The Association of Community Rabbis has announced that it intends to petition the District Court against the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality after the city refused to allow a central Selichot prayer service to be held in accordance with Jewish law and tradition at Tel Baruch Beach on Saturday night.
While the municipality granted preliminary approval for the event, it conditioned the permit on a prohibition against any physical barriers separating men and women - a condition which makes it impossible to conduct the prayers in accordance with halakha (Jewish law) and infringes on participants' freedom of religion.
This is not the first time the Tel Aviv Municipality has taken such a step. Ahead of Yom Kippur three years ago, the municipality prohibited the Rosh Yehudi organization from holding a gender-separated prayer service in Dizengoff Square, and the prayer service itself was disrupted by dozens of protesters.
The following year, the issue reached the courts, which ruled that gender-separated prayers could be held on Yom Kippur but ordered that they be moved to Meir Park in Tel Aviv. Despite the victory in court, the organization decided to move the prayers inside, due to fears of provocations.
In April of last year, the Supreme Court published the reasoning behind its ruling on Rosh Yehudi's petition, sharply criticizing the municipality and its policy.