The Levite Camp
The holiest place in the world is the area of Jerusalem known as Har Habayit, or Temple Mount. This area needs to be renamed, “The Levite Camp.”
It is known that when the Jewish people camped in the desert, they were divided into three camps. This division needed to be made clear in dealing with different levels of defilement.
The camp with the most sanctity, was known as, “Machaneh Shechina,” the camp of the Divine Presence. This was where the Mishkan, the portable Temple, was located.
Surrounding Machaneh Shechina, was the Levite camp. The three families of the Leviim, Gershon, Kehat, and Merari, as well as Moshe and Aharon, dwelled in this camp.
The third camp was known as “Machaneh Yisrael,” where the remaining tribes dwelled. Each was assigned a specific area for their tribe.
This was relevant in case of defilement. The leper, or Metzora, was the most severe form of impurity. He had to stay outside all three camps. The second category was the Zav, Zava, Nidda, or Yoledet, that had to stay outside the Machaneh Shechina and Levite camp until they were cured from their defilement.
One who came in contact with the dead, the “Tamei Met,” was only forbidden to enter the Machaneh Shechina. He was permitted to be present in the Machaneh of the Levites.
All of this was relevant in Jerusalem when the Temple stood, and also has relevance today. The city was divided into three parts. The area inside the wall that surrounded the city, was Machaneh Yisrael, where everyone but the leper, was free to roam.
The area known as Har Habayit, minus the Temple structure itself, was the Levite Camp. Jews who were presently not in a state of defilement or those whose defilement was coming in contact with the dead, were allowed to be in this area.
The Levite Camp, or Temple Mount, covered the equivalent of two and a half football fields squared. The structure of the actual Beit Hamikdash occupied about eighteen per cent of Har Habayit.
This large expanse was needed for the massive crowds that came during the pilgrimage festivals. This allowed people to enter the Temple on one side and leave from the other.
Most scholars believe that the location of the Dome of the Rock was the western end of the Beit Hamikdash. This means that we have a good idea where exactly this eighteen per cent actually stood.
Nowadays, all Jews have the status of טמא מת, having come in contact with the dead. We are not permitted to walk in the area where the Temple stood. This carries with it a severe Divine penalty.
However, the basis for permission to enter Har Habayit or the Levite’s Camp is that great care is taken to remain a great distance from where the Temple stood. This would allow for nearly eighty percent of this holy mountain to be accessible to us.
It is important to recognize the sanctity of Jerusalem in terms of how its division corresponds to the division in the desert. This is why we need to rename Har Habayit or Temple Mount, and simply refer to it as the “Levites’ Camp.”