Betzedek has demanded that the City of Kiryat Gat enforce the
closure of leisure facilities and businesses operating on
Shabbos within its jurisdiction, particularly businesses in
the city's new shopping mall.
Kiryat Gat recently opened a lavish shopping mall where
leisure facilities and movie theaters are open on Shabbos.
When local residents contacted the Mayor (who wears a knitted
kippah) to demand that he intervene, they were told
the previous mayor promised these businesses they could open
on Shabbos and there is no way to undo the promise.
Attorney Rabbi Mordechai Green, the director of Betzedek an
Israeli organization founded by Agudas Yisroel of America,
recently received impassioned pleas from chareidi activists
in Kiryat Gat asking Betzedek to step into the picture.
Betzedek sent an urgent message to the City of Kiryat Gat and
the Interior Ministry demanding that the leisure facilities
be shut down on Shabbos immediately. He claimed the municipal
ordinance prohibits the opening of paid leisure facilities
and it is unconscionable for the city to neglect to enforce
the local ordinances within the city's jurisdiction. In
several rulings the court clearly denounced the failure to
enforce the law.
Under the current legal state the local authority is
empowered to legislate religious ordinances, even
retroactively. Betzedek notes that freedom of religion has
been firmly entrenched in Israel since the British Mandate
laws and the Proclamation of Independence, and today it is
also reinforced by the Human Dignity and Liberty foundation
law. As such, all government authorities have a fundamental
obligation to uphold Jewish religious values.
Betzedek's letter also states that if the city does not
enforce the law regarding certain businesses it will lose its
ability to enforce the law regarding other businesses, adding
that selective enforcement harms human equality. In numerous
rulings the courts have decidedly rejected selective
enforcement.
Recently the High Court determined, "Heavy weight should be
given to showing consideration for the needs and beliefs of
the religious public and to avoiding offending their
sensibilities, for the Shabbat is a possession of the Jewish
people that should be preserved in the Jewish community."
In light of this ruling Betzedek is demanding the City of
Kiryat Gat show consideration for the sensibilities of its
religious residents by closing the leisure facilities
operating illegally on Shabbos, including sanctions and
punishments as prescribed by law.
In reaction, the city's legal advisor said that the Mayor was
persuaded to open the establishment because it is the only
such hall in the city and the lack of local leisure
facilities forces residents to travel to nearby towns in
pursuit of such activities. In a postscript the legal advisor
promises that the city will consider taking steps to limit
the harm to the city's Shabbos-observant sector.
Betzedek was disturbed by the city's hollow response and in
an immediate reply said that the law requires the that
establishments must be closed on Shabbos immediately. Based
on the municipality's letter and information in the hands of
Betzedek, the Mayor did not give a "special permit" with
certain conditions to allow the opening of the leisure
facility, but simply disregarded its existence by failing to
enforce the city ordinance.
According to Betzedek, the authority to decide whether to
give a "special permit" is vested in the city council and is
not for the mayor to decide. Worst of all the municipality's
letter indicates that only in the future will it consider
curtailing harm to Shabbos observers, which stands in
complete contradiction to its fundamental obligation to weigh
all of the relevant considerations in advance.
Betzedek says granting a permit to open a business or
recreational facility places Kiryat Gat in a position where
any business or leisure facility could rely on the permit
given and demand to open its business based on the principle
of discrimination. Therefore the courts have ruled such a
decision must be reversed.
Attorney Green's letter ends with a quote from maseches
Derech Eretz Zuta saying the world's existence rests on
three things: justice, truth and peace. Since truth and
justice are not being fulfilled and in light of the violation
of the status quo upheld in Kiryat Gat for the past 33 years
since its founding, and even earlier, the public good is also
at stake and this, too, should be taken into account.
The overall conclusion is that from a legal standpoint the
leisure facility should be closed on Shabbos immediately.
