Tearing Garments upon Seeing the Temple Site

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Question

Is one required to tear garments upon seeing the Temple site during Chol HaMoed?

Answer

There is no need to tear garments. If one sees it again within 30 days, there is also no need to tear.

Source

Gemara Moed Katan, page 26a: "These are the tears that are not mended: tearing for one's father, mother, rabbi who taught Torah, the Nasi, the head of the court, bad news, blasphemy, a burnt Torah scroll, the cities of Judah, the Temple, and Jerusalem, etc." Rambam and Raavad disagree whether tearing for the Temple site is entirely like tearing for one's parents or like other relatives. The custom follows Raavad that it is not like tearing for one's parents but rather like the law of mending garments.
Regarding tearing during Chol HaMoed, the Shulchan Aruch in Orach Chaim, Siman 547, paragraph 7, states that during Chol HaMoed one tears for all relatives, while the Rema cites the custom from the responsa of Maharil not to tear except for one's parents, concluding that where such a custom exists, it should be followed, and where it does not, one tears for all.
In practice, regarding tearing for the Temple site, it is not customary to tear during Chol HaMoed, and therefore one can be lenient according to Raavad's view that it is considered like tearing for other relatives, except for the law of mending, and be lenient according to the Rema's custom not to tear during Chol HaMoed for other relatives.

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