The preparations made by the Rechovot municipality the
Independence day took place on the afternoon of Shabbos
Kodesh (rosh chodesh Iyar) by scores of employees of a
private firm commissioned by the Rechovot municipality.
The building of the stage, organizing the amplifier systems
and erecting a crane for the lighting went ahead full force
in the Maccabi compound where Independence Day celebrations
are supposed to take place. The venerable Shoneh Halochos
synagogue and the Beis Medrash Halichos Chaim where many
avreichim study and daven mincha are located
directly opposite the Maccabi compound.
With the end of Shabbos, irate residents who had seen the
Shabbos desecration in the city's main street contacted the
Chief Rabbi, HaRav Simcha HaKohen Kook, as well as the
representatives of the city's religious sector, and told them
how shocked they were over the extensive Shabbos desecration
perpetrated by the municipality, half of whose members are
religious. They then asked the representatives' help in
preventing Shabbos desecration by the municipality and its
mayor, which stem from a lack of consideration for the
religious sector and contempt for its sensitivities,
especially since there were three entire weekdays after
Shabbos in which to complete the work.
HaRav Kook reacted very angrily over the trampling of Shabbos
in a city with such a religious character as Rechovot.
This past Sunday (2 Iyar), the head of the religious council
sent a sharp letter to the city's mayor complaining about the
Shabbos desecration.
Rabbi Stauber, one of the religious municipal
representatives, said that a man called him and warned of the
likelihood of Shabbos desecration. The man's wife, who has a
part in the ceremony, was asked to arrive for rehearsals 25
minutes after Shabbos was over. This caused him to suspect
that the stage would be erected on Shabbos itself. Rabbi
Stauber then called the municipality's coordinator of the
event, who promised that no preparations would take place on
Shabbos. This promise turned out to be merely a ruse in order
to prevent the intervention of higher-ranking officials in
the municipality.
