Seven Years Later: Chabad Shliach Returns to Restaurant and Discovers Remarkable Turnaround
A chance visit to a restaurant in northern Israel led to an emotional reunion for a Chabad emissary, who discovered that years after encouraging the owner to close on Shabbos and become kosher, the business had undergone a dramatic transformation. According to the franchise owner, the move not only brought financial success but was followed by what he described as a deeply personal miracle after more than a decade of waiting for another child.
Rabbi Bentzi Friedman, who today serves as a Chabad emissary working with youth in Beit Shean, recently returned to Rosh Pina for the first time in years. The unexpected visit brought back memories of his days as a yeshiva student in Tzfas, when every Friday he traveled through the Rosh Pina area participating in Chabad’s Mivtza Tefillin, visiting local businesses, helping Jewish men put on tefillin, and encouraging them to strengthen their observance of Torah and mitzvos.
For nearly three years, from the beginning of his yeshiva studies onward, Rabbi Friedman followed the same weekly route. One of the regular stops was a BBB restaurant that, at the time, was neither kosher nor closed on Shabbos. There he developed a warm relationship with Nissim, one of the franchise operators. Each Friday, the two would put on tefillin together and spend time discussing Yiddishkeit. During nearly every conversation, Rabbi Friedman urged him to consider closing the restaurant on Shabbos.
Looking back, Rabbi Friedman recalled that their conversations were always respectful and sincere.
“Every week I spoke to him about keeping Shabbos,” he said. “I told him, ‘Nissim, close the business on Shabbos. Hashem does not bring blessing through work on Shabbos.’”
Nissim never rejected the message. Instead, he explained that he wanted to stop operating on Shabbos but faced resistance from others connected to the business.
“I’m constantly pushing for it, but they won’t agree,” he would tell Rabbi Friedman. Despite hearing the same response week after week, the young yeshiva student continued returning every Friday, putting on tefillin with him and speaking about the importance of Shabbos, never knowing whether those conversations would ultimately make a difference.
Before leaving for a year of study at Chabad’s central yeshiva in New York, Rabbi Friedman witnessed an encouraging development elsewhere in Rosh Pina. Another dairy restaurant he regularly visited during his Friday outreach decided to become kosher and stop operating on Shabbos.
When he entered one Friday, a waiter approached him and said, “You know this happened because of you. Every week you came here and spoke with the management about keeping Shabbos.”
The comment caught him completely by surprise. He had barely interacted with the restaurant’s owners and had no idea his conversations had made such an impression. Inspired by the news, he shared the story with Nissim, hoping it would encourage him.
“You see? That restaurant became kosher and started closing on Shabbos. You can do the same,” he told him.
Nissim again explained that the decision was not entirely his to make.
Not long afterward, Rabbi Friedman left for New York. In the years that followed, he married, established his family, and later accepted a Chabad shlichus in Beit Shean. His weekly visits to the BBB restaurant gradually became a distant memory from his yeshiva years.
Recently, while traveling through the Rosh Pina area with his family, Rabbi Friedman suggested stopping by to see some of the people he had met years earlier. As he approached the BBB location, he was stunned. The restaurant prominently displayed kosher certification, and its posted hours showed that it closed three hours before the start of Shabbos each Friday.
Filled with emotion, he entered the restaurant and asked employees whether Nissim was there. They directed him to the office.
“Nissim, do you remember me?” Rabbi Friedman asked as he walked in.
The owner recognized him immediately, and the two warmly embraced. Rabbi Friedman then asked the question that had been on his mind ever since seeing the new signs.
“What happened here? How did the restaurant become kosher and start closing on Shabbos?”
Rather than answer immediately, Nissim opened a business application on his phone and showed Rabbi Friedman the restaurant’s financial figures. Before the change, he explained, monthly revenue averaged between 300,000 and 350,000 shekels. After becoming kosher and closing on Shabbos, some months produced nearly double that amount.
Nissim explained that the transformation had not come easily.
“You have no idea what battles took place here,” he told Rabbi Friedman.
According to Nissim, the restaurant chain strongly opposed shutting down a successful location on Shabbos. About three months ago, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to persuade management, he decided to issue an ultimatum. He placed the restaurant keys on the table and told senior executives, “I’m leaving. I’m done working on Shabbos. If you’re not willing to close the business on Shabbos, take the keys and find someone else.”
Surprised by the determination of a successful franchise operator willing to walk away, company officials asked for two weeks to consider the matter. They eventually agreed to allow the restaurant to become kosher and close on Shabbos, provided it underwent an extensive renovation.
Nissim accepted the condition, investing approximately 700,000 shekels to bring the restaurant into compliance with kosher standards while hoping the business would remain financially stable.
But the financial success, he said, was only part of the story.
Nissim shared that he and his wife had one daughter and had spent 12 years hoping and praying for another child. During that time, they underwent lengthy and expensive fertility treatments, but nothing had succeeded.
Then, looking directly at Rabbi Friedman, he said, “The moment we started closing the business on Shabbos, my wife became pregnant.”
He once again reached for his phone, this time showing Rabbi Friedman a photograph of his five-month-old baby boy.
“This is because of you. You have no idea what you accomplished here,” he said emotionally.
Rabbi Friedman said he was left speechless by the revelation.
“I was just a simple yeshiva student who went out every Friday to do what needed to be done,” he recalled. “I put tefillin on with another Jew and spoke with him, never realizing what those conversations would eventually accomplish. Seven years later, I was privileged to see the results.”
According to Rabbi Friedman, the impact extended beyond a single restaurant. After the Rosh Pina location became the first in the chain to adopt kashrus and close on Shabbos, additional franchises followed suit. Today, he said, tens of thousands of customers dine at kosher, Shabbos-observant locations throughout the network. For the Chabad emissary, the unexpected reunion served as a powerful reminder that even the smallest act of outreach—a conversation, a pair of tefillin, or a few words about holiness—can bear fruit years later.
{Matzav.com}
