Jerusalem: insisted on violating Shabbos - and had to close the restaurant
Owner of Restaurant Restobar, refused to close the place on Shabbos and receive a kashrus certification, and was forced by the surface owner to vacate the premises • complains: "dark aged people are using deadly predatory acts"
- Yoel Koritz, B'Chadrei Charedim
- ט' ניסן התשע"ג
Because of the desecration of Shabbos: Restaurant Restobar, located next to the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, and is considered one of the most prominent symbols of the secular city, closed the morning (Monday) the doors - because the restaurant owner refused to close the place on weekends and holidays and make it kosher.
Owner of the land where the restaurant was, tried for a long time to convince the restaurant owner, Shachar Levy, to close the business on weekends and holidays, and thus make the cafe kosher. Levy refused and continued insist that he will not give in to religious coercion. Even before the owner purchased the area, Levi conducted legal battles against the requirement to force the closing on weekends and holidays.
Following this, he was asked to leave the building. And this morning, restaurant customers found that the door was locked.
In a statement issued by the owner, he wrote: "Customers, Dear friends and employees. This morning the Restobar door was not opened for the first time in eight years. We are sorry to inform that we can no longer accommodate you since our restaurant – is no longer ours.
"Property owner of the restaurant told us that we could not run the place, unless we make it kosher and close on weekends and holidays. Those of you who remember: since opening our business in the city we have successfully led public and legal struggles many years, the right to a secular lifestyle in the city of our birth, eat and drink to our hearts content, without restrictions or prohibitions, we fought for freedom, to go out, have fun and eat on our free day, and always sanctified the secular lifestyle and insisting that we the secular, are a group with equal rights in the city.
"In the draconian restriction placed on us by the owner of the property, it was clear that we could not run the restaurant this way, not on a personal level, not at the business level and at the level of conscience, and we did our best to change the decree - without success.
"It is sad that in Jerusalem, in 2013, dark aged people impose on a rampant and deadly lifestyle which wiped out the livelihood of about 50 employees and dozens of suppliers held in this business for many years. Since 98 we operate in Jerusalem, operating entertainment, live the city life, involved in public secular life, nightlife and such projects and others, and we became part of that loved secular bubble. Our enterprise was thrown into the drain this morning, and we are very pained by the loss. We apologize to the staff at our restaurant whom we love very much and to providers in the restaurant, working for us for years, and you loyal customers, who have accompanied us for more than a decade, thank you, with all our heart, and we hope to see you".
The restaurant is known as a secular stronghold in the city, and was also previously visited by well-known political figures, including the family of the Prime Minister living a minute away. At a time when the restaurant was still called the Cafe Moment, of the violent attacks during the intifada - which killed 11 people, occurred in the restaurant.
Owner of the land where the restaurant was, tried for a long time to convince the restaurant owner, Shachar Levy, to close the business on weekends and holidays, and thus make the cafe kosher. Levy refused and continued insist that he will not give in to religious coercion. Even before the owner purchased the area, Levi conducted legal battles against the requirement to force the closing on weekends and holidays.
Following this, he was asked to leave the building. And this morning, restaurant customers found that the door was locked.
In a statement issued by the owner, he wrote: "Customers, Dear friends and employees. This morning the Restobar door was not opened for the first time in eight years. We are sorry to inform that we can no longer accommodate you since our restaurant – is no longer ours.
"Property owner of the restaurant told us that we could not run the place, unless we make it kosher and close on weekends and holidays. Those of you who remember: since opening our business in the city we have successfully led public and legal struggles many years, the right to a secular lifestyle in the city of our birth, eat and drink to our hearts content, without restrictions or prohibitions, we fought for freedom, to go out, have fun and eat on our free day, and always sanctified the secular lifestyle and insisting that we the secular, are a group with equal rights in the city.
"In the draconian restriction placed on us by the owner of the property, it was clear that we could not run the restaurant this way, not on a personal level, not at the business level and at the level of conscience, and we did our best to change the decree - without success.
"It is sad that in Jerusalem, in 2013, dark aged people impose on a rampant and deadly lifestyle which wiped out the livelihood of about 50 employees and dozens of suppliers held in this business for many years. Since 98 we operate in Jerusalem, operating entertainment, live the city life, involved in public secular life, nightlife and such projects and others, and we became part of that loved secular bubble. Our enterprise was thrown into the drain this morning, and we are very pained by the loss. We apologize to the staff at our restaurant whom we love very much and to providers in the restaurant, working for us for years, and you loyal customers, who have accompanied us for more than a decade, thank you, with all our heart, and we hope to see you".
The restaurant is known as a secular stronghold in the city, and was also previously visited by well-known political figures, including the family of the Prime Minister living a minute away. At a time when the restaurant was still called the Cafe Moment, of the violent attacks during the intifada - which killed 11 people, occurred in the restaurant.
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