“Like most shortcuts, it was an ill-chosen route” ― Washington Irving, The Devil and Tom Walker TB Berachot 62

Obviously the Temple Mount has special sanctity. There were places where everybody was permitted to enter Jew and Pagan alike. There were places where only the Levites and Priests, Kohanim, were permitted to enter, and only the High Priest was allowed to enter the holy of holies once a year on Yom Kippur. We take this sanctity seriously. Today’s daf TB Berachot 62 teaches us how serious we should treat the Temple Mount.

“We learned in the mishna that, in deference to the Temple, a person may not enter the Temple Mount with his staff and his shoes. He may not make it a kappandarya. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of kappandarya? Rava said: Kappandarya, as its name implies; a shortcut. Rav Ḥana bar Adda in the name of Rav Sama, son of Rav Mari, said: One may interpret this as an acrostic, as people say: Instead of circumventing the rows of houses [ademakifna adarei], I will enter this [ei’ol beha] one.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Even today observant Jews hesitate to go up to the Temple Mount lest they enter a place where it is forbidden for them. Some will only walk around the areas where rabbis have designated that there is no prohibition.

The origins of the synagogue are unknown. Some scholars believe that synagogues existed contemporaneously with the Temple. Other scholars believe they were created during the Babylonian exile. Still others contend that it is a rabbinic invention. Archaeologists believe the earliest synagogue excavated is the one on Masada which has a terminus and date of 73 CE. To confound the matter, all the other synagogues uncovered in the land of Israel date only back to the third century.  Because synagogues were used for prayer and study they also have a level sanctity that normal buildings don’t have.

“For for Rav Naḥman said that Rabba bar Avuh said: This halakha applies in a synagogue as well. However, one who enters a synagogue not intending to make it a shortcut is permitted to make it a shortcut if he later changed his mind. Similarly, Rabbi Abbahu said: If it was originally a path that passed through the site where the synagogue was erected, one is permitted to pass through, as the public right of passage is not negated by the construction of a synagogue. Rabbi Ḥelbo said that Rav Huna said: One who enters a synagogue to pray is permitted to make it a shortcut, as it is stated: “But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the appointed seasons, he that enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate” (Ezekiel 46:9). (Sefaria.org translation)

I try avoiding using the sanctuary as a shortcut. But if I’m forced to do so, I learned that I can recite a verse and thus make the shortcut secondary in my prayer primary. I choose this verse from the Torah that has made it into every siddur at the very beginning of the morning service. “  מַה טֹּֽבוּ אֹהָלֶֽיךָ יַעֲקב, מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶֽיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל. -How goodly are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel.”