Israeli Cabinet ministers slammed the Tel Aviv Municipality’s decision on Tuesday to once again ban public Jewish prayer during the upcoming High Holiday season, which starts on the evening of Oct. 2 with Rosh Hashanah.
“As the State of Israel is in the midst of a war, and our soldiers are fighting side by side, we must all do our part to increase unity in the nation,” Eli Cohen, the Israeli minister of energy, told reporters.
“The decision of the municipality to ban Yom Kippur prayers in public spaces is puzzling, divisive and must be reversed,” added Cohen.
Israeli Minister for Social Equality and Advancement of the Status of Women May Golan, a fellow lawmaker for the ruling Likud Party, denounced the local government’s decision as “despicable.”
“We did not establish a Jewish nation-state for Jews to be afraid to observe mitzvot [‘commandments’] openly in the only land that was given to them by virtue of our ancestors,” she said.
Golan accused Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai of “trampling on those who uphold the tradition” and banning the public Yom Kippur prayer services “to intentionally cause pain.”
In a letter sent to organizers last week, which became public in recent days, the Tel Aviv Municipality informed organizers that city hall “sees no place” to approve public prayer events during the High Holidays, a practice that started during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The solution for holding Yom Kippur prayers is through the hundreds of synagogues scattered throughout the city,” wrote the municipality’s deputy director-general, Ruby Zaluf, in response to dozens of permit applications.
Last year, secular protesters forcefully prevented Rosh Yehudi, a Jewish outreach group, from holding an outdoor Yom Kippur service with separate sections for men and women at Dizengoff Square.
Huldai had barred Rosh Yehudi from holding gender-segregated prayer services on Yom Kippur. The Israeli High Court of Justice upheld the ban.
Seeking to uphold its traditional understanding of Jewish law while keeping in line with the court ruling, the group instead constructed a makeshift barrier of Israeli flags between men and women.
Following the events on Yom Kippur, the Tel Aviv Municipality revoked Rosh Yehudi’s permits to hold public events during the Sukkot holiday.
The Coalition for Jewish Values, which represents more than 2,500 Orthodox rabbis in the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom, accused Huldai of discrimination last year, noting that the mayor has repeatedly authorized gender-separated events for Muslim holidays.
