Tal Volodin
For the elevation of the soul of David ben Yitzchak
The newspaper Yated Ne'eman published a remarkable account by Uziel, a bank employee from Petah Tikva.
“I decided to observe Shabbat two weeks ago,” Uziel relates, “when I was working on a loan application for one of the bank's clients. It was very important to me that everything work out well. When I brought in the completed document, I told the manager that I hoped his application would be approved this time, despite the previous rejections. The manager, an observant woman, told me that when someone hopes to achieve a particular goal, it is worth committing to some worthy practice.”
Uziel, who understood how important it was for the client to receive the loan, decided to observe Shabbat.
“I said that I was taking on the observance of Shabbat. At the very least, I would not travel by vehicle on Shabbat.” Within two days, the bank approved the loan application, and the client simply showered Uziel with thanks. That was how Uziel began observing Shabbat.
“Exactly a week later, my friend Ariel invited me to his birthday party at the HaSimta bar in Tel Aviv. At first, I agreed. But on Friday, I suddenly realized that if I went to the party, I would have to travel home on Shabbat. I was very torn. I did not want to upset Ariel. Suddenly, I understood just how much the decision to observe Shabbat requires giving up things you are accustomed to. In the end, I decided to observe Shabbat and did not go to the party.”
Before Shabbat began, Uziel managed to hear about the terrorist attack in Tel Aviv.
“I began calling my friends, but no one answered. When the terrible news was confirmed, I began to shake. I closed my phone and started crying. I do not know why I was crying—whether it was for my injured friends, although I did not yet know which of them had been injured, or from the feeling that Shabbat had saved me.”
That Shabbat became very significant for Uziel: “I cannot describe to you what I went through that Shabbat. I had never experienced a Shabbat like it in my life. I felt as though Shabbat was embracing me, like a son who had returned home… With all the pain of the tragedy, I felt that I was observing Shabbat for my friends' recovery and the elevation of their souls. Since that moment, I have not stopped talking about how quickly I became convinced that Shabbat is the source of blessing.”