- Family and Society
- The State and Government of Israel
428
Question
Dear Rabbi Ari Shvat, while I agree wholeheartedly with most of your answer to the post titled "Can’t stand Israel!", I am nevertheless puzzled about one detail of your answer: You wrote "[...] Mishna Brura and all agree that one need not rip any longer, because the State of Israel halachically (!) removes the status of churban, and brings the status of ge?ula". How can the Mishna Brura refer to the halachic status of the "State of Israel" when it was written years before the State was founded, at a time when it wasn’t even clear yet if and when a state would arise?
Answer
Please see the Mishna Brura (561, 2) inside for yourself which translates as follows: " 'In their destruction (one must rip)'- Even if Jews live there, as long as the Yishmaelites (Arabs) rule over them, it's considered 'in their destruction'."
True, the Mishna Brura didn't merit to see the State of Israel, but as always, he lays down the general rule and every generation must apply it to their situation (in fact, the Mishna Brura is really just quoting R. Yosef Karo- the Beit Yosef and others who lived 500 years ago!). The rule is simple: if there is Jewish, not Arab, control over the area, we are no longer in a status of churban (destruction) and need not rip. Even if we aren't satisfied with the level of halachic observance in certain aspects of the State of Israel, nobody can claim that it’s under “Arab rule”. This psak is accepted today even by the charedi community as well, and I have never heard of anyone doing kriya today on the cities of Judea (only some, like R. Moshe Feinstein, while agreeing regarding the other cities, disagree with the Mishna Brura just regarding the Kotel and the Temple Mount, feeling that there, it's not enough to have Jewish rule, but one rips as long as there is no Beit HaMikdash).
In short, you may have heard of some who rip at the Kotel, but since Israeli rule, not on the rest of Yerushalaym nor on the other cities.
With Love of Israel,
Rav Ari Shvat

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