Posted on 12/15/2004 12:15:04 PM PST by anotherview
Dec. 14, 2004 22:43 | Updated Dec. 15, 2004 19:49
Saturday's slippery slope
By WENDY BLUMFIELD
As the controversy resurfaces about Shabbat shopping, opinions are divided. Do Israelis have the right to spend their one day of leisure as they wish?
It is not simply a divide between Orthodox and secular. While the Orthodox do not want their neighborhoods disturbed by commercial traffic on Shabbat – as will happen if the status quo changes in Haifa and the Grand Canyon mall stays open seven days a week – not all secular people want to see Shabbat degenerate into yet another ordinary day.
Go back in time about 20 years to Britain or the United States, when shops were closed by law on Sunday.
Practicing Christians do not have the kind of prohibitions observant Jews have in their observance of Shabbat, but there are guidelines on the spirit of their day of rest.
It was normal practice to go to church in the morning, drop into the pub for a drink before lunch, and drive out to the country or to the seaside with the family in the afternoon.
Waking up on a Sunday morning, there was no mistake as to what day of the week it was. Even without the melodious church bells, there was a tranquility about the day.
The only shop open in the High Street was the newsagent; the early riser in the family would collect the Sunday papers and return home so everybody could laze around reading; later they might stroll out for brunch.
In summer, the parks and riversides were thronged with families enjoying their leisure; and in bad weather one could take refuge in the museums and cinemas which were allowed to open on Sunday.
Since there is a two-day weekend for most workers, Saturday was the day for chores, shopping and laundry.
However, over the past 20 years the shopping mall has become the leisure center. As laws relented and malls opened for limited hours on Sunday, the High Street shops followed.
Gone is the tranquility. Anyone now landing in the middle of London or in any provincial town on a Sunday morning would not know which day of the week it was.
Some people may say, so what? If families enjoy shopping, let them.
But the truth is that for every shop that opens on the Christian Sabbath, a family is distanced because one parent is working.
To those listening to earnest discussions on the BBC about the rights of workers who refuse to work on Sundays because they prefer to preserve their family values it is obvious that discrimination in the work-place exists against hiring or retaining Sabbath observers who refuse to take the Sunday shift.
UNTIL NOT long ago, here in Israel there was a tangible difference in atmosphere that began Friday afternoon as streets quietened, shops closed, and the last trains and buses brought soldiers home.
Even today Friday evening has a different atmosphere as synagogue-goers return home to dinner, the children scrubbed clean and dressed in white shirts.
Yes, pubs, restaurants and cinemas are open on Friday night, but most residential neighborhoods are quiet and families can choose whether to enjoy the evening at home with their families, or go out with friends knowing they do not have to get up early on Shabbat morning.
At the same time, Shabbat itself is fast becoming a peak day for shopping.
Out-of-town shopping outlets are open, unfair competition indeed against urban shop-owners.
Before we go down the slippery slope of opening local shops, there needs to be some serious thinking about the ramifications.
The increase in urban traffic will disturb not only the Orthodox, but also traditional Jews who respect Shabbat as a day of rest.
Small businesses already suffering from high municipal taxes and parking restrictions in city centers will be forced to open on Shabbat, causing staffing problems and discriminating against Shabbat-observant personnel.
This will engender discrimination against Sabbath-observant shop-owners, who will keep their business closed on what will become the busiest shopping day of the week.
How can the conflict be resolved between those who would like to enjoy a tranquil Shabbat and those who want to do all their shopping on their one free day?
If a five-day week was legally established, workers would know that whether or not they work a half-day on Friday they would have an extra day a week to do all those chores. This would stagger the crowds in the markets and the malls and prevent traffic jams at peak times.
And it would leave Shabbat as a day of leisure to be used as each family chooses.
Whether it be spending it in prayer and learning, taking the children on a picnic, exploring the countryside, walking closer to home or just sprawling around the house reading or watching TV, there would be freedom of choice based on respect and consideration for others.
Only in Judaism do we light a candle and celebrate havdala – the end of the Sabbath and the start of the new week.
What will be the significance of havdala when there is no difference between our day of rest and the hectic, crowded, noisy workaday world?
The writer is a Haifa-based journalist.
I think the problem that they're facing in Israel is that some of the more fanatical frum are destroying public phones and taking other extreme measures in an effort to prevent people from doing anything other than observing Shabbat.
There are problems on both sides. There are times anti-haredi rhetoric from the more fanatic secularists in Shinui have been pretty awful as well. What we need in Israel is more understanding, a respect for all aspects and forms of Judaism, and an understanding that being a Jewish state does mean preserving a fundamentally Jewish way of life.
Let the Jews hold fast, to what God himself ordained!
The whole bottom floor of my Grandmothers (Safta's) house in Jerusalem has been rented out to shops. about eight of them. I remember as a child when they would close down late Friday afternoon and stay that way until Sat at sunset. Slowly but surely they would close later and open earlier. Today im not sure if they close at all. Its been about 8 years since I have been there. It truly is a shame that this beautiful (and important) tradition is ending. I know my Safta doesnt like it.
The whole bottom floor of my Grandmothers (Safta's) house in Jerusalem has been rented out to shops. about eight of them. I remember as a child when they would close down late Friday afternoon and stay that way until Sat at sunset. Slowly but surely they would close later and open earlier. Today im not sure if they close at all. Its been about 8 years since I have been there. It truly is a shame that this beautiful (and important) tradition is ending. I know my Safta doesnt like it.
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