Jerusalem gives new site for Hinuka's sukkah after outcry

After days of public uproar over the dismantling of a tefillah sukkah in Jerusalem's Yemin Moshe neighborhood, a solution has been reached: the Jerusalem municipality has allocated a special area near the original site where a new sukkah will be erected for HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Yehuda Bari, known as "the Yanuka", and the hundreds of his talmidim.

As reported by Kikar Hashabbat, municipal inspectors arrived to dismantle the tefillah sukkah that had been erected for the Hinuka's mispallelim and served for tefillos and shiurim with hundreds of participants each day. The structure had not been built on open municipal land, but rather on property managed by the Jerusalem Foundation and the neighborhood committee.

The Yanuka with the lulav this morning in his sukkah in Jerusalem (Photo: Courtesy)

The dismantling triggered a wave of protest from rabbanim, public figures, media personalities and others, and City Hall that the criticism could not be ignored and a solution acceptable to all sides had to be found.

Mayor Moshe Lion, who stepped in to help, found an appropriate solution that allows the tefillos and shiurim to continue as usual while preserving kavod haTorah and the simcha of Chag HaSukkos.

The tefillos and gatherings are now expected to continue in a festive atmosphere facing the walls of the Old City.

Following the dismantling of the original sukkah, tefillos and shiurim were temporarily moved to the nearby "Beit Shmuel" sukkah until the new sukkah is erected at the site allocated by the municipality.