A group of Israeli students from the Amit High School in Modi’in recently made it through to the final stage of the First Robotics Competition in Houston, Texas.
There was just one problem: it was held on Shabbat and the students, being observant, could not participate. So they wrote a letter explaining they were not willing to compromise their values for the sake of the competition.
In their otherwise empty booth, they had left Shabbat candles, challah, a Kiddush cup, and an Israeli flag, together with a short explanation of what Shabbat is all about.
Here is video of the announcer reading their letter in front of all the other competitors – followed by students from all over the world standing up and applauding. As the announcer says, “Thank you for the reminder that there are other things outside the world of robotics that are also important.”
A true Kiddush Hashem.
You’d have to be a robot for this to not touch you. (hat tip: Micha)
