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11 Sivan 5760 - June 14, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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News
Ashdod Residents Prevent Massive Shabbos Desecration

by B. Rabinowitz

Last Shabbos, residents of Rova Gimmel in Ashdod prevented massive Shabbos desecration when employees of the Municipal Water Department sought to fix a main water pipe which had burst.

On Shabbos night, the main water pipe passing through the center of Ashdod's Rova Gimmel neighborhood burst. The entire area filled with vast amounts of water. Water Department workers arrived on the scene in the morning to fix the pipe, after shutting off the supply.

The workers arrived in a tractor in order to open the street and fix the pipe. Torah-observant residents assembled at the site and protested the Shabbos desecration. One of the activists spoke with the director of Ashdod's Water Department, Yitzhak Emanuel and firmly told him that the residents would prevent Shabbos desecration in their neighborhood with their own bodies, if necessary.

Emanuel claimed that by not fixing the pipe, thousands of families would be left without water during Shabbos. However, the activist explained that the problem was not one of pikuach nefesh and that there were no hospitals in the area. Residents could manage until after Shabbos, he said. In the end, Emanuel agreed to postpone the work and to suffice with the placement of fences around the area in order to warn passersby of the open pits.

While deliberations with the head of the Water Department were taking place, the police arrived on the scene. However, upon learning that the sides had reached an understanding, they did not interfere. Police, however, claimed that the area should be guarded until after Shabbos. The residents agreed to guard the area themselves, and did so until motzei Shabbos to the full satisfaction of the police.

Local activists relate that this affair proves that when residents are determined to preserve the sanctity of Shabbos, they can succeed. This case, they said, obligates residents throughout the country to be on the alert regarding Shabbos desecration and to protect its sanctity with firm resolve.


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