The Beit Midrash courtyard, used by the Sadigora community for worship during holidays and special events, is now facing expropriation by the municipality of Bnei Brak. The plan is to establish a public garden in the area next to the synagogue. The move has provoked great anger among the worshipers who see it as inappropriate to turn a holy place into a public garden. Furthermore, the expropriation violates an oral agreement between the municipality and the synagogue that had existed for years. Despite attempts to reach a common dialogue on the matter with the municipality, worshipers encountered complete refusal without any explanation. The municipality defends its position by stating that the area is designated for a public garden and that millions of shekels have been invested in its planning and execution. The area will return to the children of the city absolutely, according to the municipality.
The courtyard of the Beit Midrash, which was used by the Hasids on holidays (Lerer Markets)
For decades, the Sadigora community, in coordination with the municipality of Bnei Brak, has been using the area adjacent to the Hasidic Great Beit Midrash on Gutmacher Street, this as a response to busy times when the synagogue is unable to accommodate the many worshipers. Now, in a scandalous and unilateral step, and contrary to previous understandings, Requests to expropriate the area in favor of establishing a public garden.
First a little background, this is about the courtyard of the Sadigora Beit Midrash which has been used by the hundreds and thousands of worshipers (on holidays and special events of the Chassidut. 18) for decades. Use of the yard during peak times.
The celebrations in the Hasidic courtyard – will it be turned into a garden?! (Lerer Markets)
Now, the municipality is planning to build a public garden adjacent to the synagogue, which, apart from the fact that it is inappropriate to turn the courtyard of a holy place into a public garden in all its meanings, this is a blatant violation of an oral agreement that existed for years between the municipality and the synagogue.
This provoked great anger among the worshipers in the ‘Shabbat Square’, the worshipers claim: “Anyone can see how outrageous it is to turn a courtyard adjacent to the entrance of the synagogue into a public garden after it is already used by a huge public all year round and especially during the holidays, and that it would be conceivable to expel thousands People from a public area that they have been using for many years with the knowledge and consent of the municipality’s administration, which financed large events held in this place?”
In an angry email sent to a number of businessmen, it was claimed: “How do you bring a public garden to the interior of a small temple? Did the planners take into account the sanctity of the camp? The commandment of the Torah, “And see thee and God, and return behind thee” also obliges the municipality of Bnei Brak, which boasts that all its actions are according to the Torah.” .
The celebrations in the Hasidic courtyard – will it be turned into a garden?! (Lerer Markets)
“What’s more,” they added, “because according to the laws of the Torah and the state, we have a law of Bar Mitzra, the municipality must ask us and consult with us, even if they would not give us verbal approval. Where does their audacity and audacity come from?”
Were attempts made to talk to the municipality? According to those involved in the affair: “Even after many attempts to reach a common dialogue on the matter with the authorized officials in the municipality, they encountered a complete refusal, and all this without even explaining the reason for the refusal.” According to them, “During the negotiations, it was possible to reach clear agreements for the benefit of everyone.
The municipality of Bnei Brak stated: “We read the article over and over again and rub our eyes in wonder. The cry of the robbed Cossack echoes in all its misery. This is a public area designated in the records for a garden. There has not been and will not be any official or unofficial summary of the utilization of public areas belonging to the children of the city – for the benefit of its use of this or that community.
Millions of shekels were invested in the planning of the garden as part of the gardening revolution, and the work was carried out. Appreciating and visiting this holy community, with joy for its expansion, but public spaces are obtained through an orderly allocation of public spaces or bought with full money. The area will be returned to the children of the city absolutely.”