Vaadas HaRabbonim LeInyonei Tachburoh, under the guidance of
gedolei Yisroel, held a long, exhaustive meeting that
ended with a decision to embark on a series of steps designed
to pressure and persuade public transportation companies to
allow mehadrin lines.
The members of the committee, HaRav Yosef Chaim Kopshitz,
HaRav Yitzchok Yosef, HaRav Dov Landau and HaRav Menachem
Mendel Fuchs, convened in Jerusalem and following the meeting
released a detailed public statement on the committee's
activities and the state of public transportation.
The rabbonim said they have been discussing various matters
with Egged and Transportation Ministry representatives in
order to make special arrangements that meet halachic
requirements. The committee reiterated that this is not a
charitable act toward the chareidi public, but rather its due
right since chareidim constitute a large segment of public
transportation users and they are paying customers.
The committee members said Egged and the Transportation
Ministry are well aware of the power of the chareidi sector
and they sent some of their top negotiators to maintain a
calculated approach in granting the chareidi public
"benefits." Following concerted efforts Har Nof and Givat
Shaul were granted a new line, known as Line 15 Alef.
But very soon it became apparent that the line was just an
empty gesture to push off the public who requested and
received it. An inquiry revealed it only runs a few times a
day, and even then the buses are not always dispatched or
they run late. The committee asked Egged to increase the
number of buses on the line, but received no response. Even a
request to issue a bus schedule for the line fell on deaf
ears, and the committee suspects that since the company has
no intention of operating the line properly, it has refrained
from printing a bus schedule to avoid legal claims over late
buses and buses that never arrive.
The committee also took issue with the overcrowding on Lines
1 and 2 to the Kosel during Succos. Men and women were
crowded together and hundreds of passengers waited for long
periods of time at the bus stops. The poor service
represented a failure on Egged's part to meet its commitments
toward the authorities and the company compelled passengers
to transgress Torah laws.
Vaadas HaRabbonim says that Egged, in an attempt to cover up
its failures to properly serve the observant public, has
launched an ad campaign in the chareidi press to persuade
passengers it is providing special service for the chareidi
sector by adding special bus lines. An inquiry by Vaadas
HaRabbonim showed although Egged has added a small number of
lines here and there, overall the company may have decreased
the number of lines by reducing service on Line 402 in the
morning and on Line 451.
The committee says Egged started running the ad campaign to
cover up for its lack of consideration for the principles by
which the Torah-observant community lives in an effort to
weaken the power of Vaadas HaRabbonim, thereby freeing it of
the obligation to provide passengers real service.
In response Vaadas HaRabbonim decided to look into a
recommendation to bring before gedolei Yisroel the
need to call upon the public to stop chartering Egged buses
for special occasions and to assess preparedness to organize
a large demonstration to be led by gedolei Yisroel, in
Jerusalem or in another location.
Vaadas HaRabbonim is already making arrangements to purchase
buses in order to provide alternative bus service, based on
how the campaign unfolds, and therefore is asking the public,
both in Israel and abroad, to make donations to cover these
and other expenses. Checks may be sent to Mehadrin
Transportation at POB 57049, Jerusalem (Israeli checks should
be made payable to Tachburat Mehadrin). To make a donation by
credit card, please call 1-800-2222-75. Funds can also be
deposited directly into Bank Poalei Agudat Yisrael, Branch
184, Acct. 409-691666 or Bank Hadoar, Acct. 8461276.
