City Sends Tractor to Destroy ‘Illicit’ Chabad Shul

On Friday afternoon, mere hours before Shabbos, the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, a suburb of Jerusalem, sent a tractor to dismantle a makeshift Chabad Shul that had been erected the night before on municipal land. But swift and brave action by members of the community prevented its destruction.

For nearly two years, the Chabad community of Beit Shemesh davened and gathered in the homes of local community members. They submitted a petition to the city for a plot of land on which to build a Shul, but did not receive a reply.

After more than a year passed with no response, and seeing well over a dozen Shuls of other Jewish denominations built on municipal land throughout the city undisturbed, the Chabad community decided to follow their lead. Throughout this past Thursday night, community members pitched in their efforts and erected a small Shul on an unused plot of land owned by the city.

The following day, just as the finishing touches were being made and air conditioning installed in preparation for Shabbos, a municipal tractor appeared with the intention of demolishing the illicit synagogue.

The community members rallied to the scene and surrounded the Shul, preventing the tractor from taking action. They expressed outrage that of the dozen plus makeshift Shuls built on municipal property throughout the city, the Chabad Shul was being singled out for destruction.

Eventually, the community prevailed – at least temporarily – and the tractor left the scene without having done any damage.

“Over Shabbos there was an incredible feeling of camaraderie, with over hundred people packing into the tiny shul to daven and Farbreng,” a community member told CrownHeights.info.

Update: On Monday, community leaders announced that an agreement had been reached with the city, whereby the Shul would be relocated to a nearby plot of land that had not been designated as a ‘green zone’ for recreational development, and that plans would be drawn up for a permanent location for the Chabad community to gather and pray.

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