B"H

I found this useful excerpt from one of the late Rabbis of Jerusalem, Rabbi Hayim Kessar z"l. Enjoy!
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Rabbi Hayim Kessar on the subject of Halachic Rule in the Land of Israel
Taken from his Questions & Responsa, "Hahayim wehashalom," Miscellaneous Items, responsum # 13

Q – It is well-known that Maimonides, of blessed memory, is the lord of our place in Yemen, just as Maharitz, of blessed memory, has written in [his] Questions & Responsa, "Pe'ulath Sadiq," volume II, responsum # 160. But now that we have been merited to come up to the land of Israel, the Rabbis of the land of Israel have risen-up against us, and have said that, here, in the land of Israel, everybody must practice in accordance with the halachic rulings of Maran, [the author of] the Beis Yoseph, of blessed memory, who [has become] the lord of our place, and they beat us upon our heads with the words of Maimonides himself, of blessed memory, who wrote in the twelfth chapter of Hilchos Avodah Zarah, etc. "Not to be broken-up into [vying] factions."

A – Be apprised that at the time of the Sages of the Mishnah we find this practice, [viz.], just as it is written in [Tractate] Shabbath, in the chapter of Rebbe Eliezer concerning circumcision, page 130a (Yeb. 14a), that "in the place of Rebbe Eliezer they used to cut down trees to make therefrom coals, in order to make [therewith] iron on the Sabbath day [in order that it might be fashioned into the blade of a knife used for circumcision], etc." Likewise have they made mention of similar things, and just as we have found also an example of this in the Gemara, [viz.], "It was in the place of Rav," [or] "It was in the place of Shemuel," whence it is proven that each and every court was permanently fixed in its own place, and neither were all of them conjoined to [to follow the halachic rulings of] any single place, so that they would never, [inadvertently], come to transgress [that prohibition which says]: (Devorim 14:1) "Do not be broken-up into [vying] factions" (lit. "Ye shall not make scarifications [in your flesh]…because of your dead"), which the Sages of blessed memories expounded to mean, "Do not become agudos agudos," (i.e. "broken-up into vying factions"); Likewise, in the laws of religious practice wherein the Geonim, of blessed memories, were [oft] divided, whereof [we find] one who ruled this way, and another who ruled that way, and we can assume that they walked in that very way [that they prescribed for others]; and, so too, have Maimonides and Maran, of blessed memories, walked [in their decisions].

Wherefore, what I have written above lends support to the words of Maimonides. Of blessed memory, who ruled like him that said there must not be two [rabbinic] courts in one city, just as he has written [it] in the twelfth chapter of Hilchos Avodah Zarah, and whose words are these: "…And it carries with it the general prohibitive warning of not breaking-up into [vying] factions, that there be not two [rabbinic] courts in one city, one acting in accordance with one custom, while the other acting in accordance with a different custom. For this matter is the cause for great divisions, etc."

Now even though Maran, of blessed memory, eases strictures regarding this question in his Questions & Responsa, "Avkas Rochel," responsum # 212, at any rate, according to that which Maimonides has written, of blessed memory, [and] which I have copied down above, it is not so, and like that which I have commented on, there in my composition "Shem Tov." But now that G-d has privileged us to come up to the land of Israel, and all the communities of the east have come [here with us], this one practicing this way, and the other practicing that way, and are presently given over to division, not wishing to go after the majority, therefore, since there is no remedy for saving oneself from [that prohibition], "Do not break-up into [vying] factions," let us conclude with that statement made by the Tanna, "Upon whom do we have to lean? Upon our father in heaven." May He hasten the coming of the Deliverer, [even] quickly in our days. Amen. May he come and mend the world entirely so that they will [all] serve the Lo-rd together, and that there be fulfilled in us that which He has promised us by the hand of the prophet (Zephaniah 3:9), "For then will I change the peoples' language into a lucid one, so that they may all call upon the name of the Lo-rd, [enabling them] to serve Him together." [May it happen] in our lifetime, [even] in our days. Amen, may it be His will! And know most assuredly that what Maharitz, of blessed memory, has written in [his] Questions & Responsa, [viz.], that Maimonides, of blessed memory, is the lord in Yemen, is not necessarily the case amongst all of them. Rather, he means that it is the case amongst the majority of them. For, lo, there are judges who went after the method [taught by] Maran, of blessed memory, and those with him. Look carefully to this, and you will find that it is so.

The younger, Hayim Shemuel Kessar



המקור

שאל השואל, ידוע הוא דהרמב"ם ז"ל מאריה דאתרין בתימן, וכמ"ש מהרי"ץ ז"ל בשו"ת פעולת צדיק ח"ב סימן ק"ס. ועכשיו שזכינו לעלות לא"י קמו עלינו רבני א"י, ואמרו דכאן בא"י צריכין לנהוג עפ"י פסקי מרן הב"י ז"ל, שהוא מאריה דאתרין, ומכין אותנו על קדקדינו מדברי הרמב"ם ז"ל עצמו שכתב בפי"ב מהלכות ע"ז וכו' עד לא תתגודדו.

תשובה. דע שבזמן חכמי המשנה היתה שיטה זו, וכדאיתה בשבת בפר"א דמילה (דף ק"ל) במקומו של ר"א היו כורתין עצים לעשות פחמין לעשות ברזל בשבת וכו' וכן הזכירו כיוצא בזה, וכמו שמצינו ג"כ דוגמת זה בגמ' אתריה דרב הוה, אתריה דשמואל הוה, דמוכח שהיו קבועין כל בי"ד ובי"ד במקומו, ולא היו כולן במקום אחד, בכדי שלא יבואו לידי לא תתגודדו שדרשו חז"ל לא תיעשו אגודות אגודות, וכמו כן בדינין שנחלקו בהן הגאונים ז"ל, שיש מי שפסק כך ויש מי שפסק כך, ומסתמא הלכו בדרך הזאת, וכמו כן הלכו הרמב"ם ומר"ן ז"ל. ולפיכך מה שכתבתי בסמוך לדברי הרמב"ם ז"ל שפסק כמ"ד שלא יהו שני בתי דינין בעיר אחת כמ"ש בפי"ב מהלכות ע"ז וז"ל, ובכלל אזהרת לאו דלא תתגודדו, שלא יהיו שני בתי דינין בעיר אחת, זה נוהג כמנהג זה וזה נוהג כמנהג אחר, שדבר זה גורם למחלוקות גדולות וכו'. ואע"פ שמר"ן ז"ל מיקל בשאלה זו בשו"ת אבקת רוכל בסימן רי"ב, מ"מ לפי מ"ש הרמב"ם ז"ל שכתבתי בסמוך, אינו כן, וכמו שהערתי ע"ז בחיבורי שם טוב שם. ועכשיו שזיכנו ה' לעלות לא"י ובאו כל עדות המזרח, זה עושה ככה וזה עושה ככה, ובאין לידי מחלוקת ואינן רוצים לילך אחר המרובים, ולפיכך הואיל ואין תקנה להינצל מיד לא תתגודדו, נסיים במאמר התנא, ועל מי יש לנו להישען, על אבינו שבשמים, שימהר בביאת הגואל בבי"א, שיבוא ויתקן את העולם כולו שיעבדו את ה' יחד, ויקיים בנו מה שהבטיחנו ע"י הנביא כי אז אהפוך אל העמים שפה ברורה לקרוא כולם בשם ה' ולעבדו שכם אחד, בחיינו ובימינו, אמכי"ר. ודע דמ"ש מהרי"ץ ז"ל בשו"ת דהרמב"ם ז"ל מאריה בתימן, הוא לאו דוקא בכולהו, אלא ברובן מיירי, שהרי יש דינין שהלכו בהן כשיטת מר"ן ז"ל ודעמיה, ודו"ק ותשכח.

הצ' חיים שמואל כסאר

Today in Israel we have so many factions and it has caused so much machloket. So many Hechsherim you don't know what you can eat and what you can't eat. You get invited to a wedding or Bar Mitzva and you are hesitant to eat the food.
On Pesach people don't eat at their neighbor's houses. In cases of where a couple is from two different Edot it has caused arguments regarding eating at the house of inlaws.

We don't have to wait for Moshiach to fix the problem . We need a united Beit Din to psak halacha for all Am Israel.