Four months after Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat ordered the closure on Shabbos of eight supermarkets and minimarkets in the center of the city, non-Jewish owners found an innovative way to bypass the Shabbos closure regulation – they are closing their stores for a different day of rest and operating on Shabbos. They explain the city’s attorney general ordered the stores closed on the day of rest and they are complying with this, shutting down on their day of rest, which is not the Jewish Shabbos but Sunday. It appears the city is permitting this but not permitting stores owned by Jews to open on Shabbos.

While the chareidi parties in the Jerusalem Council continue battling to maintain the Shabbos character of the city, it appears that despite Mayor Nir Barkat insisting he is maintaining the Shabbos status quo; more and more businesses in Jerusalem are operating on Shabbos.

According to the MyNet report, the supermarket called Terminal 21, located at the corners of Yaffo and Shlomtzion HaMalka, is owned by non-Jews who have already declared their willingness to shut their doors on Sunday, their day of rest and operate on Shabbos. It is pointed out that in the store, which has opened on Shabbos and Yomim Tovim for over a decade, both non-Jews and Jews are employed. This is true regarding the supermarket in the alley of Shamai and Hillel Streets, explaining a non-Jewish woman owns the store, which serves foreign workers primarily.

It is explained the recently-opened store oppose the Dublin Club in the capital serves foreigners too primarily, including workers from Thailand, China, the Philippines and of course Israelis interested in items from the east. In actuality, many Israelis use this store to buy their staple products including bread and milk.

The bottom line is that store owners explain they earn more on Shabbos than the rest of the week. The report explains one store, which is not kosher and does not claim to be kosher, is permitted to operate on Shabbos.

When asked to comment on the statements from the various business owners, City Hall states it is unaware of any store in the center of the city which received a permit to operate on Shabbos and those that reportedly do are being probed.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)