A troubled mood prevailed at a meeting of the Rabbinical
Committee for the Sake of the Sanctity of Shabbos on 14 Iyar
to discuss the increase in Shabbos desecration in
Jerusalem.
Committee members discussed complaints made by shomer
Shabbos residents reporting that new businesses have
begun to open on Shabbos. "The Drugstore" in the center of
town was named. Although its proprietor recently said that
he intends to close all of his stores on Shabbos and
holidays, they are still open on Shabbos, serving as hubs of
shameful Shabbos desecration.
A prominent delegation of residents of Jerusalem's northern
neighborhoods requested the Committee's intervention in
order to solve the problem of the paving of the Shamgar-
Golda Highway. Members of the delegation fear that upon
completion of the paving, its main traffic arteries, which
pass right through the chareidi neighborhoods, are liable to
become new sources of Shabbos desecration. In addition, they
claim that the road contains many potential safety
hazards.
The Rabbinical Committee asked its secretary to organize a
comprehensive meeting to which members of the UTJ and Shas
parties in the Jerusalem Municipality as well as
neighborhoods representatives would be invited. After the
issues are clarified, they will be presented to the
gedolei Yisroel, who will decide how to address the
problem of the road.
The Rabbinical Committee stressed once again that any public
or private body renting commercial sites, swimming pools,
and the like lending their hands to Shabbos desecration runs
the risk of losing money, because the committee is liable to
publicize the fact that the site tramples the sanctity of
Shabbos. In such a case it would recommend that Jews that
appreciate the preciousness of Shabbos not make use of
it.
