In Leu of the latest Archaeological dig in Beit Shemesh R' Moshe Bransdorfer Paskens: Bet Shemesh Ramat "Dalet" Neighborhood Must Celebrate 15th Adar As Well

 

Two things before you continue reading:

#1 G-d forbid that R' Brandsdorfer should give credit to the archaeologists, in fact he is saying that "he is not relying on the archaeologists."  With all due respect, that wall was uncovered at least 3 years ago, and R' Brandsdorfer had no psak then , though he was asked countless times to rule on this, it was only when the archaeologists said that it was Yarmut, the city that Yehoshua conquered and had a wall, that he issued this psak. He says that he would have paskened like this anyway, even if this city wasn't 100% Yarmut, but if that is in fact true why did he only pasken after the official Archaeologists statement?

#2 Since R' Brandsdorfer gave his psak practically all the rabbanim of Beit Shemesh came on board ...

except of course .... Chabad!  They did give a reason, I haven't reviewed it yet. The psak is below 

A new psak by Rabbi Moshe Bransdorfer states that members of the new Ramah Daled neighborhood in the city must celebrate Purim for 2 days.

A number of rabbis in the neighborhood asked Rabbi Bransdorfer, who heads the rabbinical court of Heichal Horaah to rule on the issue, which has become relevant because the new neighborhood is adjacent to an ancient wall believed by archaeologists to be Tel Yarmut. The city of Yarmut is one of the cities mentioned in Yehoshua as having been in the Bet Shemesh region. All such cities, and those adjacent to them celebrate Purim on the 15th of Adar if they had a wall in Yehoshua’s time.

Rabbi Bransdorfer said that he is not relying on the archaeologists that this is indeed Yarmut but the halacha as determined by the Levush and the Beis Yosef is that wherever an ancient city is discovered with a wall it is possible that it is from Yehoshua’s time and therefore Purim should be celebrated on both days, especially in an area where it is known that there were many towns in the time of Yehoshua.

Rabbi Bransdorfer said that he had measured the distance from the last house in the neighborhood to the ancient wall and it is less than 90 amos, meaning that it is considered adjacent.

Even if the city is now abandoned, the Chazon Ish and the Gra rule in accordance with Ritva that any city adjacent to it must still celebrate Purim on the 15th of Adar. Those who rule in accordance with the Mishna Berura and Birkei Yosef could say that the rule of adjacent cities only applies when it is occupied by Jews but the Chazon Ish proved that the Birkei Yosef would also have accepted the Ritva’s ruling.

Thus the Birkei Yosef is based on an error and the Mishna Berura only quotes him in Biur Halacha which is not a clearcut ruling. Therefore we should be stringent in accordance with the Chazon Ish’s ruling.

In conclusion, Rabbi Bransdorfer states that the residents of Ramah Daled should celebrate on both days and make the bracha on the first day but have a seudah and say al hanisim on both days. They must read on the 14th with a minyan (as it may not be the correct time) but ten women are also considered a minyan for this purpose.

Chabad Psak Below against 2 day Purim in Beit Shemesh!