Haredi Power Outages: Thousands Without Electricity on Shabbat

Thousands of families in three predominantly haredi (ultra-Orthodox) cities experienced prolonged power failures over the weekend, with blackouts occurring during the crucial hours before Shabbat and continuing into Shabbat itself. The outages affected Modiin Illit, Bnei Brak, and Rakhsim, sparking anger among residents who describe the recurring failures as a serious infrastructure breakdown.

In Modiin Illit, a major outage struck Friday afternoon, leaving thousands of households in the dark for hours with no clear timeline for restoration. Some neighborhoods had power restored only thirty minutes before Shabbat began, after families had already struggled to complete their Shabbat preparations in sweltering heat. Other areas remained without electricity until an hour after Shabbat had commenced. "We lost power at four in the afternoon," residents told Kikar HaShabbat, the source publication. "We couldn't finish cooking, so there wasn't much food for the meal. Shabbat started with a gloomy atmosphere because we had no main dish and no cholent."

The latest incident is part of a pattern of repeated failures in the city. The previous Shabbat also saw thousands left without power for extended periods, with some areas experiencing blackouts throughout the entire Shabbat. During this past Shabbat, additional problems emerged around 10 p.m. Friday night when power issues recurred.

Bnei Brak and Rakhsim also reported outages, with residents in various neighborhoods forced to cope with electricity failures precisely during Shabbat preparation hours amid intense summer heat. Recent weeks have seen problems in the Chazon Ish area and Ezra Street in Bnei Brak, where many families were left without power and some buildings received only partial service, making it impossible to operate air conditioners and essential appliances.

Meir Spiegler, CEO of the Israel Electric Corporation, addressed the Modiin Illit outage and pointed to what he described as a contributing factor. "The heavy load apparently also stems from apartment subdivisions and private connections that by their nature were not taken into account when planning the network's capacity," Spiegler stated.

In a message sent to residents, Spiegler explained that "company staff are in the field working to restore power to residents. They have now located the fault; it will take about another hour to restore electricity to all residents. This week we will perform root treatment on the system that supplies Modiin Illit."

Spiegler issued sharp criticism of what he characterized as illegal activity: "This is wild, lawless, and illegal conduct that harms each of us and causes those G-d-fearing residents who act lawfully to pay a heavy price of power disconnections as a result of others' actions. The time has come to put an end to this, and the sooner the better. This depends solely on the oversight and enforcement authorities doing their duty faithfully."

The recurring outages have generated intense criticism from residents demanding that the electric company address infrastructure needs and prevent future failures, particularly on Friday afternoons and during hot summer days. Residents note that the repeated problems damage quality of life and endanger the health of vulnerable populations, especially elderly people and young children.

Meanwhile, Modiin Illit residents have raised serious concerns about illegal electrical connections in certain areas of the city, which they claim pose severe safety hazards and contribute to network overload. According to residents, one area contains four wedding halls and more than 100 guest rooms, and the strain in that zone is repeatedly accompanied by power supply failures.