Nedorim 23a: He forbade his wife to be Oleh LeRegel
on the festivals
The Custom to Visit the Western Wall on Festivals
Our Daf relates that in the days of R. Yossi, a
husband made a vow that forbade his wife from having any
benefit from him if she would be oleh leregel" i.e. if
she would make the obligatory pilgrimage to the Beis
Hamikdash. The woman did not listen to her husband's
warning. She disregarded his vow and went anyway. Seeing
this, the husband sought to have the vow annulled, and for
this purpose he called upon R. Yossi.
In his commentary on Nedarim, R. Yaakov Emden [the
Ya'avetz] asks, "But R. Yossi lived after the Beis
Hamikdash was destroyed!" If so, what need was there for
the husband to restrict his wife from making the pilgrimage?
Without the Beis Hamikdash why would anyone go? What
is more, how could she have violated his words since there
was no Temple and consequently no mitzvah of aliya
leregel"?
On the strength of these questions the Ya'avetz says that the
gemara does not mean the pilgrimage to Israel to the
Beis Hamikdash. Rather, the husband used a vow to
forbid his wife from going to hear a drosho that was
given on the festival. The drosho (which could be
given anywhere), was called "the Regel."
To support this interpretation, the Ya'avetz cites the words
of the Rosh, who writes that after the churban, "The
people would gather on the festivals to listen to the
drosho, and even the women made it a custom to attend,
to see the glory of the Torah."
However, the Maharatz Chayos quotes sources that say that
even after the churban, Tannaim had the custom of
going to Jerusalem on the festivals to pray at the place
where the Beis Hamikdash had stood. This was the
custom of R. Elazar ben Shamua and R. Yishmoel beRebbe Yossi.
According to the sefer Seder HaDoros, Rebbe Meir had
this custom, too. The Maharatz Chayos concludes, however,
that it sounds from the Rosh that in our days the custom of
aliya leregel" is kept by going to where chachomim
are in order to ask them halachic questions, as the
Ya'avetz writes.
On the other hand, Midrash Rabbah (Shir HaShirim,
Chapter 1) asks, "Why is Israel likened to a dove?" Answers
the Midrash, " A dove stays in her nest even if her
young are taken from her. So, too, Israel -- even though the
Beis Hamikdash is destroyed, she still keeps the
pilgrimage of the three festivals." This Midrash is quoted by
the Sdei Chemed ("Eretz Yisroel"), who adds that R. Yochonon,
who was located in Yavne and lived after the churban,
used to travel to Jerusalem for the festivals.
In Taanis, the Ran writes (2a of the Rif), too, that
even after the churban, Jews of all the cities and
towns in the Land of Israel would gather together and travel
to Jerusalem for the festivals. Adds the Ran, "And so it is
today." That is, even in his day it was a custom to go to
Jerusalem for the festivals, to visit the site of the Beis
Hamikdash. So also writes the Shulchan Oruch HaRav
(117:1).
We should also mention what the Chasam Sofer said in his
eulogy of those who died in the earthquake in Tzfas (See his
commentary on Parshas "Emor"). The earthquake happened, he
said, because in those times, the Jews of the Land of Israel
esteemed Tzfas in an outstanding fashion -- even more so than
the holy city of Jerusalem. The Holy One took payment for
Jerusalem's shame. While speaking in praise of Jerusalem, the
Chasam Sofer also mentioned that even in our times, it is
mitzvah to be oleh leregel on the festivals.
R. Akiva Yosef Shlesinger zt'l, author of the sefer
Lev HaIvri, was a grandson of the Chasam Sofer and a
resident of Jerusalem. He published a pamphlet devoted
exclusively to proving the position of the Chasam Sofer that
aliya leregel is still an obligation, even in our
times. Really, he writes, one must enter and see the place
that was once the courtyard of the Beis Hamikdash --
where the offerings were brought. However, owing to our
spiritual impurity, we are forbidden to enter that place
today, so the mitzvah now is to find a high vantage point
from where one can look down at upon the floor of the Temple
Mount where the azara used to be. "This is the main
mitzvah now" -- to see the ground where the Beis Hamikdash
stood (his words are quoted in Mo'adim Uzmanim,
7:241).
As is known, residents of Jerusalem have this custom. On
festivals, the Gaon R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt'l
used to go to the Old City in Jerusalem to a high place
from where he looked down to where the floor of the azara
used to be. He would look down and say the prayer [from the
festival Musaf], "And because our sins!"
Two reasons are said for today's custom (Acharonim; See
Tzitz Eliezer, Vol. 10,1): First, it serves to
continue in the form of a custom what used to be an
obligation when the Beis Hamikdash stood. Second, it
awakens sorrow over the loss of the Beis Hamikdash,
and helps us to feel the loss. When on festivals we visit
the site of the Divine Sanctuary, we recall to our minds the
Shechina's great splendor and glory in the past, when
on these very days the throngs would come to the Temple Mount
to bring their offerings in the azara. Imagining the
scene, and not having anything like it, our hearts are filled
with pain and anguish. This moves us to repent our sins and
pray for the end of the Shechina's exile.
