A beis horaah in the heart of Mea Shearim has been operating for several years in a state of partial secrecy and under constant criticism. The court is led by Rav Teitelbaum, a baal teshuvah, and is run completely disconnected from the state of Israel, so complete that the building's opening hours are set according to European time, in order to avoid any recognition of Israel's official clock.
The building is marked from the outside by a large Palestinian flag and symbol painted on the old Jerusalem stone. The group behind the court has declared war on the Zionist state, and its members periodically burn Israeli flags, call out during memorial-day sirens, and hang Palestinian flags and supportive posters. Those familiar with the group note, however, that beyond the declarative and extreme rhetoric, the beis horaah itself does not conduct extensive practical activity.
Photographer Chaim Goldberg of Flash90 has provided a rare look inside the closed compound. The images show the old and nostalgic interior of the beis horaah, including a vintage rotary-dial telephone, stacks of worn seforim, and Rav Teitelbaum seated in his place, alongside exterior documentation of the flag painted on the building's walls.
