Interestingly, a call to “Litvish avreichim in the Kiryat Menachem neighborhood” of Yerushalayim appearing in Yated Neeman has found its way to the weekend Yediot, albeit not in a good light.

The matter pertains to a shul located at 20 Iceland Street, a beis knesses which seats 70 males and has a women’s section. It basically stands idle during the week, and hosts minyanim on shabbos and yomim tovim. The ad calls on avreichim to contact a number during the evening hours towards bringing chareidi mispalalim towards taking over the shul. The ad explains that creating facts on the ground could provide them a shul, which would then resume weekday minyanim as well.

Needles to say Yediot picked up on the ad, presenting it as a chareidi hostile takeover bid for the once vibrant beis knesses.

The shul’s gabbai explains the shul has been operating for 45 years, and in its prime, it was home to many mispalalim from Hungary and Romania. Today, the 65-year-olds are the younger congregants and the mispalalim are from all walks of life.

While Yediot seeks to present this as another battlefront in the capital between chareidim and dati leumi, the gabbai says if enough chareidim come and wish to make the shul chareidi, maintaining a full time minyan, it would be just fine with him. He explains he put the ad in Yated, realizing the weekday minyanim have fallen away and sadly, those wishing to say kaddish cannot.

The gabbai and other mispalalim believe bringing the chareidim in will permit the shul to continue serving the community as it has in the past.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)