Rabbonim of Ger Issue Sharp Warning Against Sale of Seats in the Beis Medrash for the Yomim Noraim

The rabbonim of Ger have issued a strongly worded letter condemning individuals who engage in trading seats in the chassidus’s central Beis Medrash ahead of the Yomim Noraim.

The letter, signed by Rav Naftoli Nussbaum, Rav Chaim Bunim Shatz, and Rav Aryeh Tzvi Rotenberg, decries the practice of purchasing and reselling seats, declaring: “Since it has come to our attention that there are individuals conducting improper deals with places in the Beis Medrash, reserving seats in order to sell them to families or groups, thereby causing damage and anguish to the thousands of mispallelim who come to the Beis Medrash, we hereby make known the daas Torah on this matter.”

The rabbonim continue: “Those who do this are conducting business with the property of the Beis Medrash, which is communal money. This constitutes money that is not kosher and raises a concern of outright theft. Furthermore, anyone who assists in this is considered a partner in the prohibition.”

The letter stresses that the administration of the Beis Medrash has already clarified that all seats, aside from those designated for recognized supporters, belong to the public. The rabbonim call upon everyone to act generously and not to create injustice between man and his fellow by seizing seats in advance of the Yomim Noraim.

This directive comes as reports surfaced of some individuals, lacking their own reserved seats, paying bochurim to hold spots for them in the packed Beis Medrash, a practice now publicly denounced by the rabbonim of Ger.

{Matzav.com Israel}