Jerusalem – Mayor Closing Haifa’s Separate Beach for Sailing Competition

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    Photo Archived pf separated beach in IsraelJerusalem – Haifa chareidim are incensed with Mayor Yonah Yahav, who decided to temporarily close down Haifa’s separate beach to enable an international sailing competition ° The closest separate beach for religious Haifa residents to use is in far off Kiryat Chaim ° The city says the chareidim are ungrateful bordering on the scandalous

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    Haifa mayor Yonah Yahav had divided the Pacific Beach along Haifa’s shore into two beaches — one for surfers, and the other for the religious public who wanted a beach that had separate hours for men and women.

    This year, the Haifa municipality decided to close the religious beach temporarily in July, to enable an international sailing competition. This means that during the hottest swimming season (both meanings intended), the religious will not have a beach to bathe in.

    The municipality claims that it didn’t forget the religious public, and offered them an alternative in the Kiryat Chaim separate beach. However, families with many children will find it difficult if not impossible to afford transportation to the far off beach.

    The Pacific Beach has served Haifa’s religious population for years. The beach was bounded off by fences according to the religious residents’ needs, but the city has increasingly reduced the beach area for the benefit of sailing aficionados, whose boats share the same beach strip.

    Religious bathers say that July is prime swimming time for them, coming as it does after the Three Weeks when families cannot partake of swimming and other leisure activities.

    “This month is the most important for us,” said one perturbed Haifa chareidi. “Bein Hazmanim falls during this month and we can’t bathe in the sea before that because of the Three Weeks. This is the only form of leisure that large families can enjoy and which involves a minimal cost. And they want to take this from us too?”

    Moshe, who lives in the Hadar neighborhood and frequently takes his 6 children to the sea, complained, “We’re a large public, most of whom lives in Hadar. It’s too difficulty to go to Kiryat Chaim. Why are we always the ones whose rights are trampled? We pay property taxes like everyone else! Because we didn’t vote for Yahav, he’s getting back at us in various ways.”

    The religious residents appealed to city councilman Aryeh Blitenthal for his assistance in preventing the closure of the separate beach. Blitenthal says he’ll try to reach an arrangement with Yahav that will be acceptable to all sides.

    The city issued a statement: “As we told the religious public, they can use the separate beach in Kiryat Chaim. We even arranged with the Egged bus cooperative that they’ll run a special line to the beach [i.e. at full cost to the passengers]. The complaints of the religious public are scandalously ungrateful.”


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    25 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I think that if you are SO religious you’ll manage for a few days without a beach! Zullen Zie Zich Abisil Brechen Farren Eibeshten! Not every incident has to turn into a big media frenzy!!!! The world is getting sick and tired of us whining day and night!!!

    Exxon
    Exxon
    13 years ago

    for a few dozen wealthy sailors, we should shut down the beach to thousands of bathers?

    Hershy
    Hershy
    13 years ago

    I am an ex american who lives in the hadar neighborhood of haifa. I love it here its a real religous chassidic area. The Kiryat Chaim beach is not to far, its like going from 39th st and 13 ave to 18th ave and 60th st. I dont mind doing that the bus goes every five minutes and its a better beach .

    SimchaB
    SimchaB
    13 years ago

    Reply to #1 : Why don’t you go brech! Did you read the article? They don’t go swimming all year! This closure comes right after the 3 weeks and during Bain Hazmanim.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Yona yahav does it all the time looking for trouble with chardim day and night as revenge let’s see if he will win the next election

    SimchaB
    SimchaB
    13 years ago

    Reply to #3: Don’t you think Torah Jews should be accomodated by a state that owes it’s existence to G-d choosing the Jewish people and giving them the land.

    YG
    YG
    13 years ago

    BS”D

    Maybe the sailing compitition should have been scheduled for the nine days instead of after?

    Shalom Al Yisroel, yg

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    great picture, thanks

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    If the Charedim are fighting over a beach maybe we are making progress in this world. Who would have thought that Charedim would ever start valuing leisurely time at a beach. Bal Shemtov is proud.

    SimchaB
    SimchaB
    13 years ago

    Reply to #14 : There is no word for normal in Loshon Hakodesh. The standard female bathing suit named after a Pacific island when first worn was quite a scandal. Now you approvingly call it normal! How much pritzus must you have gazed at to have stooped so low?!

    The Red Haifar
    The Red Haifar
    13 years ago

    Give it up fellows, *5 is right, there is nothing to kvetch about unless you are paranoid and just looking for something to kvetch about. Kiryat Chaim is not far away and is easy to get to, and its only for a few days.

    surfer
    surfer
    13 years ago

    It only goes to show the insesitivity of secular jews to religious jews. It a ubiquitous phenomenon that can only be understood in a lifetime of observation. A person concludes there is no religion hence religious people have no need for a separate beach hence I do no wrong by refusing them this convenience. Because this mayor does not believe that modesty is one of the purposes of creation his family will be the first to fall into severe immodesty then he will beg Hashem to come back.