On Friday, a man was held for questioning by local police in the town of Even Yehuda after the regional council complained that he had built a Sukkah in a public park. The Sukkah was removed by council employees. The detainee was identified as Shimshon Rachman Pur.
According to one producer and resident of Even Yehuda, Ronen Peled, the Sukkah was built in the public park where the Religious community holds events because there is no Synagogue set up by the Regional Council for the community in the new neighborhoods of the city.
Peled posted a message on his public Facebook page regarding the incident.
The Regional Council responded to Peled’s post and said that “The effort to create a conflict between secular and religious residents of the city by various groups is inappropriate. The Regional Council has over the years maintained a status quo between the residents and will continue to do so.
On Friday the resident of Moshava decided of his own volition to take matters into his own hands and provoke a conflict by building a Sukkah in a public space without any of the proper permits.
The Council had already allowed the Chabad of the town to build a public Sukkah near the Library. Workers from the Council acted appropriately and contacted the builder and asked him to remove the Sukkah. The resident refused and began to yell, scream, curse and slander the regional council workers. In an effort to avoid a physical confrontation a police car was requested and the resident was taken to the nearby police station. The Sukkah was then removed and the situation returned to the prior status quo. No charges have been filed against the resident.”
The Regional Council then responded to the claim regarding the lack of Synagogues. “In the town of Even Yehuda, there is a Religious Council that manages religious affairs. There are 20 synagogues throughout the town that serve all parts and factions of the community. The Religious Council receives an annual budget of some 700,000 NIS to run religious programming for the residents. While we here at the Regional Council support all residents in their religious observance and tolerate each person and their level of religious observance, we will not allow any resident to take the law into their own hands and do whatever they please. Especially when it impinges upon public spaces meant for all residents.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
The police handled this appropriately. Most likely, this guy has some emotional issues given that he became verbally abuse to the municipal workers who were just doing their job and the town already had 20+ shuls, most of which had their own succahs plus the Chabad sukkah on public land for those who did not belong to a shul. If some nutcase wants to have his own personal succah for himself or his chevrah, he is legally entitled to build on his own property. The authorities cannot allow anyone to violate public parks and build a succah or anything else without a permit or there would be anarchy.