The National Center for Family Purity is issuing warnings of
a grave shortage of heating fuel for mikvo'os at
various locations around the country and is convening an
emergency board meeting to discuss the situation.
Director Rabbi Yehoshua Levi says workers in charge of
running mikvo'os around the country regularly contact
him, crying out for help in keeping the facilities running
smoothly.
An inquiry into the matter revealed many local authorities
are not passing onto the local religious authorities funding
earmarked for mikvo'os, and in some cases fuel
allocations have been reduced below the minimum quantity
needed to keep mikvo'os heated year-round.
A delegation of rabbonim, engineers and maintenance workers
from the National Center for Family Purity reported seeing
empty fuel tanks during the course of inspections.
Rabbi Levy noted numerous figures have contacted him with
requests for assistance, including Peretz Shalom, the
chairman of the Lachish-Nehohar District Religious Authority,
who said he is unable to supply fuel to 20 mikvo'os in
eight different towns because the local authority has failed
to transfer funding. Shalom says he needs urgent funding for
Telamim, Sdeh David, Zohar, Merkaz Nehora, Noga, Otzem,
Achuzam and Shekem.
Rabbi Levy said in light of the gravity of the situation the
board decided to obtain emergency loans to cover the fuel
costs in the interim period until a solution is found. "The
mikvo'os cannot be allowed to remain without fuel for
even one day and in the meantime we are meeting the requests
with the help of special loans we took out."
He added that the failure to transfer funding from the local
authority means mikveh workers are not receiving their wages.
In some cases wages have been withheld for months.
Rabbi Levy sent an urgent letter to Attorney Shpeigler, the
religious services commissioner at the Prime Minister's
Office, in the hopes an immediate solution can be found to
the severe problems arising in towns around the country.
