The following story has some perplexed, as the director-general of the Rabbinical Courts, the man who basically runs the rabbinical judiciary system in Israel, HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Dichovsky, is part of a lawsuit being played out in the civil court system. According to the Chadrei Chareidim report, the rav is expected to be the person who waves the flag of adjudicating matters in line with Halacha and pushing the legitimacy of the rabbinical system, which is recognized in Israel.

The report states the rav is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against a Har Nof builder filed by neighborhood residents, and they decided to take their case to civil court, in this case, an administrative court.

The case actually began a number of years ago, involving the Har Nof Center Company, planning to construct tens of housing units on Shaulzon Street. The project was opposed by area residents for a long time, but ultimately, the developer received the necessary permits and he was given the green light to move ahead and begin clearing ground.

Tenants in the building impacted by the project, including the rav, feel the new building is an eye soar and it has no place in the community. More importantly, they feel the building will compromise the worth of their apartments and therefore, they have decided to move ahead with legal action. They feel that if their property will devalue as a result of the project, they are entitled to compensation.

After exhausting all efforts to prevent the planning board from issuing building permits, the tenants decided to file a suit based on their claim that there are entitled to compensatory payment as a result of the devaluation of their asset, i.e., their apartments.

Even more interesting is the fact that sides; the tenants and the builder/developer are chareidi, perhaps suggesting they would have taken their case to a rabbinical monetary court; however this is not the case. The lawsuit also mentions the Jerusalem Municipality.

When asked to comment on the story, aides to the rav released the following statement to the media. “The tenant committee filed the lawsuit and not the rabbi personally as some may believe. The defendant is the Jerusalem Municipality, a body that one cannot sue in a beis din”.

Once again, the actual lawsuit also mentions the builder, who is indeed a chareidi yid.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)