Israeli innovation has hit the swimming pool market..

According to Kikar, announced shortly before Pesach, Minister of Environmental Protection Idit Silman has decided to run a pilot program this coming summer for mehadrin swimming at springs around Israel. The pilot program will include two natural springs - Han Hashlosha (Sachne) up north next to Bet Shean, and Ein Tzuki down south near the Dead Sea. Obviously if the pilot works well this will be expanded.

Last year there was talk within the Nature and Parks Authority about creating a program to test the feasibility of operating different trails and springs around the country in a way appropriate for the religious public in some sort of "mehadrin" style, with separate times or days for swimming in the natural ponds and springs divided among male and female. 

A situation is brewing in Petach Tikva. A local swimming pool has been rebuilt - while formerly it was an outdoor pool and only open in the summer, it has been rebuilt into a complex and is now an indoor pool.

Until now, the pool was open and functioning on Shabbos, though only in the summer because of it being an outdoor pool. Tickets had to be purchased before Shabbos, and the kiosk was not in operation on Shabbos.

Now, with the pool set to reopen as an indoor pool, religious residents are upset about the change in status quo. They are worried that with it now being an indoor pool, it will also be open on Shabbos, in addition to bringing increasing numbers of secular people to the area for their Shabbos entertainment. In addition, they say there will be tznius issues between the pools, despite the separate swimming hours, with multiple pools in the complex and everyone going through the same entrance and passageways, it will not be a modest situation.

I should add, according to Kikar, while the Haredi representatives in City Hall have not spoken up on the issue, the fight is being led by the Dati Leumi representatives.

The mayor claims the situation is as i always was, with the pool open on Shabbos, as per municipal decisions. Mayor Rami Greenberg says when he was in the Opposition and this was decided, at the time he wanted to protest the issue, but local rabbonim instructed him not to so as to be sensitive to the needs and desires of the long-time residents, and that is why the Haredi representatives also did not oppose it.

Will it open or will it be closed? Will the status quo prevail? What is the status quo - an open pool on Shabbos? An open pool in the summer? An outdoor pool but not an indoor pool? So many complex questions!

History has been made with the first "country club" being built and opened in the Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel. "Country Club" in Israel usually means swimming pool and perhaps a gym. The Rahat Country Club definitely has a pool, built to the tune of 32 million shekels and form the video below, it looks beautiful and I am sure the residents will enjoy it.

Itamar Ben Gvir, a lawyer and right-wing activist, has petitioned the Attorney General with a threat to go to the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court required the town of Kiryat Arba to open its municipal pool to reasonable hours of mixed swimming, despite the vast majority of the residents opposing it and only wanting separate swimming options, Ben Gvir says the same rule should be applied in Rahat and the pool should be required to be open for mixed swimming, despite the fact that the local residents are opposed.

The Attorney General has accepted the argument and informed the city of Rahat that based on the Supreme Court decision in Kiryat Arba, the local government is not allowed to separate between men and women, even at the behest of the residents. Being the first pool built in the Bedouin sector, this takes on extra urgency as it would be precedent setting.
source: Kan

Are we now going to see suits and counter-suits all over the country forcing pools with separate swimming to change to mixed swimming due to discrimination? Can the courts not find a way to allow residents to swim gender-separate should they consider this important? The courts recently allowed an academic leadership course in the Haredi community to continue on as planned as gender separate. I don't know what case can be used as a precedent for what, but if it can be allowed in that course, and if the recent Chabad event in Tel Aviv was allowed by the courts to function with a mechitza, there should be some way to allow separate swimming as well. If not, where does this end? Will the courts ban every religious behavior in public because it discriminates against something in some way?

According to a report on Ynet, Abu Kayak, a popular "white water" rafting site by the Jordan river, publicized a list of days in which they would enforce a modest dress code for entry. After being attacked for this, they explained that during this part of the summer 95% of their customers are religious and Haredi and out of consideration for their needs they have put this policy in place, and have even already implemented it on the first day, telling some men and women that they could not enter dressed as they were (they were refunded their money).


After threat of a lawsuit, according to Kipa, Abu Kayak has reversed this decision and is now open to the public as usual, with each person being allowed in without any modesty police stationed at the entrance. The interesting argument presented by the Secular Forum spokesperson is that if this is allowed to happen, the country will need to operate separate tourist sites for religious tourists and for secular tourists as the two communities will not want or be able to travel Israel together.

It is a shame that a solution cannot be found for Haredi/Dati customers, even if just for a limited amount of days over the summer. The overwhelming majority of Israeli tourists during these three weeks from 9 Av until 1 Elul are Dati/Haredi and having such just regular mixed rafting with no dress limitations make sit difficult for them, even if until many of them went anyway.

I understand that whatever the policy, and they can go another day or to another rafting site or other options, it is difficult when you have planned your trip and show up and see you can't go in - even if you can go somewhere else or a different day. Maybe the other day isnt available according to your schedule or you dont want to drive the 10 or 15 kilometers to the other site or you took a hasaa or bus and now it will cost more. Whatever. I get that it is difficult for some if such a policy is in place, but is there really no way to find a solution to make the site more amenable to the overwhelming majority of customers during this short period of time?

Anyways, according to the recent psak of Rav Mutzafi, the religious tourists shouldnt be going there anyway, even if a policy of modest swimwear is enforced, as there is definitely still a problem of mixed swimming and mixed gender frolicking in and around the water, even in modest swimwear...

I was not aware of this, but it seems that in recent years some beaches have been designated as "haredi family beaches". 

What is a Haredi family beach? A haredi family beach is one in which families are allowed to all be present and swimming as long as the women are wearing tzanua swimsuits (a.k.a. burkini, frumkini, robes, etc). I dont know if there are also restrictions on the men, such as men must wear a tshirt.

Rav Bentzion Mutzafi was recently asked if it is ok to swim on such a beach, or rather, if not, could the rav publicly express his discontent with the issue and the current situation.

To that end Rav Mutzafi expressed his shock and dismay that Haredi men would go swimming with is wife and children when there are other families present and swimming.

The rav referenced a gemara that even just passing by such a place would be cause for someone to lose his portion in the world to come. if I remember correctly, the referenced gemara refers to passing by the area of the river where the women were busy doing the laundry and the person was passing by with intent to gaze at the women wading in the water laundering their clothes.

The rav also made a connection between some recent tragedies and these mixed beaches, though I dont know that the tragedies happened on mixed beaches - one he referenced happened in a hotel swimming pool. He also expressed shock that this would be an issue just 3 weeks away from the month of Elul and the beginning of selichos season.
source: Kikar

With all that, I am most surprised at the allowance of mixed swimming to the point that some beaches have been designated for this. You can often see such behavior when on a tiyul up north and all sorts of people are in the rivers or streams, but I have never seen it with formal swimming.

I am not familiar with the original story, but from the response (source: Srugim)it seems, briefly, that Kiryat Arba has a public pool that until now has only been open for gender-separate swimming hours. A group of residents, I dont know how large or small, has requested to also have gender-mixed hours. I guess the township said no and the group has petitioned the Supreme Court to require the township to provide residents with the option of some hours of gender-mixed swimming.

Other residents complained about this and sent a letter to Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef asking him to intervene.

To that end, Rabbi Yosef sent a letter to the head of the township, Malachi Levenger, instructing him and all God-fearing residents to do whatever in their power to prevent this breach, considering how halachically problematic mixed swimming is.

That is all fine and dandy. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, halachically-based or not. If there is a significant sized group of residents that want to be serviced by their local public pool with mixed swimming hours, the township should provide for that - just like in a city with mixed swimming and a sizable population requesting separate swimming hours should also be accommodated.

The more interesting part of Rav Yosef's intervention is his reference to the city founders. Rav Yosef said that this would defile the holiness of Kiryat Arba that was founded by God fearing people to whom tradition was very dear and such a serious breach would hurt their ability to protect the character of the town, as most of the residents want it to be protected.

That's all nice and dandy but I am not sure what the relevance is. What difference does it make what the founders wanted? The character of cities change all the time, as residents move out and others move in with different beliefs and ideals. If Haredim move into a secular city, should they not change the character of the city because it goes against what the founders wanted, and what most of the residents want? Should they not install a generator, a mehadrin eruv, request separate swimming hours and build appropriate shuls and schools - because it isnt what the founders wanted and most residents dont want it either? Obviously not. Rav Yitzchak Yosef would definitely not advocate that religious residents of many cities not demand religious services, or more chumra-style behavior, just because it goes against what the founders of the city wanted. It doesn't work the other way either. Cities change their character over time. Public services need to be offered by the city administration equally or fairly among residents, and if enough want a service and it is financially and practically viable, they have an obligation to provide it.

Just a month ago, MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari and Itamar Ben Gvir brought a group of 50 Sudanese refugees from South tel Aviv to Ramat Aviv, North Tel Aviv, exclusive swimming pool for a day of fun. They paid each refugee 50 NIS, along with sponsoring their entrance fee and a bathing suit, and brought them to enjoy a day of swimming.

The idea was to show how the leftists want to protect the refugees, but only "over there" in South Tel Aviv, but they would be hypocritically racist when the refugees would show up in their neighborhoods. The stunt worked, and the locals all bolted from the pool when the refugees showed up. The refugees had a fun time, and the leftists tried turning it around and complaining that Ben-Ari had made cynical use and took advantage of the poor refugees.

Now, the leftists of North Tel Aviv have filed a complaint against MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir and want them to stand trial for taking advantage of the refugees in their cynical use in creating a provocation by the swimming pool.

The complaint says that their creating a private army in South Tel Aviv puts every Sudanese refugee in danger and automatically turns each one into a suspect.

They go on and on in their complaint about the provocation, the cynical use and taking advantage of these poor refugees, the discrimination, and various other ways that the trio flaunt the law.

In response, Ben-Gvir said that after the successful swimming lesson in the Gordon Pool, I would be happy to teach a course in democracy to the leftists for free. Without even waiting for the Knesset, Peace Now had already created a Facebook page calling for a boycott of products made in the settlements.

Baruch Marzel added that you can always count on the Left to display their hypocrisy. While crying out for the freedom of expression of the enemy, they try to shut the mouths of the Right who conduct legitimate actions. In the Gordon Pool we exposed the hypocrisy of the Left, and because of that they are frustrated. (source: NRG)

These guys can always be counted on to keep it interesting!

Here is some video from the refugee trip to the north Tel Aviv swimming pool...

MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari and right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir have been leading the fight to have the Sudanese refugees that have taken over the neighborhoods of South Tel Aviv, and have been moving to other neighborhoods as well, deported. In the face of accusations of racism, they respond that the local residents are under siege, with climbing crime rates and their neighborhoods changing because of the refugees.

The people who have come to the defense of the refugees have mostly been the residents of the wealthier northern Tel Aviv neighborhoods, in the name of human rights.

Ben-Gvir and Ben-Ari have responded with claims that the north-Tel Avivians are hypocrites, as they are only defending the refugees rights to stay in Israel; as long as they stay in the more destitute neighborhoods of south Tel Aviv. They would never let them move to be their neighbors in north Tel Aviv. To that effect, Ben-Ari has threatened to rent a few apartments, and bring tens of Sudanese refugees to live in the apartments, and then see how much the north Tel Avivians defend their rights to be there.

I do not know why he has not yet done that, but he just brought the fight to their doorstep, albeit in a smaller way.

Refugees At The Pool
MK Ben-Ari decided he was going to sponsor a day at the pool for a group of the refugees. Not just any pool, but the most exclusive pool the north-Tel-Avivians use - "Breichat Gordon". Ben-Ari discreetly checked to make sure he could bring a group of 40-50 people, and he recorded the attendant telling him it is fine. He then went and bought 50 bathing suits, rented a bus, and went to South Tel Aviv and rounded up about 40 of the refugees, offering them 50NIS each, a trip to the pool and a free bathing suit.

Sudanese swimming in North Tel Aviv pool

Ben-Ari then brought his busload of Sudanese and Eritorians to the Gordon Pool. The attendant tried to stop them from coming in, but when everything was in order he had to let them in. The Sudanese took over the pool, jumping in, cooling off from the heat and having a great time. the north-Tel-Avivians who were there enjoying the pool all left the pool and disappeared, except for a few who tried to convince the Sudanese to leave and not let Ben-Ari take advantage of them. (source: NRG)

Ben-Ari did take advantage of them, but in exchange they got a day at the pool, a little bit of pocket change, and had a good time. the north-Tel-Avivians take advantage of them regularly and all they get out of it are crowded conditions in South Tel Aviv.

And if anyone cares, the north-Tel-Avivians have been exposed in their hypocrisy.

I took my boys swimming last night. I am not much of a swimmer. I prefer sports like baseball, basketball, football and the like. I pretty much was ready to go home after about 15 minutes of swimming. But, alas, I had brought my kids to have a good time, so I was stuck there for a while.

Here are a few observations from the pool:

1. The first half hour of swimming was pretty good, but then it got pretty crowded (though not nearly as crowded as in the picture above).
2. about 20% of the people in the pool (kids and adults) stay in the shallow end. About 85% of the people in the rest of the pool stay along the wall and hardly move away from it. Not too many people venture out for a swim in the middle of the pool.
   
3. There were a couple of 15 year old kids (estimated) who pulled out a huka/nargilla and were sitting in a corner taking their puffs, after which they sat there smoking cigarettes. One kid looked frum (the peyos gave it away), the other 2 kids had nothing distinctly frum about them so I do not know if they were or were not.
4. A lot of kids get excited about the kiosk on premises. I even venture to guess that that is part of the draw. They get to buy a snack in the kiosk! A lot of kids were sitting on the side munching on snacks (chips, bisli, artiks, etc.)
5. Almost all the kids munching on snacks were not wearing yarmulkas at the time despite almost all of them being frum kids. When I saw my kids eating their snacks, I reminded them to put on a kipa. I wonder why kids do not automatically get their kipa to go eat...
6. My eyes still burn a bit from the amount of chlorine there was in the water. I guess it is better than the alternative of swimming in the kids' urine and body fluids.