The Cinema that Almost Brought the Government Down
Hiechal Cinema is one of the first and mythological cinemas of Petah Tikva, and is the only historical cinema remaining in the city today. The cinema is an integral part of Petah Tikva's history, and it served as the center of its cultural life for many years, like Heichal HaTarbut or the Opera House in Tel Aviv. Throughout its many years, the cinema building was also used for many public gatherings. The first Israeli prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, for example, gave lectures and speeches in it to the workers of the city and the surrounding area.
The cinema was built in the mid-1930s at the initiative of the Histadrut and the city council, and was inaugurated in 1937 in a splendid ceremony with many attendees. It was renovated in the 1980s, but stopped operating in 2004, and since then it has been abandoned and unused.
The magnificent cinema building was designed by the architect Aryeh Sharon in the international style, and it included an innovative electric roof. On hot summer nights, the cinema owners would open the roof using its rails and allow the evening breeze to come in and cool the spectators. The cinema was considered one of the wonders of the world to the city residents, and the opening of the roof was an attraction in itself.
The cinema is a nostalgic place for many people that lived in Petah Tikva. The children who grew up in the city used to "sneak in" to the cinema in different methods. One of them was a group of children who jointly bought one ticket. A first child would enter the cinema using the ticket, and then open the exit door at dark from the inside and allow his friends to join.
In the 1980s, the Heichal cinema was at the center of a temperamental struggle. The mayor of the city, Dov Tavori, decided to open the cinema on weekends, provoking strong protests and demonstrations by religious Shabbat-observing residents. The opening of the cinema on Shabbat has become one of the focal points of the struggle between religious and secular citizens in the State of Israel. After the arrest of Chief Rabbi Salomon in 1984 during one of the demonstrations, the Israeli government was even destabilized due to one of the religious parties threatening to withdraw from the coalition. The affair continued for several years, but the demonstrations gradually faded until they stopped completely in 1987, and the cinema continued to operate on weekends until it was closed.
(Anecdote authored by: עמיר)
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