The Tel Aviv Municipality announced on Monday that it completely banning public tefillos during the upcoming Yamim Tovim, sparking a public outcry.

The decision comes after the terrible incidents that happened last year, when progressive Jews held protests and prevented other Jews from davening in public spaces and even private shuls in Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur and Sukkos. Tragically, reports of the fights between Jews on the holiest day of the Jewish year were followed by the heartrending reports of the October 7th massacre.

A letter from the Tel Aviv municipality states: “Following your application to hold an event in the public space, and after receiving several requests from various private entities to hold Yom Kippur tefilla events/gatherings in city squares/public parks, and after examining the matter, it was decided to end the practice that began during the COVID years in which the municipality provided municipal areas for such events on Yom Kippur in light of the importance of staying in open spaces during that period.”

“The municipality deems it necessary to return to what has been accepted for years, according to which it does not provide public spaces such as squares, public gardens, etc. to be used as a beit knesset/gathering place for private events. Rather Yom Kippur tefillot shoud be held at the hundreds of batei knesset scattered throughout the city. Accordingly, all requests for tefillot/gathering in squares, etc., are not approved and therefore your request cannot be approved.”

The municipality’s decision is especially irking as it has approved Muslim prayers in public spaces in Tel Aviv and Yaffo. In June, on Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice), hundreds of Arabs held a municipality-approved prayer in the Charles Clore Park in southwest Tel Aviv, with partitions placed between men and women.

Chotam, an activist organization dedicated to preserving and nurturing the Jewish character of the State of Israel, condemned the decision.

“Yesterday, we were supposed to hold a public tefillah in Yaffo, where the Tel Aviv Municipality allowed Muslim prayers,” a statement from Chotam said. “In our official request, we asked to hold the tefillah under precisely the same conditions (separation and partitions) as the Muslims prayed. We declared that we would pray only for the IDF soldiers. Needless to say, our Jewish prayer was not approved. The Tel Aviv Municipality has abandoned Judaism and is fighting against Jews while embracing nationalist Muslims. We call on the government of Israel to liberate Tel Aviv from corruptive progressivism.”

As expected, the decision was widely condemned by right-wing politicians but even many secular Jews in Tel Aviv disagree with the municipality’s decision, which was made under the influence of the progressive left. Journalist Assaf Lieberman wrote: “In my secular Tel Aviv environment, there isn’t much sympathy for the exclusion of prayers from the public space during the Tishrei holidays. In general, the chilonim should make an effort to pour community-secular content into the holidays instead of thwarting prayers.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)