From Circus Star to Shabbat Observer: The Inspiring Journey of Yaniv Suissa

Yaniv Suissa is the owner of Circus Y, located in the Chapiteau Cultural Complex in Ramat Gan — one of Israel’s most active and popular entertainment groups. But if you had asked him years ago whether there was any chance his circus would one day close on Shabbat, he would have looked at you as if you’d lost your mind.

“Maybe you don’t realize it,” he would have said, “but the entire business model of a circus depends on Shabbat. When do families go out to shows? On Saturdays. Everything in this field revolves around Shabbat.”

And if you had told him that the day would come when his circus performances would be designed for the observant community — with full gender separation, rabbinic supervision of music, and strict adherence to halachic standards — he wouldn’t have even understood what you were talking about. These were completely foreign concepts to him.

Suissa grew up on a kibbutz, far removed from religious life, and for most of his career he worked in the world of shows, theater, and international circus performances. He represented Israel as an acrobat in artistic festivals across the globe — Moscow, Ukraine, France, and more, and through Circus Y he produced dazzling shows each year. Religion, Shabbat, and the ultra-Orthodox community were worlds away from his stage.

“I couldn’t lie to God”

When asked why he suddenly decided to close his circus on Shabbat, Suissa smiled and said thoughtfully: “You really want to know what happened? Okay — I’ll tell you the truth. I started putting on tefillin.”

He said it simply, but quickly admitted that the decision didn’t come easily. “In the past, I performed at a few religious youth events organized by Rabbi Grossman of Migdal HaEmek. He invited me to put on shows for groups of teens who were reconnecting to Judaism. That was my first exposure to anything religious. A short while later, I decided to start putting on tefillin. Two weeks later, as I said the Shema, I thought to myself: ‘How can I say these words every morning about wearing tzitzit and not wear them myself?’ So I began wearing tzitzit too.

“And then, naturally, I reached another realization: if I’m really a believing Jew who puts on tefillin and wears tzitzit, how can I open my business on Shabbat? That would be like lying to God — on one hand performing mitzvot, and on the other desecrating Shabbat. So I decided that on Shabbat, I simply don’t work.”

“Closing on Shabbat looked like business suicide — but I had to do it”

He admits this wasn’t an easy step. “My whole life has been about entertainment. I’ve worked in this field for over 25 years, and I’m well known in the industry. I manage a team, I even won a TV talent reality show called The Next Big Thing. I had everything needed for success — and shutting down my business on Saturdays seemed, at first, like career suicide.”

So why do it anyway? “Because a few things completely changed my perspective,” Suissa explains. “First, of course, the tefillin and tzitzit. But I also saw something fascinating from a business angle. A close friend of mine who owns the Festigal (Israel’s biggest children’s show) told me that for the first time in 33 years, the Festigal didn’t run on Shabbat — and it was all thanks to the singer Omer Adam, who refuses to perform on Shabbat. My friend told me that although they expected huge financial losses, they actually made over 30% more profit than ever before. He couldn’t explain it — but that’s what happened.

“That story made a deep impression on me, and I decided to close my business on Shabbat and create shows designed for the religious and ultra-Orthodox public.”

“Yes, I’m afraid of losses — but this is also a mission”

“Of course I’m afraid,” Suissa admits. “I know there’s a chance I’ll lose money. But even if I do, I’ll accept it and move forward. I truly believe there’s a sense of mission here — to provide quality, wholesome entertainment for the observant community. We’re in Ramat Gan, just a short walk from Bnei Brak. There’s no reason why the religious public shouldn’t enjoy our performances too.”

Shows Supervised by Rabbis

When they decided to offer special shows for religious audiences, Suissa and his team had no idea what it would involve. “Our productions are now fully supervised by rabbis. They went over every detail — from the scripts to the music. They required full gender separation, so we built separate entrances and stairways for men and women. Then they guided us on the music. We were surprised — we thought some of our religious music selections would be acceptable, but the rabbis asked for very specific songs — Chassidic melodies. And they turned out to be amazing! I catch myself humming them on my motorcycle all the time.”