Did Shabbat Keep One Orthodox Business Safe From Chelsea Bombing?

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By Daniel J. Solomon September 23, 2016

Shabbat is often a good excuse to cut out of work and relax. But on Saturday night in Chelsea, it was more than that, as employees at a Sabbath-observant store in Chelsea escaped harm from the Saturday night explosion in that neighborhood.

Arriving at the King David Gallery two days after the blast, owner David Peretz returned to a broken storefront and damaged merchandise.

But since the Orthodox Jew closes shop for the Jewish sabbath, he and all his workers were at home when the blast erupted.

“God was watching us,” he told the New York Times. “There’s no question about it.”

Peretz, who moved to the United States three decades ago after someone threw a Molotov cocktail into his wife’s car, also spoke at a Tuesday press conference with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other elected officials.

“Don’t let the terrorist scare us. If they scare us, where are we going to go? I am here because of what is happening in Israel,” he said in a thick Sabra accent.

King David Gallery, located on 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, sells high-end mirrors and assorted glass products.

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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