Holiday Right To Close On Shabbat CARL ALPERT Special to The Jewish News I From Tradition! Tradition! (810) 557-0109 Alicia R. Nelson Tut and Anita and the entire staff of rob- gmbitioa wish all our family, friends and customers a HAPPY, HEALTHY NEW YEAR 248-541-5400 Custom Window Coverings May the Corning Year Be Fated, With Health, and Happiness and Prosperity For All Our Clients and Friends. 9/26 1997 R44 HAPPY NI-V YI- AR ACID 81-101D SAMS Orchard Mall, West Bloomfield 248-626-7467 f an Israeli businessman were to open a store in Meah Shearim or in Bnei Brak and insist on keep- ing open on Shabbat, can you imagine what the local reaction would be? But what if an Orthodox business- man were to open a shopping center in the heart of a secular neighborhood and keep his doors shut on Shabbat? What would the reaction be? Not what you might have expected! When the Africa-Israel company, a large conglomerate with real estate, tourism and industrial holdings announced that its new shopping mall, in the northern Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Aviv, would be closed on the Sabbath, an uproar went up. Individuals and organizations dedicated to combat religious coercion, denounced what they called an attempt to dictate to the public when they could or could not shop. It constituted a threat to democracy. The mayor of Tel Aviv vowed he would see to it that the Africa-Israel company would get no approval for any other commercial activity it may contemplate in Tel Aviv. On the other hand, some of the . neighbors of the new mall, secular and religious alike, welcomed the decision. They had been unhappy about the intrusion of a bustling shopping center in the midst of their quiet residential area. Now at least on Shabbat they would be spared the bustle and the noise, the crowds and all the traffic. How does a large commercial firm come to make a decision which, most observers acknowledge, will reduce its income considerably? The answer is a 40-year-old Russian immigrant by the name of Levi Leviev. Mr. Leviev was born to a Haredi family in Tashkent. He was ambitious, and even as a child was a hustling street peddler. He came to Israel at the age of 15 and got a humble job in the dia- mond industry, where he gradually worked his way up. By virtue of shrewd analysis of the markets and good busi- ness deals he hit it big. By 1995 his exports totalled $340 million, and he is today considered Israel's top diamond exporter. Through it all, he remained strictly Orthodox, and a loyal Israeli. He served in the army for three years. When opportunity offered, he bought a controlling interest in Africa- Israel for a mere $190 million, and decreed that any mall owned by him C±\ would not do business on Shabbat. His c' business associates argued with him; some of his board members resigned. Some of the retailers and franchisers who had signed up for space, among them McDonalds, may sue, but Leviev stands firm. Religious circles have sprung to his defense and threaten that Israel's size- able Orthodox buying public will boy- cott any companies that make them- selves a party to efforts to compel Shabbat opening of the mall. c"--/ The Ramat Aviv shopping mall has become a cause celebre in religious, sec- If a man ular and commercial follows his religious principles and refuses to open for business on Saturday, is he forcing his views on the non-observant public? Israel's belliger- ent secularists, already chafing under what they regard as Orthodox intrusion into their private lives, seem to think so. Is Mr. Leviev making a bad business decision? He seems to have done pretty well for himself thus far, as have large numbers of other religiously observant Jews. People have been watching the fortunes of an oil prospecting company by the name of Givat Olam, which sus- pends all activity on Shabbat. As a result, large numbers of haredi investors had bought stock in the firm, expecting \---` that such a policy is bound to bring success. The Ramat Aviv mall controversy continues to capture headlines. Is it a case of secular coercion? Lev Leviev N stands impervious. ,—/ JNF Park Inaugurated The Jewish National Fund's Baba Sali Park was officially inaugurated recently at the northern Negev town of Netivot, in the presence of former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Education Minister Zevulun Hammer, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Yigael Bibi, JNF deputy chairman Haim Cohen and Rabbi Baruch Abuhatzeria, son and successor of the Baba Sali, the revered Moroccan sage (1890-1984). The park, adjoining Baba Sali's tomb, was designed by landscape archi- tect Reuven Amir in the shape of a Hamsa (a Judeo-Muslim amulet in the form of a hand commonly worn against the "evil eye.") A plaza with a decorative fountain will crown the park's landscaped center, with tree-lined aisles.