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Will one rabbinic letter determine the fate of hundreds of thousands of housing units in Israel? - Walla! news

2023-03-21T12:41:00.495Z


New projects in Ramat Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem were designed to solve the housing crisis through the construction of high-rise buildings in ultra-Orthodox residential neighborhoods. The rabbis opposed the project on the grounds that high-rise construction does not match the nature of the ultra-orthodox public. If the objection is accepted - the fate of high-rise construction in many cities will change


The construction site in Beit Shemesh (photo: Yanon Shalom Yathach)

Secular and ultra-orthodox public representatives gathered last weekend to discuss a 21-story building in the Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Apparently, this is another normal discussion in the local committee for planning and construction in Jerusalem.

But beneath the surface, he is at the heart of a storm in the making, which may change the status quo for many years to come, and a ruling in favor of one of the parties will dramatically change the future of construction in the State of Israel.



In order to understand what the commotion is about, and how the seemingly negligible discussion will affect tens of thousands of housing units throughout the country in the coming years - it is necessary to examine how the huge snowball began to roll, in a neighborhood debate in Ramat Beit Shemesh.



About five months ago, a plan was submitted for the construction of a 15-story building in a developing neighborhood in the new Ramat Beit Shemesh.

The innovative project is designed to benefit the emerging housing crisis in the country and house about 50 families and commercial floors in a relatively small area.

But an unexpected objection was received precisely from the rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox community: not to approve the construction plan - because it is over eight stories.



In a short time, the published plan was accompanied by dozens of residents' objections along with signatures of hundreds of residents of the city, who see themselves as "victims of the plan", stating that the building does not match the character of the neighborhood and the character of the ultra-Orthodox public, and demanding that the progress of the plan be stopped.

The rabbis' letter to change the regulations of the city of Beit Shemesh (photo: documentation on social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)

A "lethal weapon" was added to the enormous pressure exerted on the decision-makers in the Planning and Construction Committee: a sharp letter sent to the Beit Shemesh municipality, signed by 58 rabbis from various communities and hassidisms in the city, in which they demand that the city's regulations be amended immediately so that the maximum number of floors in a building in the city will be eight floors.



"We came to an agreement to amend the city's regulations in order to preserve its beauty and prevent the exclusion of the ultra-orthodox public from the neighborhoods that are being built," they wrote in the letter.

The rabbis added an unequivocal ruling: "Marketers and intermediaries must not cooperate with developers who intend to market the apartments, in ways that aim to prevent housing from the ultra-orthodox public."



The rabbis explained that their refusal to build was due to several halachic reasons.

The first of which is that the many floors in the building will require an elevator, and since certain sects refuse to use the Shabbat elevator as well - this may result in the desecration of Shabbat due to lack of choice or the addition to the building of secular families who will live on the higher floors.

The second reason is that families with many children will need a place to play - and in high-rise construction, there is no space near the building.

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The possibility of living in a shared building for ultra-Orthodox and seculars, where the seculars would live on the upper floors, was rejected outright, on the grounds that the presence of an "iPhone" in the city would change the image of the city.

"I don't want a secular or traditional person to stand under the balcony with his iPhone and my child will see," reads the minutes of the subcommittee for objections in Jerusalem, which met at the end of January.



"Residential buildings within residential neighborhoods populated in sectors with families blessed with children are not a practical or economic thing, and above all they do not reflect and solve the problems that arise from the nature of the population," stated the Transparent Jerusalem Association, which promotes the ultra-Orthodox opposition.

"The leaders and the entire public oppose the construction, but the state continues to push for their construction with all its might. "This is a cry for generations, and it is a shame that in the end these towers will encounter great difficulty in being inhabited, will stand empty and abandoned and will very quickly become centers of crime, thus destroying these neighborhoods.

We hope that the state will quickly come to its senses and realize that the damage from these towers will be greater than the profit," they explained their opposition. The



planning and construction committees walk a tightrope: on the one hand, the committees promote the construction boom that will be able to contain the huge demographic increase, and on the other hand, they are obligated to adapt the needs of the entire population , and take into account the different communities.



For them, this is not a new problem, but a recurring problem that may be of concern in the long term.

In the course of time, various solutions were found, which may benefit the populations and allow high-rise construction, such as raising employment and trade centers, which are usually located on the lower floors, to the upper floors of the building.

The rumor about the letter spread like wildfire - after all, if the decision is accepted and the construction of the building is canceled - this will set a dangerous precedent for high-rise construction in Israel.

Since the letter was submitted, objections to similar construction plans in Beit Shemesh began to be received, and when the air distance is not great and the communities are mixed with each other, objections from these circumstances also began to arise in Jerusalem and the letter of the Jerusalem rabbis was not long in coming.



In a letter published by Ashkenazi rabbis from the ultra-orthodox community in the capital, in preparation for the construction of a residential neighborhood near the Makor Baruch neighborhood, it is stated that "the plans for construction over ten stories high will destroy the image of ultra-orthodox neighborhoods."

In the letter they added that Israel's rabbis and elders stated that this should be opposed "with all force".

At the end of the letter, they asked to contact anyone who could help in order to "thwart these plots".



Kiryat Gat also received the current Halacha ruling, along with the construction plans for a new neighborhood in the city.

Following the publication of the plan, a strong objection was sent to the construction of a 20-story building in the neighborhood.

This time, the opponents focused on the difficulty that would be created in the construction of Sukkot on the upper floors as well as in the Shabbat elevators, together with an advertisement signed by the late Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the former leader of the Lithuanian public and a prominent Halachic arbiter. The opposition was successful and the plan was canceled.

The letter of the Jerusalem rabbis (photo: documentation on social networks according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)

That is why the joint discussion about the high-rise building in the Romema neighborhood in Jerusalem - reached the threshold of the discussion in the committee when it is powerful - and is used as a counter tool for jurists and those with interests, and not only from the ultra-Orthodox side.



After officials from the Lithuanian movement in Jerusalem submitted a construction plan for four 21-story towers last week, at the committee on Thursday, the seculars (and the Snikim) pulled out the floor card and asked simply: "If in a mixed neighborhood you agree to high-rise construction - why do you refuse in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood?" Yesterday was reached Compromise on the issue: They will build five 12-story towers. So who won? The answer is simple: the rabbis who turned the halachic ruling into reasoning. Assuming the opposition of the rabbis in



Beit Shemesh is accepted, they will have to align themselves with the municipality in any plan that is put before them - and the construction momentum will have to change direction to low-rise construction, at a cost of dozens Thousands of housing units. According to the transition rule, the construction fate of all the cities involved may be the same - and the impact will be seen on hundreds of thousands of homes across the country.

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Source: walla

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