NEWS
The Knesset Passed the Meron Law
by Yisroel Rosner
The Knesset plenum approved this past Monday the first reading of a bill organizing the Meron-Bar Yochai-Lag BaOmer festivities. The bill was formulated by the Office of Yerushalayim and Jewish Tradition and was presented to the Knesset by the Minister of Yerushalayim and Jewish Tradition, Rabbi Meir Porush, the person responsible for the Rashbi events in Meron.
The purpose of this law is to assure that the festivities remain within the confines of the law, while protecting the safety of the celebrants but not damaging the long standing traditions of celebration at that site. 23 Knesset members approved the bill, without opponents or abstainers. It will now be transferred for discussion within the Committee for National Security.
Regarding the recommendations of those in charge of security and the investigating committee of the Meron tragedy, the pilgrimage to Mt. Meron will be conducted in numbers safeguarding the masses seeking to reach the site. The final sum of visitors will be determined according to the maximum capacity of the place, taking into account the new areas prepared for accommodating the public.
Similarly, according to the recommendations of the investigating committee, only one Hadloka will be permitted on the roof of the tomb, as per the tradition of many years' standing. Additional bonfires will be permitted in the huge areas prepared in advance (Section 89), where thousands of visitors will gather to participate in the kindlings held by various rabbonim and Admorim.
In response to the messages arrived at from the tragic event at Meron, a wide spectrum of authorization rights will be allowed to the security forces. They will be able to forewarn dangerous concentrations of people, shorten the visitation time and disperse the masses in certain circumstances. The bill dominates construction work and temporary preparations needed for the event beyond the usual constrictions of rules of planning and construction which impose other security restrictions in tandem with the guidelines of the event to ensure public safety.
The outline for this year's celebrations are based on those of the previous year which proved to be very successful. The public then was very cooperative and obedient to instructions and arrived in masses to celebrate the event through joy and safety. To the extent that the security conditions allow, the event will carry on with additional improvements over those of last year.
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