It did not take too long for Tzfas Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu to respond to a Facebook campaign decrying a gender separation sign in the Tzfas Beis Hachaim. YWN-ISRAEL reported someone who was offended by the sign posted it on the “Secular Tzfas” Facebook page, a secularist platform used to rally support against chareidim in the holy city.
Channel 2 reported that the secular activists sent letters to the mayor of the city and other elected officials, voicing their disapproval of the gender separation. Senior officials in City Hall addressed the matter, sending a letter to the city’s religious council. Officials in the religious council explained the city’s chief rabbi is responsible, turning the information to Rabbi Eliyahu. The rav ordered the signs calling for gender separation removed.
Rabbi Eliyahu explained that the sign was set into place for the yahrzeit of the Ari HaKodosh in Menachem Av, when it was known many women would be present too. The signs were supposed to have been removed following that event but it appears some still remain in place. The rav now ordered all of the signs removed.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
4 Responses
Why is there a picture of the Arizal Mikvah when the article is about the Bais Hachaim not about the Mikvah???!!!
I can think of two reasons off the top of my head..
1. That’s where the sign was, and, more to the point,
2. It is also an entrance to the beis hachaim.
@notwutiwantd. Your 2 answers aren’t true. 1. That’s not the sign that the article is talking about. I was just in tzfas last week. The sign by the mikva says that the Mikvah is for men only and that sign is still there. The signs that are discussed in the article are the signs on the ramp that lead from the street to the Ari’s kever.
2. Yes, that is an entrance to the bais hachaim, but their are no signs but that entrance only by the other entrance higher up.
Great work…
There is hope for the world
Now lets shut down the silly park in KJ…