Both religious and nonreligious residents in Haifa's Ramat
Alon neighborhood held a protest demonstration Tuesday
evening against the opening of a pork store in the heart of a
residential area across the street from the neighborhood's
main beis knesses.
During the demonstration, the city's Chief Rabbis and the
organizers spoke out against the opening of a branch of Tiv
Taam, which sells pork and seafood. Opponents said the move
would draw unwanted elements to the neighborhood and that
even the local nonreligious residents avoid consuming these
meat products.
The demonstration was organized by the neighborhood
committee, whose members include traditional and nonobservant
Jews. Ever since he verified rumors that a Tiv Taam branch
was scheduled to open in the neighborhood, Committee Chairman
Eli Ro'ash has been making every effort to thwart the plan,
including a request to Mayor Yonah Yahav to block the
move.
Ro'ash says that if a regular supermarket opened for business
most of the local residents would patronize it, but the non-
kosher meat store would bring in most of its customers from
elsewhere. "Our children will be afraid to leave the house at
night because of the unsavory characters who will come and
because of the violence they will bring to the neighborhood,"
he said.
Ro'ash says although the Mayor promised the store would not
open for business, he has not shown decisiveness in the
matter and the Pork Law, which prohibits the sale of non-
kosher meat in the middle of residential areas, has not been
enforced.
The municipality says the city ordinance does not authorize
it to prevent a business from opening and the question of
enforcement will come to the fore only after the store opens
and is proven to sell pork. Neighborhood residents are
unwilling to accept this answer, saying Yahav should have
taken more action in the matter as he promised. Residents are
also enraged by the location of the store opposite the main
beis knesses and religious educational
institutions.
The rov of the neighborhood, HaRav Chaim Katz, noted that a
majority of residents object to the sale of pork in the heart
of the neighborhood. The slogan chosen for the demonstration
was, "Preserving the Jewish tradition and quality of life in
the neighborhood."
