Jerusalem's Yaar Ramot Synagogue faces ongoing harassment from Haredi extremists

One morning in early August, members of the Yaar Ramot Community in Jerusalem woke up to find fliers with the words 'Do not be silent!' hung in the area surrounding their synagogue, Kehilat Yaar Ramot. 

These posters, addressed directly to Haredi members of the neighborhood, call for protests against the establishment of a conservative synagogue. In their minds, these protesters are banding together to remove a ‘threat’ from the neighborhood, saying that the Haredi community must do everything possible to ‘dissuade them from this path.’

“A few years ago, there was some noise that eventually died down.” Gadi Perl, who has been leading the community in this struggle, told The Jerusalem Post. Gadi recalled a conflict between the two communities during the COVID-19 pandemic when a group of Haredis attempted to claim that the synagogue was their own because it wasn’t in use. 

“Because, unlike them, we followed the rules.”

According to Gadi, these fliers were put up early in August, along with their daily ‘protest prayers’ in front of the shul, though he noted that they initially could barely make a minyan most days.

“On Sunday, it seems they realized they needed to make some noise, and they invaded the synagogue courtyard.” Gadi went on. “On Monday, they invaded again, and it escalated into a confrontation, leading to the police being called.”

On Tuesday, the community set up a lock in an attempt to prevent further escalation, but when Haredis broke it with a cutter, police stood by and allowed them to enter.

“On Wednesday, there was already a police presence, and we put on a serious lock. So, they prayed outside. But after the police left, we caught a man on the security cameras pouring contact adhesive on our lock.”

By this point, a WhatsApp group had been created to spread the word throughout the conservative community, and the two groups went to court.

“They stood in court this morning and told a bunch of lies.” one member said, “We call them Teflon because they've got protection in the area.”

Though Gadi and his community are expecting a judge to rule that the Haredim must keep away from the synagogue, nobody truly expects this to be enforced. As of Thursday, no one has been arrested or detained despite Gadi providing authorities with photos and names.

Conservative leaders have addressed this issue

"I strongly condemn and view with great severity the harassment by a violent, extremist Haredi minority against the longstanding and important Conservative synagogue and community in the Ramot neighborhood. Yossi Havilio, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem and head of the ‘Jerusalem Union’ faction, who has been supporting the Conservative community in Jerusalem, stated.

“It is crucial to protect all the different communities in the city and to ensure their ability to pray and live without interference."

Rakefet Ginsberg, CEO of the Conservative Movement in Israel, added, "Those who remained silent three years ago when, on the eve of Tisha B'Av, dozens of Hardalim (ultra-Orthodox nationalists) broke into the 'Ezrat Yisrael' section at the Western Wall to disrupt the reading of the Megillah, those who stayed quiet when the son of an MK tore Conservative prayer books during Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall—should not be surprised later when this violence becomes routine."

Every day that this isn’t addressed, the Haredis continue to spread hatred and incite violence against the Conservative community of Yaar Ramot.

“They’re saying we're, you know, treif, and god knows what else,” a member posted in the Whatsapp group.

“If someone would write that about ultra-orthodox…” Dvir Nave, another member of the community, said to The Post.

Though police and the court have made little effort to help, members of Kehilat Yaar Ramot will not allow this to pass silently. 

“This is an antisemitic hate crime that, if it had occurred anywhere else in the world, would have been dealt with with the utmost severity and condemned across the board.” Yossi Havilo said, “I expect all municipal and religious authorities in the city to condemn the harassment of the synagogue and call on the police to address the issue immediately with the full severity required.”