After the chareidi rabbonim in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol held an emergency kenos on Monday night, it has been decided to step up the battle against the planned construction of a Kiryat Chinuch in the community, an complex of schools that will be constructed on 60,000 square meters, providing hundreds of classrooms to alleviate the severe shortage of classrooms in the city.

The rabbonim explain that in addition to the traffic nightmare that will result on the community’s main road, in addition to the worrisome safety issues resulting from the sharp increase in traffic, the complex will bring a most unwanted reality to the neighborhood, which they say will “threaten the children of the community residents”.

Among the rabbonim who signed the letter calling for the urgent kenos were Rabbi Tzvi Sharlin, Rabbi Aharon David Potash, Rabbi Nissan Shlomo HaCohen Kaplan, Rabbi Shalom Twill, and Rabbi Yehuda Baum.

It is added, that the rabbonim are united on this issue, and Rav Uriel Eisenthal, who is affiliated with Peleg Yerushalmi, was among the speakers at the kenos.

The planned educational complex was decided upon during the tenure of the former mayor, now Likud MK Nir Barkat. The rabbonim explain there is a dire need for many more classrooms in the community, which is becoming increasingly chareidi by the day, questioning why one would build a public school complex in the heart of a chareidi community.

At the kenos, it was decided the rabbonim will wage a battle against educational institutions referred to as “the new chareidim”, expressing their determination to prevent the construction of the complex. “There is no place in the neighborhood for a religious chareidi public school, and we view this with the utmost severity, any attempt to mingle in chareidi education”.

“Chareidi institutions operating independently must be promoted and demand that the discrimination against neighborhood residents cease and that the area of education in the neighborhood should not be designated for regional public authorities. The residents of the neighborhood should be given preferential and accessible solutions for educational and religious institutions,” explain the rabbonim.

Following the kenos, the community rabbonim are also going to wage a war against the construction of an auditorium and warn against operating the pool on Shabbos, calling an auditorium “a spiritual danger to the character of the neighborhood, regarding Chilul Shabbos and regarding the pool; we ask that the pool operate in line with the lifestyle of chareidi children”.

The rabbonim have turned to Mayor Moshe Leon following the kenos, calling for elections for the neighborhood government (minhal), citing they are entitled to this as are the residents of neighborhoods around the city. The rabbonim explain that the current minhal represents only a “small minority” of the community.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)