The Jewish National Fund, together with the Israeli police, are turning tough this year against an annual pestilence: people who wantonly savage trees in order to obtain foliage (sechach) for their succot.
The JNF has issued public warnings referring to the stiff penalities — 200,000 Shekel fines and prison terms for tree-vandals. JNF guards and policemen have taken up watch at “strategic” spots, especially wooded areas near large cities, with a view to preventing or apprehending would-be tree-spoilers.
(Halachically, stolen foliate is of course forbidden and unusable for the mitzva of Succa.)
At the same time, the JNF has been cooperating with local authorities to provided law-abiding succa-builders with foliage cut by qualified gardeners and foresters in the course of regular (and necessary) pruning of trees.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
