Editing Western Wall (section)

====Mourning over the Temple's destruction====
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 3432 9 av kotel.JPG|thumb|[[Tisha B'Av]] at the Western Wall, 1970s]]

According to Jewish Law, one is obliged to grieve and rend one's garment upon visiting the Western Wall and seeing the desolate site of the Temple.<ref>[[Moed Katan]] 26a; [[Orach Chaim]] 561; [[Yoreh Deah]] 340</ref> [[Yoel Sirkis|Bach]] (17th century) instructs that "when one sees the Gates of Mercy which are situated in the Western Wall, which is the wall [[David|King David]] built, he should recite: Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the nations: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord".<ref>''Bayit Chadash'' to [[Orach Chaim]] 561. He contends that the city itself is in such a state of disrepair that once a person has reached the hills surrounding Jerusalem, he can immediately view the Western Wall.</ref> Some [[poskim|scholars]] write that rending one's garments is not applicable nowadays as Jerusalem is under Jewish control. Others disagree, pointing to the fact that the Temple Mount is controlled by the Muslim ''[[Office of the Waqf Administrator|waqf]]'' and that the mosques which sit upon the Temple site should increase feelings of distress. If one hasn't seen the Wall for over 30 days, the prevailing custom is to rend one's garments, but this can be avoided if one visits on the Sabbath or on festivals.<ref>[[Shlomo Zalman Aurbach|Minchas Shlomo]] Vol. 1, Ch. 73. See also: [http://www.rjconline.org/hib52.htm Tearing keriah for Jerusalem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501114501/http://www.rjconline.org/hib52.htm |date=May 1, 2009 }}; [http://www.ksy.org.il/AskTheRabbi.asp?QID=89 Ask the Rabbi: Kosel Keriah] </ref> According to Donneal Epstein, a person who has not seen the Wall within the last 30 days should recite: "Our Holy Temple, which was our glory, in which our forefathers praised You, was burned and all of our delights were destroyed".<ref>Epstein, Donneal. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fltQaoNFXX4C&dq=Halachos+for+the+Traveler+%22Our+Holy+Temple,+which+was+our+glory,+in+which+our+forefathers+praised+You%22&pg=PA70 Halachos for the Traveler], [[Feldheim Publishers|Feldheim]] 2000, p. 70. {{ISBN|1-58330-439-8}}.</ref>