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In an unprecedented step, the heads of four cities in Gush Dan have decided to breach the status quo and tamper with the fortified wall of Shabbos sanctity without compunction and operate public transportation starting from this upcoming Shabbos parshas Chayei Sarah in the same format as on weekdays.
The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America issued a special announcement calling upon our community to take steps to enhance Shabbos fulfillment. They suggested lighting candles earlier, reviewing halachos, singing zemiros and to ensure that our speech on Shabbos is different from the whole week, "to add to [our seudas] a greater spiritual dimension." Their statement can be seen by clicking on the small image of it.
According to the defiant announcement publicized by those regional councils, "Six lines will pass through 500 bus stops during Shabbos in various cities in Gush Dan. The service will, at present, be offered without cost."
Those cities participating in this outrageous plan include Givatayim, Kiryat Ono, Ramat Hasharon, while the primary initiator is the municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, which claims that many other cities in the area are interested in joining the project.
According to the public announcement, the bus company which will be running the project, to our dismay, on a regular basis in the future, bases the project on the operation of minibuses of 19 seats along six routes of a length of 300 kilometers through those cities participating in this contemptible scheme.
The city council heads stressed very brazenly that the buses will stop at 500 stations, circumventing neighborhoods that are Shomrei Shabbos.
