Jerusalem is different

Jerusalem is a nightmare for motorists seeking a parking spot. The number of parking spaces in the capital declines as the number of vehicles increases. During Mayor Lupolianski’s term in office, most downtown parking lots were eliminated in favor of the light railway or Museum of Tolerance.

If you are forced to run any kind of errand at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall, you will have to waste most of the morning driving in circles in search of a vacant spot for your vehicle. Two minutes later, a city hall inspector will rush to the site to make sure you paid. Urban experts say that such efficient monitoring system cannot be found even in Singapore.

And there, finally we see an all-out effort in a bid to solve the problem. Suddenly everyone is bothered by the parking distress in Israel’s capital. On Shabbat, that is. Secular drivers who have lost hope of finding a parking spot in the city during weekdays are insisting on parking there on the holy Shabbat. Many of them are willing to hand over half of Jerusalem to Mahmoud Abbas, but they refuse to compromise on one quarter of the Safra parking lot.

Yes, one can understand them. We live in a democratic state, Jerusalem belongs to everyone, and people should live by their faith. Well, the original verse reads “The righteous shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4) and Israel is not just any kind of democratic state, but rather, a Jewish democratic state, but driving on Shabbat is a holy liberal principle, not to mention parking on Shabbat.

In strictly religious law terms, we must admit, this isn’t a grave disaster. Mayor Nir Barkat is not about to create new Shabbat desecration, but rather, merely contain it. Parking at the lot will be free, and the parking lot attendant will be a non-Jew. Therefore, the media puzzlement in the face of the ultra-Orthodox outcry is seemingly justified. Why are they all up in arms about it?

Mountainous version of Tel Aviv?

They are all up in arms about it because their Jerusalem is a Shabbat-keeping Jerusalem. In their view, the very reason for its existence is its devotion to the Jewish spirit. Otherwise, it could have been London or Paris or Herzliya. They recall that one of the first actions undertaken by Nehemiah after the first return to Zion was the removal of Shabbat-desecrating merchants from the city, rather than opening a parking lot there.

We can assume that this was followed by great media outcry at the time, and all sorts of elements protested what they viewed as capitulation to the Orthodox and disregard for the city’s modern needs, yet Nehemiah insisted. He had a very clear position in respect to Jerusalem’s character.

The parking lot fans, on the other hand, want Jerusalem to be like all other cities, and they want Shabbat to be like all other days. For them, there are only two or three things that must be maintained in the

capital: The stone façade of buildings, the remnants of the forest at the entrance to the city, and Rahmo’s hummus place. On all other fronts, Jerusalem can be a mountainous version of Tel Aviv: A city that never sleeps with gay pride parades and heavy traffic on Shabbat.

It sounds nice, but it’s hard to believe that many tourists will find such city interesting. One of these days, people won’t understand what the fuss was all about in respect to the parking lot opening on Shabbat. Chances are it will stay rather desolate on weekdays as well.