The Neighbor's Tavern

In Buchach, the city of Rav Meshulem's birth, his father Reb Shimshon built a house next to a tavern owned by a Jew who permitted himself to keep it open on Shabbos. Reb Shimshon was deeply distressed. Time and again he tried to show his neighbor the error of his ways, telling him ethical parables and urging him to stop desecrating Shabbos. But the tavern keeper scorned both him and his example.

Reb Shimshon then went to the local Rav and filed a monetary claim against his neighbor. When the neighbor received the summons, he was surprised. “There have never been any financial dealings between me and Reb Shimshon,” he said. “What claim can he possibly have against me?”

When the case began, Reb Shimshon stood up and said, “Our Sages said, ‘No conflagration is found except in a place where Shabbos is desecrated’ (Shabbos 119b). Since my neighbor the tavern keeper desecrates Shabbos, I fear that a fire will break out in his building and spread to consume my house as well. I therefore demand that he do one of two things: either take upon himself to keep Shabbos, or buy my house.”