Jan 5, 2012
TOV Sends Ultimatum to Mayor of Bet Shemesh
The following is my translation of the letter sent by Eli Friedman of the TOV party to Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol:
To The Respectable Mayor
HaRav Moshe Abutbol
Greetings
Because this is not the first and only time a chilul Hashem has been caused by the extremist residents of Bet Shemesh, which is something that causes in its wake incitement against the entire haredi community around the country. It is obvious that unless steps are taken against this evil phenomenon we will not be able to say "our hands did not spill the blood".
Out of a desire to increase love and friendship between the various communities here in Bet Shemesh we turn to you with a request to establish a rabbinical committee that will be comprised of rabbonim from all the religious and haredi communities as well from the old city and from the new.
The job of this committee will be to sit and work out every public issue that might ignite the fire before it actually happens, with the objective to resolve it and provide a solution, to arrive at a common ground from the perspective of "talmidei chachomim increase peace in the world", and in order to prevent the recurrence of violent acts and thuggery that cause chilul hashem and give a bad name to the entire haredi community in the city and around the country.
We in TOV have given in many times in the past in the name of peace and unity in Bet Shemesh in order to increase peace, but this time we can no longer be quiet and give in, as we are witness to the horrible results of what is happening in front of our eyes, and their influence on all the haredi communities across Israel.
This necessary step could bring back the trust between the different sectors in bet Shemesh, dati, secular, and haredi, and it is the need of the hour for whomever Bet Shemesh is dear to him.
The goal of TOV is to mend tears, and not to deepen them, our interest is also to glorify the name of our city and not to distance different groups of residents from it.
If this solution will not be adopted in the form of establishing this necessary rabbinic committee, TOV will be forced to abandon the municipal coalition and serve the entire Bet Shemesh community from the side of the opposition.
With blessings,
Eli Friedman
City Councilman from the TOV faction
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How big or strong is the Tov party? What would happen if they did pull out? Please explain.
ReplyDeleteTOV holds one seat and technically nothing would happen. pulling out is symbolic. the mayor is happy he has a nearly wall to wall coalition, and this would harm that. as well, TOV has been the swing vote on some votes that the secular in the coalition voted against, and it was basically the 8 against 8, and TOV swung the vote. if they pull out, I assume they would not act as the tie breaker any longer (though i dont know how often that situation arises)
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to set up a committee with the rabbonim of all communities. The ones who practice violence do not have rabbonim.
ReplyDelete"talmidei chachomim increase peace in the world"
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice quote, but does he believe this to currently be true?
I wonder what really lies behind this?
ReplyDeleteThe committee of rabonim - the Elders of Bet Shemesh - would this include representatives from the privileged half of the community or everyone? meaning, should we assume WOMEN will be excluded, since we women have proven to be 100% of the violent crazies? Oh wait - we women were 0% of the crazies, but we aren't worthy to be on a peace council. Does TOV condemn discrimination? Or do they support rights for women?
ReplyDeleteI dont know TOVs position on this, but it seems to me to be an unfair [implied] accusation against TOV. they havent done anything to deserve that.
ReplyDeleteand besides, they are talking about a cross-rabbinic committee. maybe female reform rabbis (if they exist in Bet Shemesh, though I am not aware of it) would qualify.. :-)
I had heard this was brewing. the purpose of this, from what i understand is so that the mayor does not just take his advice any longer from rabbi Kupshitz, as is what happens now for the most part. Instead of getting his direction only from the most extreme rabbi in town, he would get it from a cross panel of rabbonim,.
and who exactly is holding their breath?
ReplyDeleteEli Friedman and the tov party have consistently impressed me with their clear headed thinking and public positions. They have my vote next time around.
ReplyDeleteShmilda: Yes, talmidei chachamim increase Shalom in the world. This is undisputed emes.
ReplyDeleteThe corollary of this is: Anyone who increases machlokes in the world is not a talmid chacham. Period.
Open Letter to City Councillor Eli Friedman:
ReplyDeleteThank you for being the first Hareidi politician to come out pubicly in Hebrew against he violence. However, there are a few points I feel you have missed:
- Rabbanim from all religious groups does not help represent the entire Beit Shemesh population. Any commitment to the city must include rep;resentatives of the "secular" and oleh communities as well.
Also, there are more steps that the mayor and city council can take that will put a stop to the violence, and as city Councillor, you can help make these things happen:
- Comprehensive police action against any hate actions - including removing all intolerant sings and graffiti anywhere in the city as soon as it is reported. NY Mayor Guilliani did this is as his first step to fight crime, and it was effective in setting a better tone in the city.
- Make it very clear that , just as there are Hareidi Yeshivot on Dolev and Maor , there can be non-Hareidi schools in and near "Hareidi neighbourhoods" , and they must be accepted with love. At the same time, the mayor must act like parent, and state that any demands presented with violent actions will NEVER be answered.
- The city must stop advertising (ie funding) newspapers that glorify or even rationalize violent behaviours. Most obvious is Hadash, in which the heads of the hooligans are given the titled "HaRav Hagaon".
- The city must make the statement loud and clear to all Hareidi leaders and constituents - we all moved into a heterogenous town, not to Kiryat Sefer. This is not a cause for "geulat karkaot". Anyone who chose to move here must accept that this city is , was and must remain , a mixed city.
- To that End, you, Eli Friedman, must help push for construction proportionate to the city's populations pre-elections, including housing for all groups, and other types of construction that allow working people to live here - an academic college, places of work, other amenities, matnasim, Road 38 expansion, and Rehov Nehar Dan.
- Close down illegal businesses that are unfair competition to tax-paying businesses AND take away tax income from the city.
- Remove the 90% arnona break from people who choose not to work. Recent studies on "spoilt children" prove without a doubt that those who receive without contributing grow to hate those support them. If anyone wishes for a Zevulun-Yissachar relationship, this can be done through consent, proportionately and with public expression of the partnership.
Here it is the Second of Nissan, 5772 (25/3/12), more than two and a half months after this "ultimatum" was issued.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what has become of the content of the ultimatum?