The day after Yom Kippur, Israel Zeira, executive director of the Jewish Head organization, takes the time to look back and analyze the commotion surrounding the prayer he led. He uses harsh words and calls the demonstration "terrorism," reveals that he has been threatened and says it will not deter him, while insisting that they are his brothers and calling on them to come to a reconciliation talk.
Closing prayer at Dinzgoff Square to the voice of the protesters // Avi Cohen
"I am a resident of Tel Aviv and I was born in Tel Aviv," Zeira says. "My opinions are held by hundreds of residents of the city and there are thousands of secular people who wanted to participate in the moving prayer, the most inclusive event in Tel Aviv. Last year we received compliments from Molly Segev, who posted how liberal we are and that we could sit with the family and no one commented. We have created a liberal and inclusive space that is not coercive. Last year, whoever wanted to stood by the partition and those who didn't - didn't. There were thousands involved. Families, couples, with pets, modest, immodest, we didn't comment on anyone."
Regarding the storm that developed during the Kippur prayer, he says: "What happened this year was that people came who want to impose their extremist and anti-religious views, fanatics disguised as liberalism, who demand that everyone toe the line with them or not enter 'their' city, and tried to exclude 'Jewish head' from the public sphere with the stupid legal excuse of a partition. If they hadn't talked about the partition, no one would have known that there was such a partition from most of the thousands of worshippers. This is not the partition, it is an excuse to remove the danger called secular people who want to get close to God and use our services. They imposed secular coercion on the traditional and secular and disrupted the public sphere."
Demonstrators fold the chairs set up in honor of the Kippur prayer, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Clashes at Dizengoff Square, photo: Gideon Markowitz
Zeira says he does not regret placing Israeli flags as a partition marker, and claims that this was not an attempt to circumvent court rulings but rather to find a legal solution that would allow prayer according to Jewish law. "We wanted to solve the halachic problem we have. We have a halachic distress. As an Orthodox body we need to separate men from women. Therefore, we found a respectful solution, which both legal counsel and the police determined was completely legal. We upheld the law, and those who protested against us are the criminals. They came to torpedo an event by means of terror. It's unfortunate that we've reached a situation where, in the name of false liberalism, people impose their opinions."
Are you sorry you put up this makeshift partition?
"No, I'm not sorry I did that. Surrendering to the verbal and violent terror of these people would have caused thousands of people to miss prayer, as happened on the eve of Yom Kippur. Thousands of people came to the Kol Nidre prayer, and only a small number of them came to the synagogue, because there was no room. There were two minyanim – one crowded in the synagogue and another where the cantor could barely be heard. It must be said, we are not going to the square because it is a symbol, but because it is less than 100 meters from our synagogue."
Although you were not a party to the case in the District and Supreme Court, which anchored the prohibition on separation by partition, you were greatly affected by it. Did the lawsuit hurt you?
"The claims were not true. The whole story of the partition is a political story on the eve of elections in Tel Aviv. There is competition over who will be more anti-religious. Unfortunately, it harmed the activity of a Jewish head."
Are you angry with the demonstrators?
"I'm not angry, I took it upon myself not to be angry even at people who think differently than I do and who did something inappropriate. I am filled with sorrow and disappointment from my mistaken and beloved brothers who think the opposite of me and also impose their opinion on me – and thousands of other people. Instead of seeing exciting pictures like last year, we saw a scary and sad event. My children were pushed. Photos posted at the top of news sites show my daughter crying, my son hugged by a rabbi. This is an unfortunate event, and I hope those responsible for the incident will do some soul-searching."
Israel Zeira, Chairman of Jewish Head, in turmoil during holiday prayers, photo: Eitan Elhadez/TPS
Zeira answers those who claimed to be pro-religion and anti-LGBTQ. "The word 'religion' is a frightening word invented by Haaretz newspaper whose sole purpose is to scare people from offering Torah lessons. We suggest that people come and study Torah in Tel Aviv, because there is no other place that provides them with this service. We don't impose our opinion on anyone – we are against religious coercion. We don't address children or go to schools, we don't do anything that doesn't stem from pure reason. People come to us, we have a huge minyan every Friday night, on my table sit beloved and sweet LGBT people every Shabbat who come to connect to a happy and accepting Judaism, without a drop of criticism."
He said that the attempt to attack a Jewish head by attacking rabbis such as Rabbi Yigal Levintschein, who gave a lesson in the synagogue last week and had to leave with a police escort, or Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, was unacceptable.
"They want to silence us through characters who have made harsh statements in the past. I don't regret bringing Rabbi Levinstein. Do they want me to glorify rabbis who don't feel good? Are you crazy? Should I condemn rabbis? I don't have to agree with every word they say. No one fired Shikma Bressler for her statements about the Nazis, no one fired a professor who made extreme statements. Pluralism stops when he encounters the wrong views. That won't happen, we will continue to express our views out loud."
Her mind falls from the stage in the riot of prayer in the square, Photo: Gideon Markowitz,
Kippur at Dizengoff Square, Photo: Gideon Markowitz, Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Zeira reveals that he has been threatened in recent days and that he has informed the police. "At the Yom Kippur prayer we read how Rabbi Akiva was murdered by the Romans because he taught Torah in public. I hope that those who are threatening me right now are not going to do this to me. The threats are increasing, but I don't want to elaborate. I updated the police on what needs to be updated. They won't be able to intimidate or silence me. We will continue our activities. We are the true liberals, and we will continue to embrace those who disagree with us. I invite those who torpedoed our legal prayer to a salon conversation, not to agree, but to reduce tensions."
"After we had a shooting attack in 2014, we moved to Tel Aviv. We asked what God wanted from us and came to the conclusion that our next mission is to move to Tel Aviv. So my brave wife and our heroic children gave up a comfortable life in a large house and we moved, ten people, to a small apartment in the center of Tel Aviv. I call on my friends in the national religious sector to come live in Tel Aviv, talk to the residents, and engage in disseminating Torah lessons in respectful discourse."
Some might call your call missionary
"It's manipulation. We make a connection between siblings. I use every platform to spread my liberal views. When the religious and ultra-Orthodox are the majority, I will insist on the right of my secular brothers to live their lives as they see fit."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he would attend prayers at Dizengoff Square on Thursday in response to the riot. Do you support the initiative?
"I don't think Thursday's prayer is right. We are not affiliated with any party, and we do not hold prayers as a demonstration."
The Yom Kippur prayers are over, but the volatility is still on the ground, and there is another event on the way, which could lead to another explosion. In about a week and a half, Jewish Head personnel are expected to make second laps on the streets of Tel Aviv. "On Simchat Torah, second laps will be held. I don't know if there will be separation. The management of a Jewish head will sit down and decide. I am definitely afraid of provocations, and demand that the event be held and violence prevented."
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