Today there was terrible massive chilul Shabbos in Eretz Yisrael because of the Euro-vision contest. Now even without chilul Shabbos, the Holy Land not the place for this contest for numerous reasons. But the chilul Shabbos made it much much worse. The Torah says that for just ONE chilul Shabbos, a person is liable for capital punishment and here there were tens of thousands of chilulei Shabbos. How surprised I was to hear a popular, religious Jewish music personality express his opinion on the airwaves to thousands of listeners, that all in all - this is a great thing, despite the chilul Shabbos.
I understood that his rationale is that since this contest taking place in Israel, it gives the State of Israel international recognition, and is thus worth it. For many people, even observant, the State Of Israel overrides the whole Torah. I follow a different religion....
A well known story:
A Miami rabbi was lecturing to a group of senior citizens about the life of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaKohen of Radin. “This great sage,” he explained, “impacted the lives of thousands of Jewish souls with his simple, down-to-earth approach. He published scores of books that applied to everyday living and mastered the art of the parable, imbuing profound Jewish concepts with simple tales.”
The rabbi proceeded to recount a tale that had circulated in the halls of yeshivos the world over. “Once the Chofetz Chaim was informed that a particular boy in his yeshiva was smoking on Shabbos. The Mashgiach of the Yeshiva decided that the boy must be ousted from the school. However, the Chofetz Chaim asked to speak to the young man before the eviction was completed. “The young man entered the Chofetz Chaim’s study. He was there for only about 15 minutes, and no one knows what the Chofetz Chaim told him, but the story as I heard it,” the rabbi from Miami exclaimed, “is that not only did the boy decide to remain a Shabbos observer the rest of his life, he also became a strong supporter of Torah institutions.”
The speech ended. The crowd shuffled out. But one elderly man remained fixed in his chair. His face was ashen and his eyes were focused directly at the Rabbi. Slowly he got up and approached the lectern. “Where did you hear that story?” he demanded. “Do you know who that boy was?”
The Rabbi shook his head in nervous innocence. “No,” he stammered. He could not imagine where the conversation was leading.
“It was me!” cried the old man. “And you know what the Chofetz Chaim told me?”
Again the Rabbi, not knowing what to say, shook his head with nervous ignorance. “I have no idea,” he pleaded. “Honestly, I have no idea. What did the Chofetz Chaim say?”
The man smiled. “The Chofetz Chaim said absolutely nothing.” As his mind raced back more than half a century the old man repeated the words again. “Absolutely nothing just held my hand — the one that held the cigarettes — and began to cry. Then the Chofetz Chaim slowly began to whisper the words ‘Shabbos, Shabbos’ over and over in a sad singsong. And the words mingled with the tears that were dripping on my hand that had held a cigarette just hours earlier.
“He sat there without looking at me. Crying. He felt the pain of the Shabbos. And I felt his pain, too. Just being there with him for those 15 minutes changed the hand that held the cigarette to the hand that would hold up the Torah.”
