Remember The Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed The Sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:7-10)
New Beitar Jerusalem soccer team owner, Eli Tabib, announced Saturday night that an agreement with broadcasting rights winner Charlton was reached in which the team would not play games on the Jewish Sabbath — Shabbat — during the upcoming soccer season.
The soccer club released a statement, explaining, “The club is convinced that the move is of utmost importance for a number of reasons, among them the wish to accommodate the religious-traditional crowd which is not able to attend the team’s home games.
“Because games are played on Saturdays, many fans have given up on the possibility of coming to Teddy [Stadium] and purchasing a subscription. Despite the financial risk, Eli Tabib has decided to accommodate the fans and enable more groups to come [to games] and cheer their team on.”
Tabib purchased the team in June of this year, nearly a year after previous team owner, Arkady Gaydamak, announced his decision to give up ownership of the team. Beitar Jerusalem has been hounded by scandal in recent years due to frequent displays of racism by its fans. When the team signed two Chechen Muslim players last year, fans protested. Fan posters reading “Beitar Pure Forever” are regular fixtures at home games. The team’s management, however, has always fought the image and urged its fans to show respect for others.
The decision not to play on Shabbat was praised by incoming Chief Rabbi David Lau. “It is an important and special decision that honors one of the most important symbols of the Jewish people – the Shabbat.”
Broadcasting company Charlton verified the announcement, adding, “We are doing everything in our power to help the fans of Beitar Jerusalem and the Beitar Jerusalem team, and this is a move which we hope will help the Beitar Jerusalem team and its fans.”
