Internet center opens inside Jerusalem synagogue
Store offering office services begins operating within place of worship in haredi neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. Owner says his goal is to keep computers and Internet away from residents' homes.
A new store recently began operating a business center in the Siach Eliezer Synagogue, which is located in the heart of the ultra-Orthodox Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. The center offers office services, including computer and Internet access, and will soon provide printing and faxing services as well.
One of the synagogue's worshippers says the store's activity is not felt, but that in the future, if many residents join the service, the synagogue could change its original purpose of serving as a place of worship and Torah study.
The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee has approved the use of the building as a synagogue and Talmud Torah study, and not for commercial purposes.
The store's operator says his goal is to keep computers and Internet away from the residents' homes and that the place maintains "a serious and respectable atmosphere."
In an ad distributed to the neighborhood's residents, the store owner assured them that the he had opened the place "after consulting with rabbis in the neighborhood and with knowledgeable people in order to guarantee that there would be no obstacle."
He said he saw no problem in the fact that the store was located inside a house of prayer and study.
The store's customers pay NIS 3 for 10 minutes of Internet access and NIS 12 for an hour. Customers seeking regular Internet access are offered a subscription.
At the moment, the store is only open for men, but in the future the neighborhood's women will be able to purchase a subscription and work on the center's computers during specific hours.
