ABillionBits.com - a Billion Entries, a Billion Dollars - But Not One Cent on the Sabbath

Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, August 09, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Early Friday morning, August 7, 2009, the noted "serial cyberentrepreneur" Itzhak Schier, an American member and activist in the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic Jewish community, launched his latest site, ABillionBits.com. Yet, before he even had a chance to welcome the first user, he closed it down for a day as his beloved Shabbos, the Jewish Sabbath, approached in his adopted hometown of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

The site is meant to net its creator no less than one billion US dollars as it attracts a billion users who will pay $1 to $1.50 to post a bit, or a profile of business or personal information that links both to the user's website and to his chosen photo or other image on the front page of the site. ABillionBits.com thereby provides display advertising, SEO optimization, page driver functions and an information portal.

Schier explains: "When I get an idea, I set out to work on it immediately, but I try my best not to start anything new on a Friday because I know I can do little with it until after the end of my Sabbath. However, this time around Hashem (God) had other plans for me and while I had intended to launch a day or two earlier, I finished ABillionBits.com only very early on Friday morning. That meant that as much as I wanted to get started immediately I had to close it Friday evening, as my success depends first and foremost on my proper observance of my Jewish practices and I cannot receive income from Friday evening to Saturday nightfall."

So, instead of the beginnings of a vibrant and promising new site, viewers who surfed to the ABillionBits.com address were presented with a message explaining why the site could only accept its first users on Saturday night. The site will be available for viewing at all times once it is launched, but barring a solution acceptable to Jewish law, Schier will refrain from accepting new users during the Sabbath that he holds so dear.

For Schier, and other Chassidic entrepreneurs like him, even the promising quest for one billion dollars must be set aside in favor of an ancient Divine commandment to rest from all worldly activity on the Jewish Sabbath. And they willingly take that rest, knowing that their success comes only from following their ethical principles which are contained in the same Jewish law that forbids them from working for 25 hours at the end of each week.

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