"During the past two fiscal years, the Housing Ministry built
46 mikvehs and 77 synagogues, an expenditure of 100
million shekels. The mikvehs and the synagogues were
built in new neighborhoods throughout the country, according
to the decisions of the Brodet Committee."
This was reported by Rabbi Meir Porush, Deputy Housing
Minister, at a recent meeting of the Ministry executive board
to discuss a report: "Public Institutions: A Summary of the
Last Two Fiscal Years and Plans for 1999."
At the meeting, Rabbi Porush said that he is not satisfied
with the budgetary permit for the completion of veteran
public institutions in older neighborhoods for 1999, and
intends to request a significant increase in this budget.
The clause under discussion is a Housing Ministry budgetary
clause which aimed at completing public institutions for
neighborhoods built during the years 1982- 1989. However the
Brodet Committee regulations cannot be applied to these
institutions, and the 1999 budget makes it very difficult to
allocate resources to build in these areas where there is an
acute dearth of public buildings, continued Rabbi Porush. A
joint committee of the Housing and the Finance Ministry is
currently attempting to update the regulations of the General
Directors' Committee for Religious Sectors, which would
include budgetary allotments for synagogues.
It currently costs 940,000 ($230,000) shekels to build a
mikveh, as opposed to the 471,000 ($115,000) which it
cost in the past.
A list of the settlements which have received budgets for the
building of two or more mikvehs in their new neighborhoods
was presented. These cities include: Ashdod, Ashkelon,
Rechovot, Beersheva, Petach Tikvah, Beitar Ilit, Elad, Beit
Shemesh, Ramat Beit Shemesh, and Jerusalem. One mikveh was
build in each one of these cities: Eilat, Haifa, Yokne'am,
Holon, Kfar Saba, Carmiel, Lod, Modi'in, Maaleh Adumim,
Raanana, Nahariya, Natzrat Ilit, and Tel- Aviv. Each of these
mikvehs is 120 square meters or more in size.
At the meeting, a list of cities which have received budgets
for the building of a synagogue in their new neighborhoods
was also presented. The cities where the largest number of
synagogues were build by the Housing Ministry are: Jerusalem,
Petach Tikvah, Ashdod, Elad, Ashkelon, and Beersheva.
Synagogues were also built in Eilat, Bnei Brak, Givat Shmuel,
Herzliya, Or Yehuda, Holon, Tveria, Yokneam. Kfar Saba,
Carmiel, Lod, Lapid, Modi'in, Maaleh Adumim, Matan, Nahariya,
Nes Tziona, Natzrat, Netivot, Arad, Tzoran, Tzur-Yigal, Bat-
Chefer, Kiryat Ata, Kiryat Tivon, Ramat Gan, Raanana,
Rechovot, Kiryat Sefer, Netanya, Hadera, Beitar and Tel
Aviv.
