The Moshe Abutbol for Mayor campaign is underway, plastering signs around the neighborhood.

Interesting developments in Bet Shemesh municipal elections.

Local politics got wild last night, and I think Bet Shemesh politics, municipal elections, might have surpassed Bnei Braq in its craziness.

MK Moshe Abutbol (Shas) has proposed a law with which he expects to defeat inflation.

Several years ago an initiative began to operate private bus lines for free on Shabbos. It expanded fairly quickly to a number of cities - the best name was the one in Jerusalem called "Shabus". They seemed to be takin advantage of a loophole in the law prohibiting public transportation on Shabbos. Different ones operated in different ways, with some being entirely free while others functioned as a cooperative of sorts. They could not just sell tickets to passengers as that would turn them into something too similar to public transportation to be able to get away with it. 

Smotritch, who is turning today to Haredim [to get them to vote for him] was recorded saying that he is bothered by the fact that Haredim are part of the coalition. He is National Religious, he should be concerned for his sector and not get involved with our sector.

with a new party being announced and people moving between parties,  there were a lot ofoptions for this qotd, but I am going with this selection..

Bet Shemesh is one of the Israeli towns with lockdown orders, though in Bet Shemesh the closure is only on a couple of neighborhoods, rather than on the entire city.

There are different approaches to what should be done. The Ministry of Health seems to prefer the closure approach, and has set closures on several cities and towns and neighborhoods around the country, and has done so more than once. Others say the closure approach does not work, especially the way it is being done. Some want more of an approach tried before of removing infected people out of their homes and towns, often crowded, and placed in Corona Hotels, dubbed now Coronatels.

MK Moshe Abutbol (Shas) is now pushing the Coronatel solution.

Abutbol put out a call to the people of Bet Shemesh affected to carefully follow all the laws and regulations such as wearing masks, social distancing and isolation - though he, in agreement with Mayor Dr Aliza Bloch, is of the opinion that the most important thing right now is to take the infected people out of the city to be placed in Coronatels.

 Abutbol says keeping the relevant laws and regulations carefully, and taking the sick out to the Coronatels, is most important to minimize the need for closures.

Abutbol then calls on the public to help persuade infected people to go to the Coronatels and thereby help bring the closure on the areas in Bet Shemesh to a minimum or to an end.




Abutbol wants us to, the public, to try to get the infected people to understand they need to go to Coronatels. Okay. Sure. I really want to come into contact with a bunch of Corona-bearing people who refuse to cooperate with the authorities, refuse to follow the rules, and refuse to do what is generally thought best for themselves and for the public. Sure. Happy to help.

Kikar is reporting that Minister of Defense Benny Gantz has announced yesterday evening that he is putting together a full aid package for Bet Shemesh - leaving nobody behind, playing on the ethos of his army career.

Gantz publicized a number of points of his plan:

 - Allocating space in Coronatels for both Haredim who need it, both individuals and families, and for people of other populations who need it

  -  The IDF and the Home Front Command will have buses ready and waiting in Bet Shemesh to immediately extract and transport people to the Coronatels

  - The Ministry of Defense and the IDF will prepare to supply food baskets to residents, should the closure be extended for longer periods of time.

  - The Iryah will be given a special budget for publicity and reaching out to the residents to explain the need, and to offer the options, of going to the Coronatels, in a variety of languages and through the various relevant media. The budget will be upwards of 100,000nis.

Bet Shemesh is getting some national attention...It seems necessary. Many keep the rules, and many do not, but either way, it seems like Corona is everywhere. I have neighbors in my building who recently tested positive. All around are people in isolation for coming into contact with positive people. Down the block and in my shul are people either in isolation or have tested positive and even been ill. The first time around, back in March  and April, it seemed distant -troubling as it was. This time I know a lot of people who have the virus or have come into contact with them. It seems to be everywhere.

Stay safe and stay healthy

It seems as if MK Moshe Abutbol (Shas) has some special connection to the issue of haircuts.

Before Pesach MK Abutbol was requesting that the Corona Task Force, ie PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister Yaakov Litzman, allow barbershops to open. His logic then was that after Pesach people will not be able to get haircuts due to being in the middle of the Omer, so there was a pressing need to allow haircuts before Pesach, even though it was not within the regulations. or the spirit of the regulations. He wanted them to make an exception for haircuts in barbershops because of the Omer situation after Pesach.

And now MK Abubtbol is requesting that despite the regulations, or at least the expected regulations, for Lag B'Omer, will have Meron closed to the public (and possibly only open to a number of pre-approved rabbonim to have small bonfires), they open it to the public for haircuts for young children. Abutbol explains that it is a holy minhag to wait until a child is 3 years old and to go to Meron on lag B'Omer for the first haircut.

Abubtol suggests allowing it for children who pre-register and the haircuts can be staggered with each child being given a time to be there, rather than having it in large crowds as usual. Also the empty parking lots could be used and partitioned off to different areas with 19 people in each, similar to the minyanim now allowed at the Kotel (for people who live in the Old City).

I don't know that this is an issue important enough to fight over, when minyanim are barely allowed and when yeshivas are not open. I still cannot believe that people find things like this more important than being machmir on health concerns that they are willing to try to put pressure on the government to get this allowed. Corona does not just go away and stay away just because you successfully pressured the government to allow your event.

I wish them all good health and recommend they are either wait a little longer until the country opens up some more and/or the Corona threat goes away. Or they can just give the chalaka somewhere else - such as at home.

With the gradual easing of regulations anyway, with every few days being a little bit more returned closer to normal, this all may be moot by then anyways. By then haircuts might be allowed. I suspect even with that Lag B'Omer in Meron might be shut down, just like Pesach was shut down and Yom Haatzmaut will be, but if the numbers improve enough before then, perhaps it will be somewhat open and possible.

שימו לב לפרט הזה:

איפה חילקו היום דוחות על תפילה בבית כנסת בבית שמש?
האם לא מדובר בבית כנסת שמי ששולט בכל מה שזז בו ולמעשה הקים אותו, הוא *חבר הכנסת* משה אבוטבול, מש״ס?

כמה שולט? תקנו אותי אם אני טועה, אבל מזה שנים הרבה פגישותיו הפרטיות של אבוטבול מתקיימות בחדר הסמוך לבית הכנסת pic.twitter.com/zIYdK3bkDU

— נחמיה גרשוני-איילהו (@Nehemia_GA) April 1, 2020

Translation:
Pay Attention to the detail... Where was a 5000nis fine handed out today for services being held in a shul? 
Isn't this the shul that was founded and is controlled by MK Moshe Abutbol, of Shas?
How much does he control the shul? If I am not mistaken, for many years already Abutbol holds many of his private meetings in one of the rooms next to the Bet Knesset

1. so it is not just the extremists in RBS B
2. If government officials are not going to cooperate with the rules and shut their own shuls down, how do they expect and demand that other people follow the rules?