Yerushalayim – The Vaad Mishmeres Shabbos in Ashdod is urging chareidi residents of the city to only use taxis whose vehicles display the Shomer Shabbos sticker in an effort to support those companies which do not contribute to chilul Shabbos in the city. The rabbonim also urge drivers working for those firms to cease driving people privately on Shabbos, outside the company framework, obviously referring to non-frum drivers employed by a shomer Shabbos firm.
In the chareidi areas, there are three shomer Shabbos taxi companies and the vaad urges residents to only use one of the three.
The Vaad Mishmeres Shabbos works to bring the Shabbos to all, trying to spread the message to those who do not know, especially the many residents who immigrated from the FSU, many lacking even the most fundamental knowledge of yiddishkeit.
Avreichim make the rounds on erev Shabbos, urging store owners to close and honor the day, with the vaad publicizing lists of shomer Shabbos businesses, advocating the frum community support those shops which honor the Shabbos.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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15 Responses
One would think that “vindictive” tactics like this are counterintuitive to trying to “bring the Shabbos to all, etc…”
You cannot bring shabbos to others by forcing it on them, or trying to remove any signs of being non-shomer shabbos. The vaad, as pure as their intentions may be, are going about this in the wrong way. It comes off as highly punitive to urge people not to shop at places that are not shomer shabbos. That’s not necessarily bad, but it shouldn’t be couched in terms of trying to “bring shabbos to others” – it’s trying to force it on others.
More effective would be to invite these people who do not know to enjoy and experience a shabbos with a frum family, in a non-judgmental way. I guarantee that it works better (I’ve seen it done many times)
Do you know the names of the 3 shomer Shabbat taxi companies ?
im not sure if these tacts help increase the love for shabbos and helps created stiff neck people who might not know what is shabbos whats the term
kfiyah datit?
a car drives into a neighborhood persons sorrund the car with indignation to desecrate their shabbos?? man goes away feeling pushed
A car drives into a neighborhood rolls in front of the shul doors open and people swarm and soround the car full of smiles we are just about to make kiddush come and eat or drink something before you go jokes and hitorrerut and sunset the man leaves the shul maybe he had too many lechaims but he has a different view of living with hakadosh baruch hu and doing his groove
#5 have the same problem with the torah, why should one be chaiv karus, or sekuleh etc on desecrating shabbos or any other mitzvah, for that matter, lets just take him out to lunch to a classy restaurant and show them how nice we are..and what about those primitive mitzvos that we can realy not ask them to do….and this is how one starts to disregard the whole tora c’v.the Y’H starts with pee wee thing,he cames in with small cracks untill
#6:
That’s not what #5 was suggesting whatsoever. As I said previously, the way you are going to spread the beauty of shabbos to others is by welcoming them in and showing them its beauty, not by trying to put them out of business or harm them. Doing those things will only breed contempt for the religious, and will drive them farther from Torah.
Invite them in, show them how beautiful it can be, and there is a far greater chance that they will slowly but surely see the light. Remember, inviting them in does not equal condoning chillul shabbos, and change does not happen overnight.
I can’t stress enough that attempting to harm these peoples’ business will fail if the goal is actually to help people see the beauty of shabbos. If the goal is to wipe out chillul shabbos by putting people out of business so they are unable to, then perhaps it will work. But that shouldn’t be the goal.
casualobserver-you are 100% right!
Rabbi Swift tried this in Pittsburgh, but there weren’t any frum drivers.
Frum or not frum… do not drive in a taxi with an Arab driver.
#7 thats exactly what #5 imlied…
“Rabbi Swift tried this in Pittsburgh, but there weren’t any frum drivers”. —-It is evident that in Ashdod and every other city there are available frum Shomer Shabbos taxi drivers. (Pittsburgh is NOT in the Holy Land).
#4, you should change your name from AZI to “AZUS PANIM”.
#2 besides , chchom, were is it mentioned ‘forcing’ in this case?..theres a din of paronizing ‘amisacha’ which is ‘amisacha’ bemitzvos.. see meforshim
#14:
The drive in the article seems to be to only patronize shomer-shabbos drivers, and thus reduce the number of non-shomer drivers due to economic pressure. This is not being mekarev, it is being forceful. Again, perhaps there is nothing wrong with that – I’m certainly not arguing that one shouldn’t patronize businesses that are run by amisacha b’mitzvos.
However, if the goal really is to bring more Jews the beauty of shabbos, they’re doing it wrong.
It’s called a carrot and a stick. Yemin mekareves, usmol docheh. If you keep shabbos, we will patronise you; if you don’t, we will patronise your competitors who do. If that’s “coercion”, then bring it on.
#17:
There’s only one problem with it: it won’t work.
First, I doubt whether it will actually have much of an impact, because let’s face it, when you’re trying to hail a cab, usually you just want to get in the first one that pulls up.
Second, even if it does have some kind of impact on their livelihood, the non-frum drivers are not going to say to themselves “look how beautiful shabbos is, I should start keeping it.” Rather, they will be bitter and/or angry toward not only frum Jews, but the Torah generally. Needless to say this would be a travesty. Lo and behold, the chiloni will bear even more resentment toward the religious. Things like this will do that.