There was a positive response to Minister Gideon Saar's courageous decision to forbid groceries in Tel Aviv from opening on Shabbos in spite of outspoken criticism from secular bodies.
This past Monday, Saar stirred up a storm of protest in Tel Aviv and in political circles when he prevented the Tel Aviv municipality from anchoring in law permission for food stores to open on Shabbos. He rejected clauses in the new [chok eizer] municipal law formulated by the city which was already approved in the Tel Aviv municipal council. He did approve the clauses dealing with commercial sites such as the Tel Aviv and Jaffa harbors, the gas station in Neve Tzedek and stores connected to it, which will be allowed to remain open on Shabbos.
Rabbonim and public figures noted that "whatever Minister Saar understands is surely something which other Jews throughout the country should intuit, including Jerusalem, the Holy City, for whom the sanctity of Shabbos is of supreme importance, and who feel forced to stand up and vociferously protest the growing trend of trampling the sanctity of Shabbos unashamedly in the very `palace of the King'.
"But precisely here, it is necessary to warn those bodies and representatives of the city who babble about the blatant violation of Shabbos in public but who do not speak up to protest the backsliding taking place everywhere, to our disgrace, in the walls of Shabbos in our city," the rabbonim stated.
There have been recent reports that Minister Saar recently undertook increased Shabbos observance in his own home.
Tel Aviv Municipality Appeals to the High Court
The Tel Aviv municipality decided this past Monday to appeal to the High Court to reverse Minister Saar's decision to reject the new municipal law passed by the city council and thus prevent food stories from opening on Shabbos.
It was also decided that beginning this coming weekend, the standing law will be partially exercised to prevent the opening of such stores on Shabbos - in order to avoid dishonor of the court. This means, in effect:
The municipality will act against such stores which violate the law. In the first stage, such stores will be given reports and later on, when the violation continues, will have their stores closed down.
Incitement Against Shomrei Shabbos
A decline by trendsetters in the secular public, the Bohemian crowd and other lowdown characters, was exhibited in the hysterical reaction of Minister Saar's decision to close down food shops on Shabbos throughout Tel Aviv.
One of the sharpest expressions was: "Iran is already here, like a cancerous growth, cell after cell. It appears to me like a regrettable populist decision. Tel Aviv is unique; it is a place where people of all religions and sectors live side by side."
