A lot of politics was behind the Shabbat crisis that has occupied us in recent weeks, but perhaps this storm will halt the serious deterioration that has occurred in recent years in the granting of work permits on Shabbat.
We have heard the phrase "pikuach nefesh" a lot these days. People who have no idea about Halacha are waving the words "pikuach nefesh" as a reason to allow every prohibition.
Public transportation so that the grandson can visit the grandmother – 'pikuach nefesh'. A carpenter who must finish an urgent order on time – clearly, 'pikuach nefesh' is a definite 'pikuach nefesh'. And when the garage is closed on Shabbat and the car cannot be repaired there – isn't that 'pikuach nefesh' from Torah?...
The Working Hours and Rest Law, which prohibits employing workers on Shabbat, does not pretend to hide behind arguments of "pikuach nefesh" for the purpose of granting work permits on Shabbat.
It is enough for him to state that it is an 'essential service.' From here, the way is open to defining almost anything as an 'essential service,' and Shabbat is trampled upon.
Click on employees
Besides the halachic reasons, it is also worth thinking about the people behind every such permit.
Every time you talk about doing work on the Sabbath, think about the people who have to do it. The simple meaning of any such decision is to deny the Sabbath rest to yet more Jews. Another father who will not see his children on the Sabbath. Another mother who will be tied to her work on the seventh day.
Unfortunately, the number of people forced to violate the Sabbath is growing, and at the same time, there is a growing trend of employers avoiding hiring Sabbath-observants.
It is not easy to be a Sabbath-keeper in a company that desecrates the Sabbath. The situation is doubly difficult for traditional Jews, who do not have a religious appearance. A manager will not require a Jew wearing a kippah to work on the Sabbath, but he may disregard the declaration of an employee who does not appear religious, who claims to be a Sabbath-keeper.
Thus, increasing pressure is being exerted on tens of thousands of Jews to violate their Sabbath rest and turn it into a routine workday.
Social pressure is also accompanied by financial temptation, in the form of an extra pay for working on the Sabbath, and many do not stand up to the test. All of this is happening in the Jewish state, the state of a people who have kept the Sabbath with devotion throughout thousands of years of exile, suffering, and hardship.
Full value for money
Particularly outrageous are the claims about the difficulties and costs involved in keeping the Sabbath, and the attempt to tie this to the reality of the modern world.
And wasn't it difficult to keep the Sabbath in ancient times? Wasn't it important for the farmer to gather the grain before the rain? Didn't he have fruit on his trees that could rot? And the merchant who was forced to stop his journey midway and stay with his goods in an unsafe place?
The Romans called the Jewish people a 'wasteful people', because they spent a seventh of their working days in 'idleness'.
Yes, keeping the Sabbath comes at a price, but the Jewish people paid it gladly and received full recompense – the Sabbath. It is a day when man stops the daily grind, forgets the banks and work, disconnects from mundane life, and passes into another world.
Suddenly there is time to sit with the family, open a book, sing hymns, and transcend.
It's a shame to let the train run over all of this.
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