The unremitting campaign of the past several weeks to combat
chilul Shabbos at El Al finally reached a conclusion
late last week when the airline company signed a legal
agreement obligating it to observe Shabbos, according to an
announcement by Vaadas HaRabbonim Lemaan Kedushas HaShabbos
Be'Eretz Yisroel.
The accord was reached following a resolute battle guided by
a united front of gedolei Yisroel shlita representing
all streams of Torah-true Judaism to uphold the honor of
Shabbos Kodesh. The open-ended agreement is backed by the
appointment of Chief Rabbi Moshe Shlomo Amar, who will issue
halachic opinions in the event questions of Shabbos
observance arise. The agreement also includes legal
repercussions in the event El Al desecrates the Shabbos in
the future, chas vesholom.
Vaadas HaRabbonim says that now that an understanding has
been reached regarding the sensitivities of the chareidi and
Shabbos-observant public, travelers may resume flying on El
Al.
The broad public campaign began when El Al desecrated Shabbos
on Shabbos Parshas Vayeitzei. Gedolei Torah demanded
the company commit not repeat acts of chilul Shabbos,
even under exceptional circumstances, and made clear that the
Shabbos-observant public could not continue to fly El Al as
long as the airline caused chilul Hashem among the
nations. The boycott also served as a protest against the
affront to Shabbos Kodesh.
El Al has had an obligation to keep Shabbos ever since the
Begin government issued a decision 25 years ago following a
tough battle waged by the gedolei Yisroel of the
previous generation that reached its climax with a rabbinical
ban against flying El Al.
During the five weeks following the recent incident all
gedolei Yisroel from every stream and background in
both Eretz Yisroel and the Diaspora joined forces to
protest the company. They signed a boycott against the
company, instructing Vaadas HaRabbonim to release it only if
negotiations failed. Meanwhile Shabbos-observant travelers
avoided flying on El Al even though an official ban had not
been issued.
Based on directives by gedolei Yisroel the Vaadas
HaRabbonim insisted on guarantees to back the agreement and
demanded that in exceptional circumstances a rov be consulted
to issue a halachic decision regarding shemiras
Shabbos.
Last Thursday night (January 4-14 Teves), after an
understanding was finally reached, final status talks between
Vaadas HaRabbonim and top El Al officials got underway. The
breakthrough came after wealthy figures from New York, R'
Reuven Sharon and R' Avrohom Fruchthandler, major
shareholders of Discount Bank, stepped in through the agency
of their lawyers, Atty. Amnon Lorch and Atty. Boaz Peal of
the law office of Atty. Yigal Arnon, to arrange guarantees
between El Al and Vaadas HaRabbonim and their representative,
Atty. R' Yaakov Weinroth.
According to the agreement, El Al made a legally binding
commitment to keep Shabbos based on the government decision
of 5742 (1982). Appended to the draft of the agreement are
important historical documents: two letters written by then
Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Transportation Minister
Chaim Corfu.
This week Vaadas HaRabbonim members paid a visit to Rabbi
Amar's office to confer the appointment on him.
Last Thursday night the final details were arranged and the
next morning, before the signing, all of the legal teams sat
down to finalize the agreement. On the margins of the
agreement is a paragraph stating that Vaadas HaRabbonim and
El Al will continue to hold meetings to seek solutions to
accommodate the sensitivities of the chareidi public.
At the time of the signing, El Al CEO Mr. Chaim Romano told
Vaadas HaRabbonim members that El Al Flight 002 returned to
JFK Airport shortly after takeoff Thursday morning when one
of the four engines failed and the flight was delayed until
Sunday to avoid desecrating Shabbos. The 300 passengers on
board were lodged at various hotels at El Al's expense.
Vaadas HaRabbonim extended its appreciation to the Shabbos-
observant public for making monetary sacrifices and
undergoing various inconveniences in order to heed the call
by chachomim to uphold the sanctity of Shabbos Kodesh.
They also praised chareidi travel agents who stopped selling
tickets on El Al despite the financial losses they
incurred.
Vaadas HaRabbonim spokesmen said they are pleased with the
understanding reached with El Al, but noted that the task is
not yet complete, and expressed hopes El Al, along with all
other airline companies, will beginning keeping Shabbos
fully.
