The municipal coalition in Ramat Gan, the residential suburb of Tel Aviv, is in danger of dissolution because of a discotheque. The municipality’s Education, Culture and Youth Department, faced with an increasing problem of providing sufficient entertainment for youths to deter them from idleness and hooliganism, turned an empty air raid shelter in the center of town into a discotheque with up-to-date sound equipment. All went well for several days, with teenagers entering on tickets distributed at secondary schools.
But when the night spot opened last Friday night, the National Religious Party’s councilors threatened to quit the coalition unless the place was immediately ordered to stay closed on the Sabbath.
Since Friday night is “the” night for discothequing, with no school the next morning, the Youth Department decided to keep the place open Friday nights to keep the kids occupied. But the NRP officials consider the decision a breach of the religious status quo. Discussions within the coalition are being held in an effort to head off a crisis between the forces of halacha and those of hard rock.
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