A day after the Supreme Court ruled that gender-segregated prayer could be held in Tel Aviv’s Meir Park, the Rosh Yehudi organization announced Thursday that, due to concerns over potential provocations, the prayer service would be moved to a synagogue on Bar Kochba Street rather than taking place outdoors.
The organization’s chairman, Israel Zeira, initially said that the prayer service would proceed as planned, but shortly afterward, he issued a statement reversing his decision.
"In times of war, when our soldiers are risking their lives in heroic battles, and the entire nation is praying for the safe return of our captives, the path to victory and the defeat of the enemy, as well as the return of our captives, lies in increasing holiness, unity and internal peace," he wrote.
"Unfortunately, we have heard plans to disrupt this lawful prayer as well. We are choosing the responsible course of action, to be those who endure insults without retaliating, and we will hold Yom Kippur prayers in the synagogue."
Zeira sounded more defiant, arguing that gender-segregated prayer does not exclude women. "Many women want to follow the traditions of our ancestors and pray in separation," Zeira said. "This is not an offense, it’s not exclusion, it’s not a slap in the face – it harms no one except those who choose to be offended by it. This is authentic Jewish tradition, and no one should be hurt by it. We're not forcing anyone – those who want to stand separately do so, just as they did two years ago. People have unfairly targeted us. We oppose coercion, whether in our prayers or in the lessons we teach. We educate with full intellectual freedom, without any imposition."
Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Meital Lehavi criticized Zeira’s initiative. “For 75 years in Tel Aviv, Jews, Arabs, secular, and religious people have lived together peacefully. The religious community here has all the space it needs, with more than 530 synagogues, and the city supports religious events just as it supports cultural events. We allocate substantial spaces for religious purposes. If we want to talk about discrimination and exclusion, I’d argue that it’s the Reform and Conservative institutions in Israel that face discrimination. They receive no support from the Religious Services Ministry or the local religious council. So, to claim that Orthodoxy is suffering when it receives so much funding and recognition, to the point that it has become the state’s official form of Judaism, while pluralistic Judaism is sidelined, is simply inaccurate."
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Rosh Yehudi could hold a gender-segregated prayer service in Tel Aviv’s public space for Yom Kippur, including the placement of a partition between men and women. However, the prayers would take place in Meir Park, a less central location than Dizengoff Square, as part of a compromise suggested by the judges.
Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai criticized the court’s decision: "The Supreme Court has allowed the exclusion of women in public spaces, opening a slippery slope. I urge the residents of Tel Aviv-Jaffa to respect the ruling and allow the prayers to take place in Meir Park."
In a surprising turn, former Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef also called for the event to be moved back to a synagogue. Rabbi Yosef issued a public statement saying, "Regarding Yom Kippur prayers in public spaces, it is clear from a halachic standpoint that prayers should be held in a synagogue. Public prayer should not be preferred over a synagogue."
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(ILTV News)
Rabbi Yosef acknowledged the initiative to bring Yom Kippur prayers to a wider audience in recent years due to overcrowding in synagogues. "However," he added, "a small group of those very distant from religion have sought to cancel public prayers on the grounds of opposing separation, and last year, they went so far as to disrupt the prayers with loud protests, necessitating security intervention, which resulted in the desecration of the holy day."
He concluded, "While the court has legally permitted public prayers, the risk of confrontations and protests remains. Therefore, I request that the Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa work to ensure that Yom Kippur prayers take place in synagogues, which is the most appropriate option according to halacha. If that is not possible, the prayers should be held in community centers or closed halls to prevent desecration of the holy day."
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