''They built in Dubai, not here': Why they didn't build the sukkah at the 'Date Festival' in Masada

September 19, 2021   

At the 'Date Festival' to be held on the Hol HaMoed Sukkot in Masada, with the participation of tens of thousands of Israelis, this year the Chabad emissary in the Dead Sea region and Masada is not allowed, unlike in the past, to set up a sukkah in the festival grounds. Obey the 'Torah' and celebrate Sukkot safely: This way you are 10 times more protected Synagogue schedule for the holidays of Tishrei: This is how you will adhere to health guidelines The festival management and the Tamar Regional Council do not need to bother with building the sukkah or paying for it, as Chabad emissaries do it. About two years ago, a sukkah was built at the festival site. Last year, the Tamar Festival did not take place due to the spread of the coronavirus. So why not allow the construction of a sukkah at no cost and without endangering anyone? What is different this year from previous years? In a conversation with Haredim 10, Rabbi Shimon Elharar, Chabad emissary in the Dead Sea region and Masada, said: "We built a sukkah two years ago to provide a solution for the tens of thousands who come to the Tamar Festival. This year, for some reason, the council decided that it was not appropriate. "There is no space... sanitation... and no. I tried to understand what the problem is, it is a good thing all over the world. Gentiles help us build these sukkahs at Big Ben in London, the Eiffel Tower and in Moscow. And here it is not? 'No. It is not appropriate, I am sorry.' The council later added another thing - that engineering approval is required, approval here, approval there. "Oh my God if all sukkahs in Israel needed engineering approvals and additional approvals, this is a sukkah. Even in Dubai they built a sukkah and they did not bring an architect. This is a seven-day event, I am sorry that this is their response. It is a shame for the public that comes and does not have a solution for a sukkah, in the Land of Israel. Some of them are religious, Hanan Ben Ari and Aviatar Banai. It is a great shame... "I called them, I told them there is a saying that says, "Some don't want to, some can't." This year there will be no sukkah at all. They claim that there is no public demand, everyone who comes is checked to see if they have a demand for a sukkah? A sukkah is something public that is found everywhere in the Land of Israel and in the world. Especially since there is a food court, who is harmed by it." According to him, "The sukkah that they say was built in the festival area was built a fifteen-minute drive from the festival area. That means there is no sukkah." The emissary emphasizes: "We didn't receive a clear answer. We received six different answers. The Jewish public is interested in it, why not? You don't pay for it. It's a shame that this is the response." The Tamar Regional Council said in response to Haredim 10: "The infrastructure for the Tamar Festival has been approved for safety and has been erected in advance and includes the council's sukkah for the benefit of festival-goers. The council welcomes the many travelers and two Chabad sukkahs have been erected on its territory - one on the separate beach and the other in Ein Bokek, near the Dead Sea Mall." A source at the council says that the request to build a Chabad sukkah in the festival complex came only last night and, as mentioned, another sukkah has already been built there. Rabbi Elharar says that, contrary to the council's alleged response, he only contacted them last night: "They approved public sukkahs in front of the mall. Regarding the festival complex, I spoke with them about two weeks ago and took a preliminary tour about a week ago. Everything was fine, everything was planned. In the 90th minute, the festival director turned around and decided not to. I applied two weeks ago, we decided where the sukkah will be." A source at the council says in response that the rabbi was at the council this morning and last night he contacted the head of the council. "After last year we had the disasters in Meron and Givat Ze'ev, we can't add anything at the last minute that wasn't approved by the safety advisor and wasn't in the plans that were prepared in advance.".