A Monday statement issued by the son of the Amshinover Rebbe, shlita, clarified that his father’s remarks regarding Har HaBayis, which circulated widely on social media in recent days, were taken entirely out of context and do not constitute any halachic ruling permitting ascent to Har HaBayis.

The public statement, highly unusual for the chassidus based in Bayit Vegan, was issued by the Rebbe’s son, Harav Moshe Milikovsky.

According to Rav Milikovsky, the remarks originated in an internal halachic discussion held at the Rebbe’s home approximately a year ago, which was subsequently published in the chassidus’ bulletin, Yirah V’Simchah, intended for an audience familiar with the Rebbe’s style of halachic discourse. The material was then disseminated dishonestly, he said, as though the Rebbe had issued a practical or ideological permit to ascend Har HaBayis — “something that never entered his mind.”

Rav Milikovsky stated unequivocally: “The Rebbe did not, chas v’shalom, permit ascending Har HaBayis in contradiction to the position of all the poskim.” He added that the discussion was discussing hypotheticals and that the Rebbe in fact took a critical stance toward Har HaBayis activism. When the conversation turned to the waving of the Shtei HaLechem on Har HaBayis, reportedly performed there on Shavuos last week, the Rebbe raised a series of practical halachic objections: that the loaves must be baked inside the Mikdash, that removing them after the waving may render them pasul, and that questions of yuchsin, the location of the Mizbei’ach all remain unresolved. When his son asked whether the matter was comparable to the Korban Pesach, the Rebbe distinguished between the two, noting that the Korban Pesach is an individual obligation while the Shtei HaLechem is a karbon tzibur — and that in any case, the Korban Pesach itself requires a Mizbeiach. ‘Are they carrying a Mizbeiach with them too?’ the Rebbe added with a smile, referring to the activists – thirteen of whom were arrested following the waving ceremony – who had entered Har HaBayis.”

“The Rebbe’s position is the position of all the poskim,” Harav Milikovsky wrote, “that in our times ascending Har HaBayis is not permissible in practice, as it could easily lead to a violation punishable by kares, chas v’shalom.”

The Amshinov chassidus, known for its reserved and inward character, rarely issues public statements of any kind, making the clarification itself noteworthy.