Shabbat protest, last year
Photo: Noam Moskovich
Rabbis: Resume parking lot protests
Eda Haredit leaders post ads in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, calling on public to take part in mass rally this Saturday against operation of Karta parking lot on Shabbat
The Eda Haredit ultra-Orthodox movement is calling on the haredi public to resume protests against the desecration of Shabbat in Jerusalem, starting with a mass rally this Saturday at the capital's Mea Shearim neighborhood.
Saturday's protest will mark two years and 100 Shabbats since the municipality began operating the Karta parking lot in the on weekends.
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In ads posted in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods and published in the Eda Haredit's journal, its rabbis call on the public to participate in a mass protest Saturday afternoon on Haneviim Street, between Mea Shearim and the city center, "in honor of our holy Shabbat."
No women or youth
Under the title, "One hundred Shabbats for God", the ads charge that the desecration of Shabbat in Jerusalem "humiliates the city of God", and therefore the protests must be reinforced.
The upcoming rally is expected to be attended by the Rebbe of the Toldos Aharon dynasty, one of the movement's leaders.
The rabbis stress in the ad that the public must avoid riots and acts of vandalism and violence, and therefore the protest must last up to 30 minutes and exclude children and teens, as opposed to the rallies two years ago which were attended by thousands of children.
The Eda Haredit leadership is forbidding women to take part in the demonstration as well, stressing that "supervisors on behalf of the Badatz (court of justice) will oversee the aforementioned."
The rabbis are linking the obligation to protest against the desecration of Shabbat to the weekly Torah portion, which deals with the zealotry of Pinchas, who killed an Israelite and a Midianite woman for their sins. The ad quotes Torah verses praising Pinchas, who "made atonement for the children of Israel".
The protests began about two years ago, after the District Court decided to open Jerusalem's Karta parking lot on Saturday in order to solve the parking distress in the capital on weekends.
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