The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in favor of a religious outreach organization wishing to hold a gender-segregated prayer in the public space in Tel Aviv for the upcoming Yom Kippur holiday, reversing a ban on the practice by the municipality.
In a compromise proposal, the judges ordered the Rosh Yehudi organization to set up its prayer service in Meir Garden, a less central location in the city, and not in Dizengoff Square where it had requested.
1 View gallery
Locals confront organizers of gender-segregated Yom Kippur prayer at Tel Aviv's Dizzengoff Square
(Photo: Dana Kopel)
The court said the municipality must enable Rosh Yehudi to hold the Kol Nidrei and Neilah prayers in the park, at the beginning and end of the holiday.
A year ago, clashes erupted at Dizengoff Square on Yom Kippur Eve between hundreds of Tel Aviv residents and the organizers of the gender-segregated prayer service.
The Tel Aviv District Court, which heard the organization's petition against the Tel Aviv Municipality, did not find it appropriate to intervene in the municipality's decision prohibiting the holding of gender-segregated prayers and events in the public space - and therefore the petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court. The appellants, Rosh Yehudi and residents of Tel Aviv who joined the petition, were represented by attorneys Uri Paz and Harel Arnon.
At the opening of Wednesday's hearing, Judge David Mintz said: "These are difficult days. In any case, the issue should not have come to court. Certainly not a topic of prayer on Yom Kippur. With good will, it can be resolved outside the court's walls."
Judge Grosskopf said during the hearing: "I don't understand, a municipality can't allow prayer in the public space according to accepted customs?! You say: when the place is closed, in a synagogue, gender segregation is allowed - but under the open sky in the space, then it is not allowed? Who wants an Orthodox prayer He will go there and those who don't, shouldn't go. Why should a municipality prevent prayer?"
The judges slammed the Tel Aviv municipality: "What is emerging is that a municipality in the State of Israel seeks to discriminate against Orthodox worshippers." The representative of the township said: "We do not discriminate", and the judges replied: "Certainly yes." Grosskopf added: "The Tel Aviv Municipality will determine which prayer is legitimate? The public will decide that for itself."
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: