Mourner with picture of Rabbi Elazar Abuchatz
Mourner with picture of Rabbi Elazar AbuchatzFlash 90

Ten months ago, Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira was stabbed to death during one of the many personal meetings he held with people seeking his aid. This week, work was completed on a synagogue that will be called Ohel Elazar in his memory.

The synagogue in Yokneam was built over a long period, with funding provided in part by the Housing Ministry. It will serve hundreds of residents of the Givat Hacalaniyot neighborhood.

Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira’s son Rabbi Pinchas Abuchatzeira was present as the synagogue was officially inaugurated, as were relatives Rabbi David Abuchatzeira and the Baba Baruch.

Rabbi David Abuchatzeira thanked Housing Minister Ariel Atias for his involvement in the project. “During these difficult times, when building a synagogue is not easy financially, we have Rabbi Ariel Atias, sent by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,” he said.

Atias spoke as well, “The Housing Ministry, as the ministry responsible for building cities in Israel, builds synagogues and mikvas, daycare centers and community centers for residents’ well-being,” he said.

“Over the past few years the ministry has built around a thousand new apartments in Yokneam,” he continued. “I am glad I had the merit to inaugurate a synagogue…. We will continue, as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has instructed, to develop institutions of Torah in neighborhoods the Housing Ministry builds.”

More than 1,300 new apartments are to be put on the market in Yokneam in the near future, he added.