Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern Shlita convened an urgent meeting in his office on Thursday, 4 Tishrei to address what he calls are broken promises by Mayor Nir Barkat regarding missionary activity in the capital.
The rav met on Thursday afternoon with chareidi city councilmen. While Mayor Barkat was expected to attend, he canceled his expected appearance. They discussed the upcoming annual International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (ICEJ) week-long Tabernacle event that coincides with Sukkos, an event labeled as “missionary” by the Chief Rabbis of Israel.
According to Rabbi Stern, Barkat promised him during a meeting on erev Shavuos that events such as the ICEJ Feast of Tabernacle and parade down the center of downtown Jerusalem would not take place in the future. At that time, there was a voice of protest from Rav Stern’s office regarding another missionary event being held in the Jerusalem Arena Stadium. During that meeting, Rabbi Stern showed the mayor a video of a previous event which provided proof of missionary activity during the event which was also held in the Arena.
Deputy Mayor Yossi Deutsch confirmed the mayor promised there would not be missionary events in the capital in the future.
The participants agreed they cannot just sit by and permit yet another such event of this nature in Yerushalayim.
They decided they will wait for a letter from the mayor with a guarantee that there will be absolutely no missionary activity during the event.
In response to the Jerusalem Chief Rabbi’s concerns, City Hall explains the event being held on Sukkos is a private event without any connection to City Hall or its agencies. It is added the organizers have committed they will not break any laws so there will not be any missionary activities, adding the same agenda will be held as has been the annual practice in the Jerusalem Convention Center (Binyanei Ha’uma) over the past twenty years.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
Israel is a jewish land and the holiest place on earth
Why the government allows such behavior is beyond me.
If the can not. Prove that they
Are born from a jewish mother they should. Not be allowed to live in the country
I hear that there is a new group of blacks that came from.
Who knows where in tlv.
And they are worse the the hashions from Hati
And they are ine of the Lowest people in earth.
They should be all gathered
up and sent to lebanon,Syria libra any place but get the goy trash out of the holly land
And the shechena of Hasham will cime back to us here again