Shas party officials’ are working to prevent state collection officials from confiscating property from shuls in arrears. This action is prompted by state officials visiting the beis medrash of the Bitshkov Rebbe Shlita, where the air conditioners were confiscated.
After collection officials moved in to the Tel Aviv shul, Shas decided to introduce a bill in the hope of passing a law to protect houses of worship in debt. Shas’ bill would prevent confiscating property from a house of worship, including shuls, churches or mosques. Shas feels that at present, if a house of worship is in arrears collection officials may move in and such actions are offensive to a holy site.
Shas hopes to amend the law that protects holy objects by expanding it to prevent the confiscation of property in any house of worship.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Another really stupid idea from Shas. Any shul, beis medrash or makom kadosh from any other religion must learn to live within its means. Given that in EY every rebelleh feels he must start his own minyan or be rosh yeshiva of his own yeshiva, such a law would allow these ego-driven mosdos to run up huge debts with no consequences. This is a bad legislative proposal that should be trashed.
Interesting how they go in to take the air conditioners out of a shul but whichever tumahdig chuch it was in the old city didn’t pay it’s water bill for like 20 years and owed a million shekels to the water company they felt free to forgive the bill in honor of a visit by the tumadig pope who returned the favor by recognizing a “state of palestine” and calling abbas yemach shemo an angel of peace.
Unsurprising that the felon Deri thinks that shuls don’t have to pay debts. In practice this is a foolish idea because it will result in everyone demanding cash upfront from shuls for every purchase.
#2- Do you have an actual real world example of such a church? Not to mention that water bills are owed to the municipality whereas the Bitshkov debt is most likely to a private entity, which is far less likely to be lenient and patient with debt than a public entity.