Question:
Is it permissible to pray on the top floor of the Cave of marat hamachpelah even though this floor is a mosque?
And is it permissible to pray in the building in the tomb of King David and in the tomb of Samuel the prophet that were a church?
Answer:
This question is very important, and I will write the answer what I wrote in my book Shoshani Tzion (still in the editing) even though things are still being edited.
A brief introduction:
A house that served as a house of worship for idolatry, should be discussed on the three Prohibitions: A. Prohibition of entering a house of foreign labor .B. When there is no “cancellation” of the foreign press – the prohibition on enjoying from the walls and other details of the building .C. Even when there is an “cancellation” – it is forbidden to do a mitzvah (prayer) on anything that was used for foreign work. And in we will briefly discuss each of these prohibitions.
Regarding whether it is permissible to pray inside a mosque built by the Ishmaels on top of the tomb of a tzadik, and as marat hamachpelah (which, although the bottom of the building was built by Jews, the Ishmaels built an additional floor on it, and on this floor we pray): Here is that usually a prayer of foreign labor, it is forbidden to enter it [1] and some say that the Ishmaels are also considered to be workers of foreign labor[2], and because of this (and for other reasons that will be explained in the comment) some wrote to forbid entry inside the structure above the Cave [3]. And the main law is, that the Ishmaels are not considered to be workers of foreign labor as explained in Rambam and in most of the reshonim[4] and the a’chronim, [5], and in any case it is permissible to pray inside a mosque [6], and even If you make a point of saying that they are considered to be servants, still it will be allowed because the mosques have no statues and no considerable idolatry ceremonies, it is not forbidden to enter and pray there[7]. Moreover, in a house where foreign labor worked regularly, if Yad Yisrael controlled the place and removed the statues from there, some say it is permissible to pray there[8]. And other reasons were stated in this to make it easier to prat there [9]. And even though in the mosque the heads of their religion are accustomed to preaching heretical words and outlook that deny the Law of Moses, still because finally there is no idolatry there, the Jews was not forbidden to enter there[10]. Therefore, the main thing in Halacha is to enter and pray inside the mosque they built above the Cave of marat hamachpelah [11] exsept for cohanim as explained above), and as the decision of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef Zaleh, as well as all Jews enter the place.
And there is more room to discuss the matter further, because there were times when the Cave of the Patriarchs (marat hamachpelah) was under the control of the Christians, and the place served as a church with wooden and stone carvings, and this matter more concerned the tomb of Samuel the prophet and the tomb of King David, because the structures on these two holy tombs were built by the Christians (for the sake of a church) and not by Ishmaels (but later conquered by the Ishmaels and the like). And for the purpose of prohibiting entry into a foreign workhouse, it shoud be allowed since the Ishmael conquered the mentioned places and removed the alienated God from there and turned them into a mosque, there is no prohibition on entering. And even for the purpose of prohibiting the enjoyment of foreign labor, we can say (although it is not clear) conquered by the Ishmaels and evacuated the idols, considered “abolition” by the Gentiles themselves and in any case was allowed to enter these structures, and was even allowed to enjoy them ([12](and the hand of providence was in this, because if these structures had been immediately passed on directly to the Jews without the transfer of Ishmael, it would have been forbidden to make any use of their walls and other items of buildings[13] ). And there is still room to appeal whether it is permissible to make a permanent place for prayer from these places, since the halacha is that anything that was used for the idles Even when there is an “cancellation” – it is forbidden to do a mitzvah (prayer) since it is a dirty place, but even in this there are reasons to make it easier and allow it[14], and in particular the place belonged to the Israelites before and as explained above[15]. And already ordered the elder, Maran rabbi ovadyah yosef, to permit and the like, as well as the main one.
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