"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

Doing the Numbers: Where, Who, What & Why
On this coming Shabbat we read parashat Naso, which continues the theme of accounting. The graphics/text drash below pulls together (in a mainly light-hearted fashion) the notions of counting and accountability. That same theme (albeit in a more serious vein) is the focus of this drash as well.

A Story of Numbers and Place and Tribe
Where - Jerusalem
Which street - HaEtzel Street
Who - Ghaleb Qaluti, an Arab resident, permit applicant
Who - Ahmad Abu Hussein. He drew up the plans for the developer, went from one city clerk to another, amended the blueprints and complied with all the requirements.
What Plans - Urban Master Plan 12877, which proposes replacing the one-story old abandoned Qaluti family house with an eight-story building. The plan has been bouncing between the local and district planning and building committees for three years.
What happened next?
The district committee, however, returned it to the local committee with three reservations. The most problematic reservation, according to the district committee, was "the dramatic change in the character of the construction" - in other words, the metamorphosis of a "pastoral" one-story home into an eight-story building.
...and then?
...a letter dated May 12 was sent by city councilman Yosef 'Pepe' Alalu (Meretz ) to the municipal engineer, Shlomo Eshkol. In it Alalu, who also chairs the city's oversight committee, noted that all the "reservations" were addressed satisfactorily by the city planner Amnon Arbel. A decision was made for the committee members to visit the site and see for themselves "the character of the construction" on Ha'etzel Street.
if...
the committee had visited the site (or Google Earth ), they would have found buildings of eight, nine and 10 stories and realized that the abandoned stone house was an exception.
but instead...
the committee passed on the field trip, and rejected the high-rise project.
update of the situation
At its most recent meeting, two weeks ago, the local zoning committee heard a building permit application that involved replacing existing buildings with six 10-story student dormitories. The site is about 200 meters from the Qaluti property, which remains abandoned. The project was approved unanimously. Allalu asked Eshkol whether Urban Plan 12877 was rejected because it was an Arab plan on Arab land, whereas the dormitory project is for Jewish construction on land owned by the Hebrew University. He is still waiting for an answer.

Ah, The Orwellian Beauty of Doublespeak...
Let's hear it from the spokesman of the united municipality on behalf of the chairman of the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee, Kobi Kahlon: "The only way to approve plans, according to the Planning and Building Law, is via the planning authorities, which rejected this plan," the spokesman noted, adding: "It is unnecessary and inappropriate to influence, in one manner or another, planning authorities that have already made a decision."

Something that Sounds LIke (an Uncomfortable) Truth
Let's listen to councilman Yakir Segev, a party colleague of the united city's Mayor Nir Barkat and the holder of the municipality's East Jerusalem portfolio. In a newspaper interview a year ago Segev said: "We will not allow residents of the eastern part of the city to build as much as they need ... I don't think the most important task is to resolve the housing shortage in East Jerusalem."

This elected official went on to say: "At the end of the day, however politically incorrect it may be to say, we will also look at the demographic situation in Jerusalem to make sure that in another 20 years we don't wake up in an Arab city." And indeed, in the Palestinian neighborhoods of the capital that have a master plan, the permitted building density is much lower - 25 percent to 75 percent - than in the Jewish neighborhoods, where it is between 75 percent and 125 percent. Yet, the housing shortage did not improve the "demographic situation" in the city; since 1967, the Palestinian population has increased from 70,000 to around 270,000. This despite the fact that in the same period it received building permits for less than 15,000 residences.

Words from Prime Minister Netanyahu
"Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at Sunday's festive cabinet meeting, held at the Tower of David, in the Old City, in honor of Jerusalem Day. In the conciliatory spirit that has recently taken hold of him, Netanyahu added: "This creates a difficulty for the Palestinians, but with creativity and good will, a solution is possible."

Words from the Psalmist
"Who is the man who desires life, who loves the days, who yearns for good? Guard your your tongue from evil and your lips from deceptive talk. Turn away from wrongdoing, practice goodness. Seek peace and pursue it."

The Take-home
As is the case in the last two Torah portions, here is a story of numbers and of place - who lives where... It's about much more. Mr. Netanyahu speaks of creativity and good will, but this story - illustrative, unfortunately, of a much larger picture of politicized city planning, describes a policy which fiercely chases peace away. Honestly, this is not the way forward. 

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Aaron

Click any of the images below to view the complete pdf file (some pdf files are more than one page)