About 1,000 Orthodox Jews staged a demonstration at Petach Tikvah Friday night, trying to prevent a performance in one of the town’s theatres which they considered a violation of the sacredness of the Sabbath. A week earlier, a Jazz concert was staged at the same theatre on Friday night. This time, Orthodox Jews had asked for a police permit to demonstrate against another Friday night performance, but permission was denied.
Religious residents of Petach Tikvah massed around Yeshiva House and started marching toward the theatre, evidently intending to block entrances to the house. When reinforced police units tried to break up the demonstrations, some of the Orthodox protesters pelted the policemen with stones. However, the police kept the entrances to the theatre open. Orthodox leaders at Petach Tikvah have announced they will stage another demonstration against Friday evening performances next Sabbath eve.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.