the Shofar is once again banned from the Kotel area

We already know that Har Habayit has a special status by the police, and that siddurim and other prayer books are not allowed to be brought onto Har Habayit. More recently the police banned, and started searching for, Israeli flags as well. Add to that the tallit brought in by members of Women of the Wall that has been regularly getting them into hot water with the police...

With the siddur, tallit and the flag being deemed great dangers to society and public order, I was wondering what else could possibly qualify to join the category.. what could possibly be as dangerous to society as a flag, a tallit and a siddur? hmmm..

Sure enough the answer was quick in coming.

According to INN, on Yom Ha'Atzmaut some fellow was stopped by the police when he tried to bring, of all things, a shofar into the Kotel plaza area. The yeshiva student from Tel Aviv brought a shofar for the purpose of following the directives of the Chief Rabbinate that call for celebratory prayers to be recited and to be concluded with the blast of the shofar.

When he tried entering the Kotel area, his shofar was immediately spotted, and the young man was detained by the police. The police claimed that he is being detained and prevented from entering the area because the shofar is a musical instrument, and as such it is only allowed to be brought into the area at certain very specific times of the year - specifically during the month of Elul and during the period of time from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur. Outside of those times, the shofar is considered a musical instrument and is not allowed to be brought into the Kotel area.

The fellow responded that all he wants to do is follow the directives of the Chief Rabbi and blow the shofar at the end of davening. The police did not care and continued to prevent him from bringing in the shofar.

This fellow, Yishai Turgeman, later contacted Rav Metzger and described what had happened. Rav Metzger, who was abroad at the time, expressed his surprise, considering the fact that the Rabbanut considers the night of Yom HaAtzmaut to be a holiday with shofar blowing. He said when he returns to Israel he would look into the issue and deal with it.

One would think that considering the history of the shofar at the Kotel, the way the British banned it and the Jews had to smuggle it in and are rightfully considered heroes for having done so, Israel would not ban the shofar from being blown at, or even just brought in to, the Kotel area. Very strange.

So the list is increasing - siddur, tallit, Israeli flag and shofar. All very dangerous items....

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