Beit Shemesh mayor in Five Towns

Speaks to relatives and friends of olim

By Daniella Adler It’s an interesting way to reach voters in your Israeli city: visit their family and friends back in the States. The mayor of Beit Shemesh, Israel and several city officials were in Cedarhurst on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Speaking at a private home to an audience of mostly family and friends of Beit Shemesh residents, Mayor Moshe Abutbol spoke about his city’s diversity, its ties to eight sister cities in other countries, and a project to put up 22,000 new apartments on the outskirts of Beit Shemesh. He stressed the need for more immigration and financial support for development in the area.    During a question and answer session, Abutbol didn’t shy away from concerns about recent negative publicity about Beit Shemesh. Regarding tensions and violent flare-ups between chareidi and non-chareidi residents, Abutbol explained that while he only recently became mayor he was working to quietly negotiate with the two sides. He condemned violence by charedim as unacceptable.   “They are not really chareidi if they don’t live according to the Torah,” in his opinion.  Different segments of the Beit Shemesh community get along well, for the most part, the mayor asserted.  Abutbol also addressed concern about the halt in the construction of Orot, a girl’s school in Beit Shemesh. He blamed “technical problems” and gave his word the school would be finished, though he did not offer an exact date. Other concerns voiced during the session included a lack of activities for retirees and children who are used to bowling alleys and baseball fields in America. Deputy Mayor Shalom Lerner stressed the importance of grassroots efforts by new olim to fill in perceived niches. “The Beit Shemesh municipality doesn’t have a lot of money,” Lerner said. “We rely on new immigrants to start their own programming and organizations, and the government will assess the needs of community members once they’ve moved in.” Building parks in different neighborhoods is the municipality’s next big project. “We want to build a new playground for the chareidi community in Beit Shemesh,” Abutbol said. “There are thousands of children running around and they don’t have any place to play.” The meeting was at the Cedarhurst home of David and Maxine Somerstein.