In response to last week’s court ruling prohibiting residents of the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood of Yerushalayim to hold Shabbos tefillos in an apartment, hundreds of residents davened in a building lobby, determined to maintain the Shabbos atmosphere among the neighborhood’s growing chareidi community. A number of rabbonim from Bayit Vegan joined in to give a chizuk to residents.

Ahead of his Shabbos HaGadol drasha, Bayit Vegan’s rav, HaGaon Rabbi Azriel Orbach Shlita addressed the battle for maintaining a Shabbos minyan in the growing frum neighborhood, citing this week we will make a bracha on the physical sun and also recite kiddush levana, explaining the spiritual significance of kiddush levana. Also present was the rosh yeshiva of Kol Torah HaGaon Rav Moshe Yehuda Schlesinger and HaGaon Rav Yitzchak Bretler, one of the Chemed roshei yeshiva.

Some staunch secularists appeared at Singual-Burkov Square at 4:00pm on Shabbos to prevent tefillos, carrying Israeli flags. When they saw the mispalalim were not present they began searching for the frum residents, confident in their victory, believing the minyanim were canceled due to the court’s ruling. They quickly celebrated their success, preventing the Shabbos minyanim.

R’ Chaim Goldman, one of the area leaders, is quoted by HaMevaser explained the secularists miscalculated to put it mildly, explaining the protestors failed to calculate the change for daylight savings time.

Yahadut HaTorah representatives are meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation as Pesach approaches, rejecting a situation where yidden in Yerushalayim are prohibited from davening with a minyan.

Councilman R’ Yosef Deutsch was on hand for Friday night tefillos, reporting about 130 mispalalim including about 15 ‘kippot srugot’, explaining all they want to do is daven, nothing more.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)