Rabbi of Beer Sheva in an exclusive interview: "Is there a parade? Suggests that Mea Shearim should be jealous of our achievements""

June 21, 2017   

Tomorrow, "for the first time in the history of the city of Beer Sheva," as the organizers present it, a parade of abominations will take place on the streets of the city. Hundreds of police officers, Border Police soldiers, and volunteers will be deployed starting at noon along the march route, at the gathering place and in nearby streets, to maintain the safety of participants and maintain public order.  Haredim 10: Chief Rabbi of Beer Sheva, Rabbi Yehuda Deri, I understand that the parade is taking place tomorrow - and the question is: What do we do? The rabbi knows that the parade is planned to be in both central locations and with the participation of the mayor, which means that it is with the support and backing of the municipality - and the Haredi representatives are silent. Rabbi Yehuda Deri:  ""First of all, I want to correct a few fundamental things. Let's talk about facts and not just demagogy. The facts are as follows: First of all, it should be remembered that last year the community requested a very central outline in the city. Those who know the city are talking about an outline that runs through synagogues, residential neighborhoods, in the heart of the city - and they received approval from the police, not sure in writing, but there were verbal summaries. I came into the picture at a late stage, since I was not in Israel, I acted with all my might on the matter - and we managed to cancel the approval they received at that time, and the police, in cooperation with us, with tacit consent as they say, and with no choice, we agreed on alternative marginal outlines. One of these outlines is the outline in question this year, a completely marginal outline in relation to last year's central outline. There is nothing to compare. A narrow path of hundreds of meters, that does not run through residential neighborhoods, does not run through synagogues, has almost no contact with the outside world for those who know. To our surprise, they received The outline, which they rejected last year and went to the Supreme Court and brought their original approval - and a court said that they should accept the outline that the police approved, in consultation with the Rabbinate. And they rejected it. Not only did they reject it, but they saw it as a humiliating outline, they completely canceled the event because of it and were very hurt - and announced the burial of the coffin in the city of Beersheba... This is the history of last year. Surprisingly, this year, we as rabbis, rabbis, need to remember one thing. I am not the mayor, I am the rabbi of the city. If I were the mayor, there would be no such event in any way. But among my people I sit, there is a court, there are laws, it is easy to say no-no-no and in the end accept Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or Rishon LeZion or Ashdod, in the city of Beersheba. Therefore, what we did was that I sat with the police, not for an hour or two, but many conversations and we reached conclusions that I think are unparalleled anywhere, and here I truly congratulate the police up to the highest levels. We conditioned the Our agreement, that is, our objection to the outline, although it is marginal, but with several accompanying conditions: A. That the event be quiet and minimized as much as possible. That is, that the procession will be without any orchestras and loudspeakers, that the clothing will be appropriate, and the police will issue reports to anyone who arrives in inappropriate or provocative clothing, without any truck accessories, etc. The police have defined this as a 700-800 meter procession that will even be fenced off by the police, and without any connection to the outside world, and it will reach the municipality building - and there will be a closed show, restricted only to members of the community. In other words, those outside the community will not be able to participate - they will hand out such bracelets - and already now anyone passing through the Beer Sheva municipality can see that the entire plaza is covered with partitions and curtains, thank goodness, and anyone driving on the road will not see what is going on inside. So we see this event as a completely closed event, which does not harm anyone who does not want to see what is going on there. And not to hear what's going on there. So we as rabbis, who are entrusted with protecting the public's feelings or anything related to the public domain, have no reason to object, because from our perspective this is a completely closed event, even better than it was in previous years in Be'er Sheva, when there were parades in the Old City and the youth center. Back then, we didn't have these conditions. By the way, it's also limited in the number of participants, a few hundred in total, although about 1,500 applied and received a license, but we report that there will be much less. There are also serious restrictions on the entire nature of the event, I don't know if there is a city in Israel or in the world where the police sit down with the city rabbi about all the details, down to the last detail. In light of all these details, I convened all the rabbis of Be'er Sheva, the rabbis of the communities, neighborhoods, synagogues, we sat down on Friday, everyone unanimously accepted the matter, and therefore we hope that tomorrow the event will pass without leaving any impression on the city." • They present this as their victory. How do they announce it? 'For the first time in 16 years there will be a parade...' Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "Well, what do you expect them to tell you? That they lost again? Last year too, this year too... But I'm presenting you with facts, I'm not telling stories on the air. You can check the court records. So how does an event that was humiliating last year, and they put out a mourning notice about it, broke the dishes and canceled everything - suddenly turn into a victory party? If you have an explanation, please explain it to me." • So there's actually no concern that their gathering place is a very central place, as the rabbi said... Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "No! The city square is not in a residential area!" • But it's a central street. Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "No, it's an avenue that starts at the entrance to the city and ends in the Old City. Okay. But it depends on which section of this avenue. There's a central section of the Negev Mall, for those who know, Neighborhood A, which is the heart of the city, a crowded area, banks, shopping malls, and there's this section we're talking about, which is the remote part of the avenue, there's just almost nothing around there. Soroka Hospital, a few squares, and immediately turn left to the municipality. The difference between what they wanted and what they got last year, which is what they're getting now - it's a world of difference, there's nothing to talk about at all. It's marginal, completely marginal. It's also a very small area - about 700 meters - and an event that starts at 7:00 PM and ends at 7:30 PM." • So can we actually say that this is a complete failure of the organizers of the parade and a victory for the Haredim? Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "We have no interest in bending anyone, in defeating anyone - whoever feels good with these data, if they feel good with it, then by all means, but I present to you the facts. As far as I'm concerned, I'm concerned with the interests of the city. I'm concerned with minimal harm to public sentiment, and that's what I achieved, that's all. I'm interested in the fact that any Jew in the city who doesn't want to be exposed to this whole event - won't be exposed tomorrow, period. Neither in sight nor in hearing. This business will pass as if it never happened." • And the mayor's participation, isn't that something that hurts? Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "I don't know about the mayor. You have to ask him if he's participating. As far as I understand, they made a complete separation between the procession, which is the community's, and the event at the municipality, which is attended by the mayor - which they see as an artistic project for all intents and purposes, since we don't go into cultural halls or cultural clubs to see what's going on there. Now, the municipality itself has closed off the entire area with tarpaulins, so that even those driving on the road won't see it. Look, Beer Sheva is not Mea Shearim, nor Geula, nor Jerusalem, but I would suggest that Mea Shearim be jealous of the achievements we've achieved here. I don't believe that Jerusalem accepts these conditions - I know that a parade took place, without a limit on the number of people and the distance of the procession." • What does the rabbi think actually brings this achievement? Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "Nothing, in my opinion, very simple - although this city is not religious and is not defined as Haredi, it is mostly secular, but there is such a good public here, so united, the rabbis of the neighborhoods, the rabbis of the synagogues, the rabbis of the communities - all united. As soon as both the municipality and the police and the community see that they have an interest here in facing one rabbi, not an extremist or anything, but in facing a rabbi who represents the entire public, then when there is power, there is power - and they consider the feelings of the public. I simply call it understanding the feelings of the public. We wanted with all our might to prevent friction and arguments. We wanted to minimize, which is why I did not talk about this issue, even though we had already achieved all the achievements two or three weeks ago, but I preferred the good of the matter and the good of the city to just pointing out such and such achievements. Since the issue began to become public, and I heard that the mayor went on air today, I therefore allowed myself to answer as well and express my opinion in the right places and at the right time." • To this day, we have not heard from the Haredi representation, including the one in the municipality, and there were those among the residents who criticized that their voices were not being heard. Was this on the rabbi's orders? Rabbi Yehuda Deri: "First of all, I never give instructions to representatives in the municipality, they are tied to me even without me asking them, all three of them, in any case the Haredi representation you are talking about, people who are subject to the knowledge of Torah and the knowledge of Halacha - even without being asked. They know that I am leading this struggle, they know that the police are sitting with me, they are following, they know what is going on inside the city, they know that everything is concluded in cooperation in a clear way - so they are trusting their hands and therefore they have nothing to say. But to say, God forbid, that they are not with us, certainly not. We are all in the same boat, by the way, the national religious circles are also with us on this matter with all their might. It is simply impossible to find a single crack in the unity in this city, and that is our strength.".