R’ Goldknopf Takes Eidah to Task for Shefa Shuk Hechsher Despite Chillul Shabbos

R’ Yitzchak Goldknopf, the secretary of the Committee for Shemiras Shabbos , who previously has led the battle against Sehfa Shuk due to the owner having a chain of stores open on Shabbos, has now attacked the Eidah Hachareidis. R’ Goldknopf claims that there is no difference between the chillul shabbos happening in the fight over the parking lot, in which the Eidah has taken a clear stand, and between the chillul Shabbos of the supermarkets in which the Eidah refused to participate. He says that the Eidah originally was going to join the calls to boycott Shefa, but then saw they stood to lose the hechsher on Shefa, so they pulled out.The Eidah hechsher continues to fly over Shefa Shuk, despite the chillul shabbos caused by the owner, and by the fact that his keeping the AM:PM stores open on Shabbos forces many others to be mechalel Shabbos as well just to stay in business, says R’ Yitzchak.

He wants the Eidah to pull its hechsher from Shefa in order to force Shefa to back down. If the Eidah pulls out, R’ Goldknopf assumes, nobody else will be brazen enough to give them a hechsher unless the situation changes.

{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel/Kikar Shabbos/Rafi G}