, we could infer the location of the Temple on the Temple Mount.

Kaftor VoFerach (chapter 6) writes: "From all this it seems that what we see today standing walls, these are the walls of the Temple Mount. Today, the Shushan Gate is visible to the east and it is closed with limestone blocks. If we divide this wall into three equal parts, the opening will be in the first part, from the southeast corner. And to the north of the closed gate in the east which, as we mentioned, is the Shushan gate, at a distance of a bowshot, there are two very tall roofed gates in the wall with iron doors that are closed forever, and the multitudes call them the Gate of Mercy. The Ishmaelites are accustomed to this and call it Bab al-Rahmah."

Here is an explanation of his opinion: the Courtyard was in the southern third of the mountain. And it is also clear from what he wrote that the Gates of Mercy are to the north of the Gate of Shushan, the distance of a bowshot. It seems that the location of the Gate of Mercy, known to the Arabs as Bab Al-Rahmah, is known to us. [It is located a little north of the Dome of the Rock. Although it is not clear to us what the measurement of a “bowshot” is, it is clear that the Gate of Shushan is in the southern part of the mountain.] On the other hand, since Maimonides ruled that the largest empty space was on the southern side, it must be said that the entire northern half of the mountain is a Herodian addition. Therefore, relative to the dimensions of the Temple Mount that were consecrated, the Courtyard was closer to the north than the south. But relative to the remnants of the wall that exist today, which reaches near the Lion's Gate, it is in the southern third of the existing wall.

[The length of the eastern wall is about 465 meters, so one third of the wall is 155 meters. Parallel to that, on the western wall, it is in the middle of the roofed part where we pray, and since according to the opinion of the Kaftor VoFerach, after the Rampart and the steps, the Courtyard starts at a distance of 209 cubits from the southern wall. It follows that the location of the Holy of Holies, according to his opinion, is located somewhere opposite the Kotel Plaza or the roofed part of the modern prayer area of the western wall. And it also makes sense to say this according to the opinion of Rashi, Rash, and Rosh that they believed that the Holy of Holies had to be in the southern part of the mountain.]

Although in practice the calculations don't add up, according to what the Kaftor VoFerach wrote that the Gates of Mercy are the gates of the Temple Mount, and even if we assume that the Shushan Gate was at the southern end of the eastern wall, about 155 meters from the southern wall, the distance between it and the Gates of Mercy is still about 225 meters, and according to the Rambam's opinion, it is impossible for the Shushan Gate to be so distant from the wall of the Courtyard.

In any case, we must remember that even though the Kaftor VoFerach seemed to have identified the location of the Temple, he wrote that it is forbidden to ascend to the Temple Mount at all, and he testified that this was the custom in Jerusalem in his time 600 years ago.

Opinion of the Radbaz

Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Avi Zimra (vol. II chapter 691) wrote: "It is clear that under the dome is where the Foundation Stone is located, which they call Al-Sakhra." Now, if we accept the approach of the Radbaz that the Foundation Stone is under the Dome of the Rock, which is called "Al-Sakhra" in their language, we can estimate where the Temple was located, because if we know where the Holy of Holies is, we can calculate all the dimensions.

However, it is accepted by all the great authorities of Israel that it is completely impossible to rely on these words of the Radbaz, because this response is full impossibilities and contradictions. Anyone can see that this response is thoroughly garbled.  And since it has become a popular belief that there is a Jewish source that states that the Dome of the Rock is the Foundation Stone, a matter that, in fact, has no Jewish source other than the Radbaz, it is necessary to emphasize the many flaws in the abovementioned response. It is clear that the response did not originate from Radbaz’s pen.

In his response, he writes that the Western Wall adjacent to Bab al-Katanin [the Cotton Merchants' Gate - a market for cotton merchants, and the Gate of the Cotton Merchants is located in the Western Wall, between the Hagai Street [the market between the Western Wall and the Gate of Shechem] and the part of the Western Wall which is hidden by Ishmaelite’s structures, about 70 meters after the exit from  the Western Wall plaza] is the Wall of the Courtyard. He also wrote that the southern wall, which in its south is the Valley of Jehoshaphat where foundation stones, that is, large stones, can be seen, and where the building called Midrash Shelomo is located, is the wall of the Courtyard on the southern side. On the other hand, he noted that the eastern wall, where the Gates of Mercy are, is the Wall of the Temple Mount. However, despite the fact that all the places he mentioned are known and familiar to us, all the commentators, from Peat HaShulchan (chapters 3 and 12 and in Beis Isroel section 26) to later authorities have been unable to understand his words. The problem is that there is about 100 meters from the Dome of the Rock to the Western Wall. How can one say, then, that it is the Wall of the Courtyard, which is 11 cubits from the end of the Holy of Holies? And also, since from the southern wall, which is near their house of worship Al-Aqsa and the building called Midrash Shelomo, which faces the Valley of Jehoshaphat, to the Dome of the Rock, there is close to 250 meters, while the entire width of the Courtyard from north to south was only 135 cubits. In fact, almost all the authorities stated that it is impossible to accept the contradictory statements of the Radbaz.

And indeed, there are halachic authorities abroad who have seen the words of the Radbaz, and therefore ruled that it is forbidden to approach the Western Wall without immersion. However, all the halachic authorities of our time ruled that since the response is garbled, it is permitted to approach the Western Wall, and there is no need to take this response into consideration. And certainly, it is impossible to rely on this response to permit an action that could entail karet (severance of the soul). How can we decide that in this whole response there is one statement that we like, and discard the rest of is as counterfeit?

Furthermore, it appears from the words of the Radbaz, as well as from HaDerech HaKodesh (Maharacho) and the glosses of Chazon Nachum, that the entire topic considered by the Radbaz was to enter the houses and the upper stories in the market of the cotton merchants, on the western side of the Western Wall. And this was according to the Radbaz's opinion that the Western Wall is the Wall of the Courtyard, and the question was whether it is permitted to enter there after immersion. And whoever holds that it’s permitted to come to the Western Wall is already permitted to enter these places as well.

And this is especially true since the Radbaz concludes, "Here I have written to you the reason for the custom, but you should be cautious and not enter either a house or a second story if you are not far from the Great Dome."

In fact, it should be noted that in Tshuvos VeHanhagos (Ch. 3, 39), it is written that one who prays in the Western Wall Plaza should not face the direction of the Dome of the Rock, as it is almost certain that the location of the Temple is not there, but rather more to the south. The author explains that the source for this rumor is from the Ishmaelites, and there is no halakhic basis for it other than the aforementioned Radbaz, and the response is garbled and cannot be relied upon. And so I heard from the Gaon Rabbi David Cohen shlit”a, that his father, the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Cohen zt"l, would incline himself very slightly towards the southern direction when he prayed near the Western Wall Plaza, and likewise I have seen the Gaon shlit”a actually behaving in accordance with this halakha.

Entering the Western Wall Plaza

According to the words of the Radbaz, it is forbidden to enter the Western Wall area without purifying oneself from impurity that comes out of one's body. This ruling is also found in the book of Chochmat Adam (Sha'arei Tzedek, Mishpatei Tzedek 11:8). It’s well-known that several great scholars, such as Maharil Diskin, were careful about this issue.

However, all contemporary halachic authorities agreed that since it is clear that the ruling mentioned above is not relevant in reality, therefore there is no need to be concerned about it. Almost all of the great leaders of Israel have approached the Western Wall itself.

Nevertheless, some people are careful about not putting their fingers into the holes of the Western Wall, because they fear that even if a part of their body enters the sanctified area, it is considered as if their whole body entered it and that the thickness of the walls of the Temple Mount were sanctified. There are differing opinions on this issue, including those of the Avnei Nezer (Yoreh Deah 370) and Maharil Diskin.

However, there are those who are concerned with another problem of getting too close to the stones of the Western Wall itself, as the wall is built with rows of stones and each row recedes slightly inward by about 2 cm. Above the plaza, there are 11 rows, and below it there are about 17 rows. Therefore, if the thickness of the wall of the Temple Mount is consecrated, some fear that it is consecrated from the beginning of the lower row of stones, and its holiness rises vertically to the sky. Therefore, that small part of each row of stones that recedes inward must be multiplied by 17 rows, and one should keep a distance from the wall according to this measurement. However, some have permitted approaching the wall for several reasons.

In truth, one who has purified himself from impurities that come from his body can approach the stones of the wall and also insert his fingers into the wall itself. After all, the wall itself is only the wall of the Temple Mount and not the wall of the Temple Courtyard, and it is at most just the camp for the Levites. Nonetheless, we already explained that it is quite difficult to fully purify oneself according to Jewish law.

Summary

From the above, it is clear that it is strictly forbidden to ascend to the Temple Mount. In the merit of our discussion of this topic and our attempt to clarify where the place of the Lord our G-d's Sanctuary was, we should soon be able to see it rebuilt, and we should be able ascend it in holiness and purity, while carefully observing of the laws regarding respect and fear of our Holy Temple.

Sources: Middot (chapter 2, Mishnah 1); Commentaries of Ra”SH, Rambam and Ro”sh ibid.; Rashi (Ezekiel 40:2); Zevachim (116b); Rambam (Bi'as HaMikdash, chapter 3; Beit HaBechira, 7:11); Mishnah Berachot (9:5); Kaftor VoFerach (ch. 6); Radbaz (vol. II, ch. 691); Pe'at HaShulchan (chapter 3, section 12, and Beis Yisrael subsection 26)