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20 Teves 5767 - January 10, 2007 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
El Al Signs Binding Agreement Not to Fly on Shabbos

By Betzalel Kahn

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.

 

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