Thursday, December 04, 2014

A New Shabbos Law? Don't Be Fooled!

י"ב לחודש התשעי תשע"ה

Life In Israel: Proposed Law: Defining the cultural character of Shabbos
Rafi G., December 4, 2014

Despite the imminent dissolution of the Knesset, for now work goes on as normal, at least sort of, for the Members of the Knesset.

MKs Ruth Calderon (Yesh Atid) and Elazar Stern (Hatnua) have proposed a new law that would qualify the character of Shabbos in the public sphere.

The proposal attempts to define Shabbos as a special and unique day as the official national day of rest, as a day to be dedicated to culture, entertainment and leisure, with minimal commerce.

According to the proposal, while official State institutions would be closed, public facilities would be able to open, such as museums, zoos, cultural centers, national parks, etc. on Shabbos. The law would even allow for payment to enter any of these locations prior to Shabbos, so one would not have to pay on Shabbos itself.

According to the proposal, some limited public transportation would operate, upon approval from each local municipal authority, based on need of local residents. Makolets and pharmacies would require special permits to open, using some sort of rotational system. This would require approval from the local authority and from the Minister of Interior.

In addition, the law would stipulate government funding for cultural activities.

The law will also protect the rights of the Jewish employee to not work on Shabbos and not be discriminated against. source: Srugim

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Good ol' MK's Ruth Calderon and Elazar Stern! No surprises here!

Do not be fooled by this apparently Shabbath-supportive proposal.

There is nothing in this proposal, in the least bit supportive of proper Shabbath observance. In fact, this is merely a strategic ploy to chip away at the already decaying Shabbath laws, enforced by the Israeli Government.

Let's take a careful look at this proposal which will be eaten up by the so-called "movements," and will be supported, if not advocated, by the naive, liberal, Modern Orthodox, and so-called "pluralists."

Allow me to read between the lines, translate the legalese, and connect the dots for you...
A day to be dedicated to culture, entertainment and leisure
you will no longer be demonized for violating Shabbath 
The law would even allow for payment to enter any of these locations prior to Shabbos, so one would not have to pay on Shabbos itself.
The Israeli Government will now make it easier for you to violate Shabbath  
Some limited public transportation would operate
The Israeli Government will now make it easier to violate Shabbath  
Makolets (grocery stores) and pharmacies would require special permits to open 
Don't bother preparing in advance for Shabbath, since you will be able to violate it more easily. (*Incidentally, there is already a system in place allowing for the purchase of perscription drugs on Shabbath.) 
Government funding for cultural activities 
The Israel Government will not only condone anti-Torah activities, but will now be providing their funding.
If passed, this prosposed law will simply make it even easier to violate Shabbath, than it already is.

The attack on Torah is nothing new. The attackers are just getting sneakier and sneakier.

5 comments:

Mighty Garnel Ironheart said...

As others have already noticed, the more the Israeli government tries to enforce a Jewish law the more that law gets abused.
Nobody forces Israeli Jews to fast on Yom Kippur, have a Pesach seder or light Shabbos candles but a vast majority do. Why is that?
We are Am Kshei Oref. If the Israeli government were to go uber-socialist and declare that days of rest are forbidden because they're bourgeousie you'd see Shabbos observance breaking out all over.

Esser Agaroth said...

MGI,

Thanks for commenting.

I think that you make some very good points.

I hadn't thought about the effect of the Government's legislation of Jewish Laws on the public.

I'm afraid, though, that I believe it is a bit more complicated than that, and a heck of a lot more nefarious than, perhaps you view it.

Not 100% certain.

Anonymous said...

Another good old cynical post. While I am not in favor of having public transportation, events, etc. on Shabbat, I don't think allowing them will effect the number of people who keep Shabbat. Sure you could argue that this is facilitating it. Yet as MGI as already stated, gov't laws will not bring people to mitzvah observance. We are not doing enough to bring our secular brethren close to Torah. Nefesh Yehudi has done a good job at this. We need to be more proactive and offer Jewish learning opportunities. I could go on

Anonymous said...

B"H - May G-d curse and destroy kneset and let us hope and pray that it burns down like the reichstag, with all the evil kneset members in it, in our days, say amen! Let the head of the snake fall! Now, how's that for a nice hate-post of evil? For those who don't know, hating evil is a mitzvah, voting for it is a sin. You don't think it's evil? Well, what's your criterea for evil is then?

Esser Agaroth said...

Aharon,

This is the Erev Rav strategy, just like the Tzadoqim and the "Reform Movement," and others, chip away at the Torah a little at a time.

Make people have inaccurate perceptions of what Torah is and what it says.

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