This, Too, Is Birthpangs of Mashiach

17 Elul 5776

This is the struggle to give birth. Am Yisrael is readying herself to receive her Mashiach. She has made her choice as to where she stands. The forces of evil are trying to prevent it, but they won't succeed. The Holy One Blessed Be He has so promised.

Some Fed Up Ashdod Residents Have Decided To ‘Get In The Face’ Of Frum Residents

Life between the chareidi and secular residents in Ashdod was uneventful for the most part, at least until last year when the Big shopping center began operating on the holy day. This led to protests by chareidim as well as threats of a boycott against the shopping center during the week by chareidim.

Now, tensions are increasing in some areas between the frum and the non-religious with both sides accusing the other of breaking the religious status-quo.

This follows a recent initiative to disrupt Shabbos in Bnei Brak, part of a Facebook campaign against the frum community in the Torah city, reportedly in retaliation for chareidi efforts to prevent Israel Railways’ from carrying out construction on Shabbos. Railway officials explain the work is ‘pikuach nefesh’ and if conducted on weekdays, the delays and interruptions of service would be huge in addition to incurring significant financial loss. That event was met with many secularists opposing the idea, feeling it was not an appropriate response. The event was to have taken place this past Shabbos and there are no reports that it did.

An initiative to hold a similar Shabbos party event in Ashdod has 334 persons agreeing to attend in Ashdod. Some respondents point out that in the “Zayin” area of the city, the chareidim have shut everything down on Shabbos “and it has become like a ghetto”.

“Every week it is the same thing – shouts of ‘Shabbos’. We are tired of it” another writes, a resident of area Gimmel, who states “for years we lived side-by-side and now this has changed”.

During the summer months, tensions increased as secular residents filled area parks on Shabbos and some expressed opposition to chareidim walking around in those areas on Shabbos. They explain that despite it being public areas, they were bothered by the chareidi presence.