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18 Tammuz 5764 - July 7, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
City of Beit Shemesh to Dismiss 3 of Its 4 Chareidi Employees
by Betzalel Kahn

The City of Beit Shemesh began to send letters to about 90 municipality workers early this week, summoning them to appear before a hearing committee before being dismissed from their jobs. Three of the city's four chareidi workers are among those facing dismissal.

Several months ago the City of Beit Shemesh began to implement a recovery program, including plans to fire approximately 45 workers and force the retirement of another 45 ahead of schedule. Of the approximately 500 municipality workers less than one percent come from the chareidi sector, even though it now accounts for about 40 percent of the total population, kein yirbu.

The three chareidi employees summoned to the committee, a procedure required by law before dismissing municipal workers, are Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg, director of the Chein Chareidi Department (Torah Culture), Avi Cohen, director of the Sephardic Chareidi Education Department, and Assaf Matri, head of the Torah Culture Department. Many chareidi figures are concerned that their dismissal will lead to demonstrable disregard for the needs of the city's chareidi sector.

During the three years since Rabbi Greenberg assumed his post, for example, several dozen Torah events were held at botei knesses and educational institutions every year including camps during vacation periods, holiday events and other special events. This year the city's chareidi residents are bound to feel the absence of the Chein Chareidi Department and its director when summer and later the holiday season arrive; even if the City of Beit Shemesh chooses to organize Torah events in chareidi neighborhoods it won't know how.

A similar deficiency is likely to be seen in the area of education. In Beit Shemesh, 55 percent of all students are enrolled in the chareidi education system yet now there will be nobody seeing to the needs of these 10,000 students.

UTJ City Council members said on Monday they hope the three workers will succeed in convincing the Hearing Committee to reverse the decision to let them go when they appear before it on Sunday. The Interior Ministry has already approved the list of firings but the Histadrut has yet to approve it.

Immediately following the last elections Rabbi Chaim Friedman, director of the Ashkenazi Chareidi Education Department, was fired along with Rabbi Chanoch Dargner, deputy chairman of the Religious Council representing UTJ. The city's chareidi parties claim the dismissal of the chareidi workers was a political move against the chareidi community in response to its support for Natan Shetreet for mayor over Likud mayor Daniel Vaknin based on directives issued by local rabbonim. Vaknin has been at odds with the chareidi community for years, even though he wears a kippah.

Degel HaTorah secretary MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said the large chareidi sector in Beit Shemesh includes "very talented people and very few worked in the municipality. To go and fire them when there are almost no workers from the chareidi sector in the City of Beit Shemesh is tantamount to political firings. This is very grave from every possible perspective, not to speak of the skill, professionalism and dedication of the chareidi workers."

 

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