Free The Hurva!!! – Rabbi Barry Gelman
I was in Israel last week and attempted to visit the rebuilt Churva shul in the old city. I was with a friend and we were told that it was closed to tourists expect for tefilla time and after 7PM. We were told that it is used for torah study during the day. We finally convinced the guard (and this was no easy task) that we would like to enter in order to study as well. When he said yes it was only on the condition that we would not walk or even look around to see the remodeling. I even saw him peeking back at us to make sure we were not actually looking around. I must admit that I took my eyes off of the mishna berura for a few minutes to look around. It is beautiful! Being that is such a wonderful reconstruction it is even more of a shame that it is not open to the public on a regular basis.
I wonder who made this deal and how it is that a place that the government spent millions of dollars refurbishing is closed to the public and only open to yeshiva bochurim.
BTW – If you want to get in – I recommend black pants and a white shirt. it will make it easier for you to make your case that you can actually learn. I had a hard time with my gold shirt and khaki pants. Ladies, I am afraid you are out of luck…
For more in this see here – http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=177578
