A battle has erupted at the famed Beis Yisroel shtieblach in Yerushalayim, where the management and neighborhood residents’ committee have launched a consumer boycott against vendors operating stands near the entrance, warning that the area is increasingly being transformed from the entrance to a makom tefillah into a bustling marketplace.
According to the gabbaim and local residents, the stands have created a host of problems for those using the area, including serious congestion, disturbances to passersby, and what they describe as significant safety and environmental hazards in the heart of the neighborhood.
Various vendors have increasingly set up stands in the plaza outside the shtieblach, including booths selling electronic products. Residents say crowds have begun gathering around the stands in a manner they consider inconsistent with the character of the area surrounding the shtieblach, including music being played and women and girls dressed in a manner they consider inappropriate for the surroundings lingering at the site.
The stands have also created considerable crowding around the entrance to the shtieblach, making access difficult for mispallelim. The problem has been particularly challenging for people with disabilities and limited mobility, who have struggled to find appropriate space nearby for mobility scooters and other equipment.
After repeated requests by the neighborhood committee and the shtieblach management failed to bring about a change, officials decided to escalate their campaign. A strongly worded notice was subsequently posted at the shtieblach calling upon mispallelim to completely boycott the vendors until they leave the area.
The notice reads: “Call and request: Recently, a stand selling electronic products has been set up here at the entrance to the shtieblach, and following it, various stands have begun opening here. There is a great danger that, without realizing it, within a short time the area alongside the shtieblach will turn into a marketplace, with all that entails. Around the stands, cheap entertainment occasionally takes place, often accompanied by musical instruments, and from time to time women and girls dressed and behaving in a manner that does not befit the character of the area linger there. This constitutes a chillul Hashem, particularly when it takes place adjacent to botei knesses.
“As a result, significant congestion is also being created at the site, causing considerable hardship for those coming to daven, particularly people with disabilities and limited mobility who cannot find parking near the bais haknesses for their mobility scooters and carts.
“After several appeals from the neighborhood residents’ committee and the shul management produced no results, we hereby call upon the mispallelim to respond accordingly and protest against them, to boycott them and not conduct any business with them until they leave and remove themselves from the area. With a tefillah that we merit soon to witness the complete geulah and the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdash.”
The notice was signed jointly by the management of the Beis Yisroel shtieblach and the neighborhood residents’ committee.
