In the wake of the great tragedy in a Yerushalayim wedding
hall, municipalities throughout Israel took steps to prevent
any collapses of buildings within their jurisdiction.
As a result of an emergency meeting held in the mayor's
office on erev Shavuos, all owners of simcha
halls in Bnei Brak were summoned for an urgent meeting
immediately after Shavuos, in order to reexamine all
of the building and security files, as well as each hall's
emergency exits and fire extinguishing facilities.
At the emergency meeting in the mayor's office on erev
Shavuos, various city officials gathered to deliberate
on the various aspects and ramifications of the disaster in
the Versailles simcha hall in Jerusalem on Thursday,
3 Sivan, which had claimed the lives of 23 persons and
injured hundreds. The secretary of the municipality and its
spokesman, Avraham Tannenbaum, said the meeting was opened
by Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz, mayor of Bnei Brak, who spoke
about the need for a new and immediate investigation of the
city's simcha halls, public institutions and shopping
centers. Rabbi Karelitz stressed that there is a need for an
overall and thorough examination of the situation in the
halls, especially those which are a number of stories high.
The examination should include inspection of these factors:
was the hall built for the purpose it currently serves; if
not, when the shift to a simcha hall was made, were
all of the standards and regulations met.
Also at the meeting, officials decided to check whether
there are public or private structures in the city built
according to the Pal-Kal method. Approximately three million
square meters (30,000,000 square feet) throughout the
country have been built according to this method, and a
number of structures built in that manner have collapsed.
However, the method of construction is not required to be
listed in the file kept on the building. Within the
framework of the examination, the municipality will seek the
opinions of Technion engineers on this construction
method.
As a result of the meeting, owners of simcha halls in
the city must present all of the professional material and
permits that they have. Furthermore, they must examine
whether their buildings meet all rules and regulations, and
whether they can withstand the immense pressure incurred
during dancing, regardless of the method used in
construction.
Not only must the permits be presented, but all the material
will be transferred to unbiased, top-ranking construction
professionals for examination, and the investigations in the
halls should take place very quickly. By the same token, all
of the various types of construction files, without any
exception, will be examined in order to verify the
professional expertise of those who signed these files and
permits.
The Legal Department of the municipality was charged with
ascertaining whether the procedures currently in existence
for building and maintaining simcha halls meet all of
the demands for follow-up and control, and whether the
structures meet the practical aspects of execution and
coordination.
Due to the seriousness of the issue, the emergency meeting
was convened despite the erev Shavuos vacation, and
all of the municipal officials were summoned. They include:
Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz, the mayor; his assistant, Rabbi
Yaakov Asher; Rabbi Yissochor Dov Beigel, a member of the
muncipality's executive board and the head of the city's
Engineering Department; Rabbi Avrohom Tannenbaum, the
secretary and spokesman of the municipality; the attorneys
Eliezer Kister , Shlomo Frankel and Yair Chasdiel; Deputy
Municipal Engineer, Yisroel Kasten; David Amar, the director
of the Construction Supervision Department; Rabbi Chanoch
Zeidman, the director of the Infrastructure and Development
Department; and Mr. Avrohom Blustein, the director of the
Business License Department.
At the close of the meeting, it was stressed that an
immediate closing order would be issued to any hall or
public structure which fails to comply with the municipal
demand to present all of the material and to fulfill all of
their demands at the designated time.
New Stability Checks for Tel Aviv Buildings
In the neighboring Tel Aviv Municipality, it was decided on
erev Shavous to add to the list of criteria to be met
before granting a license to run a large business frequented
by hundreds of people: presentation of signed authorization
by an engineer that the structure which states that the
building meets all standards and is fit to be used,
irrespective of the method used in construction. Until now,
the law had not required structural stability certification
but the municipal authorities were permitted to request
one.
The additional requirement will also become necessary for
any business wishing to renew its license to operate in the
city, usually an annual event.
A spokesman for the municipality, Hillel Partuk, said that
approximately 200 out of several hundred such businesses
operate in the city without the necessary license or are
still at various stages of acquiring an operating
license.
