«How do we mourn for the destruction in a rebuilt Jerusalem?Mourning the destruction in the rebuilt Jerusalem | JPost | Israel News
After the Six Day War, the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, made changes to Nachem, a prayer recited on Tisha B'Av afternoon. The traditional version describes Jerusalem as "the city that is in sorrow, laid waste, scorned and desolate; that grieves for the loss of its children, that is laid waste of its dwellings, robbed of its glory, desolate without inhabitants. She sits with her head covered like a barren childless woman..." In the IDF Siddur that he edited and published in 1970, Rabbi Goren wrote that this liturgy is "not appropriate when Jerusalem is free and under Israel's sovereignty." Instead, he chose a text based on the Jerusalem Talmud, the Siddur of Amram Gaon, and Maimonides, which limits the description of Jerusalem to "the city that is in sorrow, laid waste, and in ruin." The more subtle language, Rabbi Goren felt, better expressed the new reality of a unified Jerusalem, under Jewish control.
Serving as Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel from 1973-1983, Rabbi Goren attempted to formally institute the changes he made to Nachem, but was unsuccessful. The changes, while minor, proved controversial. Rabbis Isser Yehuda Unterman, Ovadiah Yosef, Tzvi Yehudah Kook and Joseph B. Soloveitchik, among others, opposed the changes to the prayer. 'How can we change the liturgy,' they asked, 'while Jerusalem is still denigrated without the Holy Temple standing?' »
Best Regards,
RRW
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