HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, the pillar of halachic
authority, asked members of the Rabbinical Committee for the
Sanctity of Shabbos in Jerusalem to decide upon a course of
action to thwart the proposed Arena project for an
international cultural center in the holy city.
For a number of months, the mayor of Jerusalem has been
seeking approval for the construction of this center near the
International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha'Uma) near the
entrance to Jerusalem. The project will be subsidized by
Mifal Hapayis, the national lottery, which will use all the
money budgeted for Jerusalem for the next five years to fund
the project. Generally the funds are used to build community
centers and other public buildings.
The chareidi representatives in the City Council oppose the
plan, noting that such a center will foster Shabbos
desecration in and around the conferences it will attract as
well as immodest behavior. They also note that all the
resources for education and welfare throughout the city which
come from Mifal Hapayis for five years will be spent on this
project instead of their usual areas.
Due to the strong opposition of the chareidi members, Mayor
Ehud Olmert last week suggested transferring the Arena to an
alternate location in northern Jerusalem in order to lessen,
he says, the problems that arise from locating the center in
the middle of the city.
Members of Rabbinical Committee have discussed the Arena
project with maranan verabonon the gedolei
Yisroel including HaRav Eliashiv on several occasions in
order to form a united front on the issue.
On 20 Iyar, the Rabbinical Committee instructed the chareidi
representatives to suspend all deliberations on the Arena as
well as the founding of a company for the Development of the
Center of Jerusalem, until such time as the Rabbinical
Committee can meet to determine their course of action.
The chareidi City Council members met with the chareidi
members of Knesset who announced that they will join them in
the struggle to preserve the sanctity of the city.
