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.
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.
