1. It’s a great mitzvah to ascend the Temple Mount in purity, for the purpose of prostrating oneself before God.
2. It’s permissible and indeed a mitzvah to prostrate on stone only along the eastern path,
and if one prostrates outside this area,
a separation must be placed between the face and the stone.
3. Practically, now it’s a mitzvah to prostrate upon entering the eastern path.
4. *When should one prostrate?*
During the “nefilat apayim” (falling on the face), during “Aleinu Leshabeach,”
and it seems proper to also prostrate upon exiting the eastern path.
5. Prostration is performed by first kneeling and then laying one’s entire body down, stretching out hands, and placing one’s forehead on the ground.
6. *How long should one prostrate?*
The duration of the prostration should be at least as long as it takes to say
“יכרעו אפיים ארצה על הרצפה וישתחוו הודות לאדני כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו.”
“Yikare’u apayim artzah al haratzpah viyishtachavu hodu l’Adonai ki tov ki l’olam chasdo.”
This is between four to eight seconds.
7. Women are also commanded to prostrate on the Temple Mount. However, a woman should not prostrate close to men or in front of them, but rather in a place distant from men, on the side, modestly and with discretion.
It might be appropriate to instruct that in places where men are present without partitions, women should only kneel and not fully prostrate with arms and legs extended.
