The Charedi community of Ramat Shlomo in Jerusalem has been waiting for years for an expansion to their neighborhood. However, the contractor in charge of construction shocked the community and the company who won the tender for building the expansion by beginning work on Rosh Hashanah, desecrating one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar.

According to a report by Kikar Shabbat news site, numerous residents complained of hearing tractors and work vehicles begin construction on the new neighborhood to the community on both days of Rosh Hashanah. The report states how the shocked residents complained to the company in charge of the construction, city-owned Moriah Ltd., and that the company had already issued a reiteration of regulations to the contractor who had overseen the construction.

The letter clarifies that according to the regulations of Moriah Ltd. no work should be done on any construction site under their auspices during Jewish holidays, including Chol Hamoed Sukkot.

A number of residents approached the workers and protested the construction work. “The workers made themselves out to be innocent,” said one of the residents. “They said, “what is it Shabbat today? Oh, it’s Rosh Hashanah, why did nobody tell us ahead of time.” After the confrontation, the workers stopped the construction work.

A spokesperson for Moriah Ltd. said, “Following the numerous complaints of citizens, and a personal letter from city council member Rabbi Yaakov Halperin, we are conducting a full investigation into the incident in order to determine how this occurred. We will conduct a visit to the site tomorrow (Monday) and in the meantime, we have sent out a letter to all project managers in the city reiterating the regulations that no work should be done on Jewish holidays, including Chol Hamoed Sukkot.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)