President of Israel Shimon Peres has declined to attend the opening ceremony at the upcoming Olympics in London. The ceremony is on Shabbat and Peres cannot stay in The Olympic Village, since it is for athletes only. Peres would need to travel from a hotel on Shabbat to reach the Olympics. As President of Israel he will not publicly violate Shabbos, so he in not attending.
Speaking of walking vs. driving on Shabbos, Shimon Peres is almost 90 years old! He is the oldest head of state in the world! It is simply remarkable to think of his schedule, pressures and responsibilities in combination with his chronological age. For this alone, he is an inspiring role model.
I havent always seen eye to eye with President Shimon Peres, especially when it came to the Oslo peace agreements. But there is no question, as time passes, Peres has emerged as one of Israels true statesmen. It was he who ensured that Israel got a nuclear bomb to protect herself by persuading France to get behind Israels nuclear facility in building Dimona. As much as Peres is heralded as an idealist, Dimona attests to the fact that Shimon Peres, after all, is a pragmatic idealist.
Read related IJN editorial “Peres and the Olympics”
Sadly, I cant think of Olympics and Israel together and not think of the Israeli athletes who were killed at the Munich Games.
Back to the topic at hand, for the secular community, this story of Peres not violating Shabbos is not much. But for traditional Jews,it is heartwarming. Whenever there are public displays of Jewish pride by Jewish people, aside from it being a feel good moment, it is nice to experience the affirmation of Jewish tradition within the Jewish state.
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