In a vote that was held in the kibbutz this week, the members of Kibbutz Ein Gedi have voted against a shul and mikve in their community.
The Tamar Religious Council signaled a willingness to build a shul/mikve complex on the kibbutz but the offer from council head Dov Litbinoff was rejected in a 90 to 69 vote by members of the kibbutz.
Litbinoff lamented the decision as he explains the shul was not going to be just any shul, but a replica of the shul that stood in Ein Gedi 1,600 years ago, a shul that was visited by merchants and religious people from around the world.
Litbinoff explains he will respect the decision of the majority, which was reached democratically, but he will also be searching for another venue for the project.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
The Zionist ideal at its finest. Jews living in Eretz Yisroel – the Jewish homeland – refusing to allow a shul and a mikve to be built on their sacred kibbutz land.
To Jerusalem observer says; The Orthodox ideal at its finest, status quo only when it fits the orthodox.
How sad.To purposely live your life and raise Jewish children in our holy land without a shul or mikva so you can live a life like a Hebrew-speaking goy.
What kind of fantasy land does Jerusalem Observer live in? The kibbutz movement in general and this kibbutz in particular are marginal these days, representing a mode of thinking and community decision making that reflects the social mores and reactionary petulance of an earlier time several generations ago when more than a pitiful few people actually cared about the kibbutz ideal. Though when it comes to social mores and reactionary petulance, they’re not alone.