Tearing Garments for a Deceased Torah Scholar Friend

In a kollel for outstanding avrechim, one of the group members passed away, God forbid. Should his friends from the kollel, who are very distressed, tear their garments?

The custom is to be lenient in this matter.

The Gemara in Bava Metzia, page 33a: "Shmuel tore his garment for one of the rabbis who explained to him that one descends to the armpit and another opens properly. Ulla said: 'The Torah scholars in Babylon stand for each other and tear their garments for each other.'"

The Rambam in Perek 9 [Halacha 11] wrote that it is customary for Torah scholars everywhere to tear a tefach for each other, even if they are equal in wisdom and none of them teaches the other. The reason for this, as explained by the poskim, is that it is inevitable that they learn something from each other. Therefore, he has the status of his teacher, and a scholar for whom garments are torn, even if he is not present at the time of the soul's departure.

Similarly, the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, Siman 340, Se'if 7 states: "And it is customary for Torah scholars everywhere to tear a tefach for each other, even if they are equal and none of them teaches the other." However, the Rema wrote there in Se'if 8: "Torah scholars who sit together and challenge and resolve each other's questions and learn together, some say their status is like a non-distinguished teacher, and some say their status is like a distinguished teacher. And some say that one does not need to tear except for a teacher who taught them most of their wisdom, but friends who learn with each other, or who enlightened him in one matter, it is merely a stringency, and where it is customary, it is customary, and where it is not, it is not, and this is not taught, therefore it is customary to be lenient in these countries.