„The 8th of Iyar, the year 5664...”

Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook ascended from Russia to the Land of Israel and arrived at the port of Jaffa. Its residents greeted the important Rav with excitement, knowing that he was coming to the Holy Land to serve as rabbi in their city. Already the next day the Rav began to serve as the chief rabbi of Jaffa and of the settlements.

The Rav discovered that the Torah-observant in Jaffa were at odds with one another and divided into many groups. The Hasidim prayed in separate synagogues and maintained their own ritual slaughter; the Lithuanians maintained their own slaughterer; and the Sephardic community, which ruled according to the 'Beit Yosef,' also conducted itself as a separate community. When the Rav arrived, they all began to unite under his auspices while preserving their own character. He instituted a uniform slaughter that was acceptable to all, and in general he united the entire religious public under his wings.

In Jaffa there also lived at that time quite a few Jews who had distanced themselves entirely from the way of Torah and mitzvot. They used to scorn the Torah-observant and valued only the building of the land. When they came to know Rav Kook and saw that he expounded on the people of Israel and the Land of Israel with loving emotion and in a poetic Hebrew, non-exilic style, they gathered around him and began to return to their roots. Observance of religion grew much stronger, and no public desecrations of Shabbat were seen.

On one of the Sabbaths, an agitated worshipper went up onto the platform of the 'Sha'arei Torah' synagogue in Neve Shalom in Jaffa, stopped the Torah reading in the middle, and declared in a loud and agitated voice before the Rav and the congregation of worshippers:

'Know, my masters, that at this very moment Shmuel the cobbler sits in his shop on the main street of Jaffa engaged in his work and desecrating the Shabbat in public without any shame! All the worshippers are asked to immediately stop their prayer and go as one to the shop of that wicked man in order to exact from him payment for the shameful desecration of Shabbat!'

The crowd heard the words of the agitated man, and voices of rage over the public desecration of Shabbat were heard from every side. There were those who called to mete out punishment to that wicked man. After the man came down, Rav Kook went up onto the platform, quieted the enraged crowd with motions of his hands, and said in a low but firm voice:

'I ask the entire congregation to finish its prayer quietly and without any commotion. After the prayer we will all go out toward the shop of Shmuel the cobbler, but I ask with all my heart that you heed my instructions and not deviate from them. From me you shall see, and so shall you do!'

After the prayer, all the worshippers went out, led by Rav Kook, to the main street of Jaffa leading to the shop of Shmuel the cobbler. The passersby were astonished at the sight of the procession. They reached the cobbler's shop, which was wide open, and several customers were seen inside it. The worshippers and other passersby who joined them stood in their places and waited tensely for what was about to unfold before their eyes. The Rav entered the shop wrapped in his tallit and called out in a loud voice: 'Reb Shmuel, Shabbat shalom to you!'

Shmuel the cobbler was stunned at the sight of the city's rabbi and could not utter a word. He expected the Rav to say something more, to rebuke him for the public desecration of Shabbat, but the Rav bade him farewell with a nod of the head and left the shop toward his home to partake of the Shabbat meal. After the Rav left, all the worshippers entered one after another and blessed the stunned Shmuel with 'Shabbat shalom,' as the Rav had done.

The cobbler was deeply affected by what had happened. He was filled with shame and remorse, and a short while after they had all departed, he locked his shop and went to Rav Kook's house, still in the midst of Shabbat. He knocked on the door, and after the Rav appeared and greeted him with a good and radiant face, Shmuel said, weeping and pleading:

'Honored Rabbi. I have eight children at home, and my income is not enough to feed and clothe them. My wife could not even prepare for us a single Shabbat meal, and because of this I am compelled to work also on Shabbat. All week I sit in my shop and few come in. I did not sell even a single pair of boots this week. I have no choice. With great sorrow I was forced to sell also on Shabbat, honored Rabbi...'

The Rav calmed him with pleasant words and explained to him that he was mistaken, and that precisely if he would keep the Shabbat properly, blessing would come to his home. Finally he asked him to come to him again at the conclusion of Shabbat. When Shmuel returned to the Rav's house at the end of Shabbat, the Rav handed him a sum of money and blessed him that he should succeed in his business. Afterward the Rav turned to the community council and asked them to ease Shmuel's situation. And from that Shabbat onward, the cobbler was scrupulous to keep the Shabbat properly and saw blessing in the labor of his hands...