Harry Fishel was a leading pioneer and philanthropist of Jewry.
He escaped Russia as a youth to avoid the tsar’s army draft and, like all immigrants, had extreme difficulty not working on Shabbos. As the common refrain went: “If you don’t come in on Saturday, don’t bother coming in on Monday”. (Fishel had barely any Jewish literacy to buoy him; he only started learning gemara at age 69.)
I haven’t read Harry Fishel’s autobiography myself, but here is how the story is presented in Hamodia newspaper (probably copied from the autobiography):
Harry landed a good job in his field (architect) with great pay, but they refused to keep him if he kept Shabbos, even at half the offered salary, and he spent a sleepless Friday night struggling at a crossroads. Harry finally decided to go to Shabbos Shachris in the morning and from there continue to his job.
But then:
While he was in shul, he realized he would be the first person in his family ever to desecrate Shabbos, and he went up to the aron kodesh and prayed for guidance. He then changed into work clothes, but as he walked, the vision of his parents slowed his steps; he felt paralyzed, and chills shook his body.
Harry realized his prayers had been answered. He knew what he had to do, and he returned home to continue observing Shabbos, a strange sense of peace pervading him. Never again would Harry Fischel contemplate any desecration of Torah law.
Perhaps this is is also the intention of “Chayei Moharan” chap. 459:
אמר לאחד על מה שספר לפניו שהיה מרגל בעברות גדולות, עד שכמעט לא היה ביד עצמו למנע עצמו מלעשותם. השיב לו שיש בחינת התקשרות לקשר ולחבר עצמו יחד בהתקשרות חזק, ועי”ז יכולין להתגבר ולהנצל. ולא באר הענין. ואעפ”כ אפשר להבין הענין קצת והיא עצה נפלאה (ועין בלקוטי הלכות הלכות ראש חדש הלכה ו).
Anyway, it sounds like good Jewish advice to me…