The Supreme Court stopped short of ordering the destruction of a synagogue in Samaria (Shomron), stating it will check in two months to make sure it was sealed up instead.
Maaleh Shomron is a mixed religious-secular town of 600 residents between Kfar Saba and Karnei Shomron. Founded as a manifestation of Jewish unity between religious and non-religious Israelis, it has special bylaws governing public life in the town, such as no official Sabbath activities and no Sabbath travel on certain roads. The town’s mixed school was closed shortly after its founding because it was too small to qualify for Education Ministry support. Some scholars believe that it is the site of the Biblical Aza in the inheritance of Ephraim; the Arab village of Azzun is located nearby.
Synagogue: Subject of Dispute
One of the town’s synagogues was built in memory of Dov Indig, hero of Rabbi Chaim Sabato’s historical novel "Adjusting Sights" and author of the letters in Hagi Ben-Artzi’s “Letters to Talia.” Another of the town’s synagogues, however, is the subject of a bitter legal battle. Built a year ago in a temporary structure in the town’s El-Matan neighborhood, two Arab villages nearby sued for its destruction, claiming that the building does not have the necessary permits.
Maaleh Shomron’s legal counsel, Attorney Akiva Sylvetsky, said that the missing permits are of a technical nature, no different than those missing from many other neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria. In any event, both he and the State’s legal representative asked that since the State plans to seal the building, the request to destroy it should be rejected, as are similar requests to deal with illegal Arab construction in the area.
The State explained that it chose to seal it and not destroy it because it is a synagogue, and because it is likely that in the future it will receive the necessary permits.
Sylvetsky said that the destruction of a synagogue would have grave Jewish-legal and social ramifications. “Such an option should not be considered,” he said, “especially in an area that can be approved in the future.”
The justices noted that a restraining order issued to the Shomron Regional Council against further construction was violated. Sylvetsky responded that the Council has nothing to do with the construction, so that it did not violate the restraining order “and we told the Court that an order against the Council would be meaningless, as the construction is not being done by the Council. Despite this, the Court chose to issue an order against a side that is not a party to the legal process at hand. The honored Court is obligated to adhere to proper proceedings even when the matter concerns the Jews of Judea and Samaria.”
In response, the head of the panel, Justice Ayala Procaccia, not known for pro-Jewish rulings in Judea and Samaria, announced that the Court will check up in two months’ time to ensure that the synagogue is sealed. This gives the worshipers some breathing room, and even room to hope that the sealing will be delayed even longer.