Yeshiva student detained for blowing shofar at 'Kotel Hakatan'

19-year-old filing an appeal on police-imposed restrictions on his movement.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
shofar 88 blowing (photo credit: )
shofar 88 blowing
(photo credit: )
A 19-year-old Jerusalem yeshiva student who was detained by police for blowing the shofar at an isolated section of the Western Wall known as the Kotel Hakatan on Rosh Hashana is filing an appeal Friday against police-imposed restrictions on his movement. Eliyahu Kleiman was briefly taken into custody Sunday morning after ignoring police requests to cease blowing the shofar at the site, which is approximately 20 meters long, is located near the Iron Gate adjacent to an entrance to the Temple Mount and is surrounded by Arab residents. Kleiman, a resident of the Old City, said Thursday he had joined a group of friends for part of the Rosh Hashana prayers, having prayed there in previous years. He was removed from the site after ignoring repeated police requests to stop blowing the shofar, Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Kleiman said he could not respond to the police officer because he was in the middle of the silent section of the prayers when the shofar is blown by one of the members of the minyan and it is forbidden according to Halacha to talk. Ben-Ruby said police asked Kleiman to stop blowing the shofar after he had finished his prayers in an effort to forestall possible friction at the site, since Muslim morning prayers for the holy month of Ramadan were underway on the Temple Mount. After he was dragged away from the site, Kleiman's shofar was confiscated and he was brought to a police compound near the Western Wall, where he was questioned and held for about three hours before being released without being charged. Kleiman stands accused of creating a public disturbance, attacking a police officer and preventing a police officer from carrying out his duties. He said he was ordered to stay away from the site for the next 15 days. Kleiman said prayer is authorized at the site, adding that he was planning to appeal the police restrictions on Friday at a Jerusalem court. During the late 1920s, the British forbade shofar-blowing at the Western Wall.