When R' Michoel and R' Yosef Wolfe started Erroca a few years
ago their only goal was to earn a respectable living from a
chain of optics stores across the country. Besiyata
deShmaya their efforts were blessed with success and now
Erroca outlets can be found everywhere. But the two former
South Africans, observant Jews now living in Jerusalem's
Bayit Vegan neighborhood, never imagined that one day the
State of Israel would stand in their way of keeping Shabbos.
This is a sad story that could only transpire in this
country, which declared itself "the Jewish state" 55 years
ago. Today it has proven itself to be like all the other
nations--or worse. For where else in the Western world do
official government bodies require citizens to work seven
days a week?
The two Wolfe brothers were shocked to discover that in order
to take part in a tender for commercial space in a government
facility they would be expected to open their store on
Shabbos. In their innocence they assumed that all of the
other stores may open on Shabbos but theirs alone would
proudly wear the badge of kedushas Shabbos, proving to
all that a business that shuts its doors on Shabbos can
succeed. But then they discovered that one of the inflexible
conditions of the tender was that they must keep the store
open every day of the year except for Yom Kippur.
The facility is Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion International
Airport, also known at NATBAG 2000, which is scheduled for
completion this month. The businesses that win the tender for
duty-free stores will enjoy the benefit of heavy traffic 24
hours per day. (Most of the duty-free stores in the current
terminal remain open on Shabbos. Patrons should know that
while they may be saving 17 percent off the price they stand
to lose more by purchasing goods from mechallelei
Shabbos.)
The two Wolfe brothers refused to give in and hired the
offices of Yehuda, Raveh & Associates, Israel's top legal
firm in the field of commercial law, to file a High Court
appeal, demanding a nisi order be issued to the
Airports Authority and the Transportation Ministry to allow
the company to take part in the tender without having to
commit to Shabbos desecration, chas vesholom.
40 Branches Closed on Shabbos
The Wolfe brothers made aliyah 30 years ago. Michoel
was a certified public accountant and Yosef was a licensed
optometrist. Using this interesting combination the two
decided to enter the Israeli market by opening an optics
store called Einit in Jerusalem's Merkaz Klal Shopping
Center. Gradually it expanded and moved to a new location at
the corner of Yeshayohu and Hanevi'im. Einit has been very
successful in its field, especially in the Jerusalem area,
but also through the optics products it imports and sells to
retailers across the country.
When the two brothers decided to expand seven years ago they
opened Erroca International, which imports and manufactures
optics products and operates a chain of 40 sunglasses stores
from Nahariya to Eilat. "Erroca stores are located primarily
in malls," R' Michoel told Yated Ne'eman, "and of
course we cater primarily to the secular public since
sunglasses are not a product often used by the chareidi
sector, certainly not as a fashion product. All of our
stores, without exception, are closed on Shabbos."
As an example he cites one of the chain's leading outlets,
located on Tel Aviv's Sheinkin Street. Friday is a shopping
day for Tel Aviv youth. Thousands visit the street every
week, and desiring to remain even after dark. "We simply push
people out before Shabbos begins and close the doors," says
Michoel Wolfe. "In Eilat alone, where all of the shopping
malls are exempt from customs and tourism flows every day of
the year, we have four stores, all of them closed on Shabbos.
Our competitors are open on Shabbos and holidays but people
who want to buy from us know they have to wait until motzei
Shabbos."
Recently the Wolfe brothers decided to continue expanding by
opening a duty-free shop at the airport. "This was supposed
to be our banner store," says R' Michoel, who hopes to win
the High Court case as a matter of principle and to
demonstrate that resolve pays off. After the appeal was
reported in the media the manager of the one of the country's
leading clothing chains expressed his support. "This is a
secular man who heads a chain of 100 stores, and he was
complaining that the shopping malls require him to open his
stores on Shabbos. Clearly this is a matter of principle. If
the court accepts our stance many businesses will be able to
use the High Court decision and wave it in the faces of those
who require them to open their businesses on Shabbos."
The Sin: Being a Believing Jew
"The question which stands before the honorable court in this
petition affects the core of the faith, identity and place in
Israeli society of a wide sector of the State of Israel's
citizens and residents," argues the petition against the
Airports Authority and the Transportation Minister drafted by
Attorney Aryeh Holtzer. "Now that chareidi individuals have
endeavored to set up an economically productive enterprise
which serves as a paradigm of chareidi economic involvement
and participation in commerce in the country, it would be
unseemly for this involvement to be rebuffed and stopped with
the stamp of an improper decision by the Airports Authority .
. .
"The question is not whether or not Ben Gurion Airport will
be open on Shabbat. The question is not even whether or not
the airport stores will be open on Shabbat. The question
which stands before this honorable court is whether the State
of Israel--the state of the Jewish people--will declare that
at its refurbished gates to the world at large--NATBAG 2000--
the name Erroca, the name of the petitioners' store, will not
be displayed for the sole reason that its owners are Jews who
keep Shabbat.
"Will the State of Israel say to the esteemed gentlemen,
Michael and Yosef Wolfe, and the greater public standing
behind them, `The State of Israel's symbolic gates are locked
before your businesses, for it is inconceivable to deny
travelers embarking for abroad on Shabbatot and Jewish
holidays the opportunity to purchase sunglasses upon their
departure?' "
In concluding his opening statements, Holtzer writes, "The
question before us focuses on denying the fundamental right
of an Israeli citizen to vie in a tender for the State of
Israel's banner project for the `sin' of being a believing
Jew."
After Erroca managers purchased the forms for the tender for
two sunglasses stores on the two floors of the terminal they
noticed that Article 11 of the contract that must be signed
by the winner of the tender and the Airports Authority reads,
"Services will be provided every day of the year during all
hours of the day and night during which flights are operating
at the airport."
Before turning to the courts they went to halachic
authorities to ask whether there might be some way to run the
stores on Shabbosos and Jewish holidays. "The unambiguous and
resolute response of the halachic poskim was negative,"
reads the petition.
The petitioners even went to HaRav Yehoshua Neuwirth, author
of the authoritative work Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchoso,
asking him to give a clear, written response. "Throughout the
generations Am Yisroel has guarded the embers of the
Shabbat and has done so through mesirus nefesh, as we
know from history," he writes. "Therefore as a Jew who loves
Am Yisroel, if this is a condition for receiving the
franchise--that the store be open on Shabbasos and holidays--
do not take part in the tender, and to our great sorrow the
responsibility lies with those who trample over the sanctity
of Shabbos."
Fair Competition
The petition argues that the two stores would cover a total
of only 110 square meters out of many thousands of square
meters of commercial space, and in any case its products,
sunglasses, would be available for sale at athletic supply
stores nearby that would presumably remain open on Shabbos.
Furthermore the petition suggests the court take heed of the
practice in other airports around the world where many of the
duty-free stores are closed on Sundays. "If this is seemly
for the nations of the world in this matter, it certainly
should be seemly for the State of Israel, whose weekly day of
rest is interwoven and integrated into the principles of the
Jewish tradition, even beyond the social objectives of
establishing a day of rest."
The petitioners also claim that the terms of the tender
infringe on their freedom of religion and constitute a
violation of Paragraph 2 of the Tenders Law which states,
"The executor of a tender shall not discriminate among
bidders based on their limitations, sex, status, parentage,
race, religion, nationality, country of origin, worldview or
party membership . . . "
The case also raises the question of the state's violation of
the Work and Rest Hours Law at Ben Gurion Airport. "Even if
the petitioners were interested in operating their stores on
Shabbatot and Jewish holidays, by doing so they would be
necessarily violating the directives of the Work and Rest
Hours Law and the Equal Opportunity Law and in any case would
be prevented, by law, from making a commitment to operate the
stores on these days," reads the petition, citing Paragraph 9
of the law, which prohibits employing a worker on his weekly
day of rest unless the Minister of Labor is convinced that
stopping work for weekly rest would cause major economic
damage. Since the petitioners are only asking to sell
sunglasses at the airport, it does not appear closing the
stores on Shabbos would cause damage to the Israeli economy.
*
This is the first High Court case to address the matter of
anti-religious coercion by a government body. The High Court
will be asked to determine whether the Freedom of Enterprise
Basic Law, along with the Basic Law of Human Dignity and
Liberty, only has the power to prevent working on Shabbos or
whether it also has the power to prevent believing Jews from
being required to open their businesses on Shabbos. Though
the petition does not appear to have great chances of success
the petitioners say they plan to see the case through to the
finish.
