"The sukkah is now stuck above the parents' bedroom, it's crazy"

A tour of the new Ayelet HaShahar neighborhood in northern Bnei Brak reveals how the Haredi sector is adapting to high-rise construction while maintaining a traditional lifestyle. Planner Benzi Rakob and real estate developer Malki Weiss explain the giant lobby for 400 people, a staircase at the building's core, and creative solutions for sukkahs like a "sukkah room" with a hole in the roof for the schach. Alongside innovations, compromises such as tiny balcony sukkahs that residents are unhappy with are described.

A tour of the Ayelet HaShahar neighborhood, the first new neighborhood in decades in Bnei Brak, reveals the real estate revolution in the Haredi world. Planner Benzi Rakob and real estate developer Malki Weiss lead the tour and explain how high-rise construction forces cultural adaptations. The giant lobby is designed for 400 people in 45 apartments and will also be used for day camps. The staircase is located at the building's core, contrary to convention, due to intensive use on Shabbat and weekdays. The main solution for sukkahs is a "sukkah room" - a functional room that opens to a sukkah with a metal fixture on the roof for placing the schach. Alongside this, there are tiny balcony sukkahs measuring one meter by one and a half meters, which residents see as a compromise. Rakob and Weiss disagree on whether balcony sukkahs started as a marketing gimmick in Jerusalem or existed in Bnei Brak since her childhood. The article presents the tension between preserving tradition and the constraints of modern construction.