Keeping Shabbos as a Factory Employee: My Father’s Father
My Zaidy, Moshe Sonnenschein, moved to Montreal after World War II. An expert tailor, he found employment in a local factory. More than half of the 120 workers were Jewish, many of them Holocaust survivors.
Zaidy began working on a Wednesday. His supervisor was quickly impressed by his ability to fix or remake any garment, and gave him all the work that others were not capable of doing.
At 3:00 PM on that first Friday in February, Zaidy packed up his things and prepared to leave.
When the Jewish lady on the next table saw this, she asked him, “Where are you going?”
“What do you mean ‘Where am I going?’” Zaidy answed. “It will soon be Shabbos! I am going home!”
“At least leave through the side door,” the woman suggested. “Maybe no one will notice.”
But Zaidy refused. “Why should I sneak out through the side door?” Zaidy asked. “I didn’t steal anything! I’ll go out through the same door I came into this morning!”
As Zaidy was leaving, his supervisor asked him where he was going. When Zaidy told him he was headed home for Shabbos, the supervisor only asked - “Will you be back on Monday? Just make sure you come back on Monday morning!”
Zaidy worked in that factory for 28 years. No one ever gave him a hard time about leaving early for Shabbos, and whenever there was an office party, all the food was kosher so that he would be able to eat!
Keeping Shabbos as Owner of a Small Business: My Mother’s Father
My other Zaidy, Herman Moskowitz, owned a children’s clothing shop in the Bronx. It was the 1960s, and most of the stores in the area - even the Jewish ones - took advantage of the busy shopping day on Saturdays by keeping their stores open for business.
My Zaidy, however, always closed his shop for Shabbos.
One Sunday morning in the bustling shopping month of December, my Zaidy came to open his store. The owner of the neighboring shop, also a Jew, began to poke fun at him for not working on Shabbos.
“The streets were packed yesterday, Herman! There were so many shoppers,” the man told Zaidy. “You don’t know what you missed!”
Replied my Zaidy, “No, my friend. You don’t know what YOU missed!”
Zaidy had Bitachon. He firmly believed that if you keep Shabbos, you will make whatever living Hashem has planned for you, even if you miss the busy Saturday shopping day!
Shabbos: A Testament to Creation
On the holiday of Simchas Torah we complete the Torah and immediately start again from the beginning: Bereishis, the creation of the world.
God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day He rested. By refraining from creative work on Shabbos, we testify that Hashem created the world and continues to run the world to this day.
It is tempting to believe that by working seven days a week we can make more money than by working only six. Some people feel that more or better jobs may be open to them if they are flexible enough to work on Saturday.
The reality is that God created this world, and God runs this world.
How much money you make and which job you get are determined by God alone. You do your part (keep the Torah) and let Hashem take care of the rest!
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