The head of the Rashbi celebration in Meron, Major General (retired) Zviki Tesler, held a special briefing for reporters today (Monday), with the participation of Rabbi Shlomo Rosenstein, advisor to the Haredi sector at the Ministry of Transportation.
In the briefing, Tesler addressed all the issues at hand - in particular the restriction on stay on the mountain, as well as the purchase of tickets, which went on sale last night.
The planner: "The outline of this year's celebration is different than ever. The shadow of last year's terrible disaster accompanies us, and the outline was of course determined in accordance with the interim recommendations of the investigative committee. Among the recommendations is also the issue of limiting the audience, which is done through a regulatory system that combines bus tickets and permits.
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""This combination is designed to ensure that there are no more participants than the allowed number. Unfortunately, we know that there are people who are not used to these restrictions and find themselves harmed, but this is the only way we can control the number of people, so as not to reach what happened in previous years. We walk the fine line between the desire to celebrate the revelry and the need to maintain safety restrictions. Naturally, it is difficult to find the exact point and there are sides here and there.".
Rabbi Shlomo Rosenstein: "The Ministry of Transportation operates the transportation system to Meron on Lag BaOmer every year. Despite attempts to portray it differently, there are not many substantial changes in terms of dealing with passengers. In addition to work that took months, due to the large and complex nature of the event, this year the advance booking system received an upgrade with the option to book from home, or on customized devices spread across thousands of stations and from home, alongside booking options from the phone.
""Ticket purchases began ten days before the celebration, and so far 65,000 tickets have been sold, with sales expected to continue until two days before the celebration.".
""The main change is spreading the event over more hours, with the event starting on Wednesday morning until Friday morning, with a set number of tickets per hour, so that there will be no congestion at certain times, but everything will be uniform. Currently, the system is working without any problems, except for 10 minutes at the opening of the sale, due to a clearing problem that was resolved 10 minutes later as mentioned.".
Rabbi Rosenstein noted that this year there is a change that also requires those coming from Safed to book a ticket in advance.
He explained to reporters why there are tickets that have not yet been released for sale: "We sell tickets on several platforms simultaneously and to prevent a situation where a ticket is sold twice, we release it in batches and check that there are no duplicates.".
In response to questions from reporters, the head of the festival, Lieutenant General (retired) Tesler, addressed rumors of advance sales for various Hasidic courtyards. "According to the procedures, up to 15% of all tickets are allocated to all communities that have a tradition of lighting the Mount. Beyond that, all tickets are sold through the means that have been announced.".
Projector Tesler also addressed the issue of public conduct and enforcement on the mountain: "Tomorrow, regulations will be approved that will enable enforcement, but our intention is to create awareness and not to achieve enforcement. The responsibility lies with me, the event organizers, and the safety engineers, but the public's behavior has significance. From the beginning, we have been in contact with all communities and Hasidism, including Hasidism that are considered more conservative, with the intention of talking and not meeting only on the mountain. The meetings were held in an attempt to understand and hear the demands without compromising the outline and safety rules.
""It's important for me to emphasize that we don't want to enforce, but there is a way to enforce. Every person must carry the card, which is a permit to stay on the mountain, so that we can check. According to the tests we conducted, in all the years that have passed, the length of stay per person, when there was food distribution, additional lighting, and other points of attraction, was about 4 hours.
""This year, even though there are no lights and no food distribution, we left the average time as it was. We intend to carry out informational campaigns also through flyers, screens and signs, and if we need to, we will also announce it. If we have no choice, we will activate enforcement or block additional buses.".
Tesler also noted that, in addition to the information, the police are also preparing to maintain order in the face of elements who may not accept the outline. "I know they are a minority of the minority, but the police's preparations are good. We will not allow people to enter on foot without tickets, the number of police officers and ushers will be greater than in previous years, and the budget has also increased threefold. We are making every effort not to need it, but the public's behavior has significance.".
