Haifa, Israel – Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Diskin of Kiryat Ata said, on Sunday, that worshipers from many synagogues will come to pray at the construction site of a new shopping center being built in the Haifa suburb if construction continues there next Shabbat.
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Interviewed on Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew journal, the rabbi said he received word just before Shabbat started Friday evening of Sabbath desecration the previous week. He went to the site on Shabbat morning to investigate and found about 60 non-Jewish workers who told them the bosses had approved the work. They added that they would appreciate being told to stop but they were under an August 30th deadline.
Can someone please elaborate on this situation a little bit for me? You see, as a Noahide, my husband has occasionally taken overtime on Saturdays in the past. He was never comfortable w\it, mind you…but w\me staying
home w\our kids, he’s the only breadwinner.
But it’s different for us Noahides & gentiles when it comes to Sabbath stuff. And according to the article, the people actually *doing* the work were gentiles! So I guess I don’t understand the fuss.
I have seen evidence in Torah that when the laws of the land are to keep the Sabbath… even the servants & workers get that day off as well, and are told not to work, correct?
But I thought in the *State* of Israel (so we’re talking politically here, and not religiously), people DID have the freedom to work on the Sabbath, (if they were non-Jews)??
Please understand that I mean absolutely NO disrespect by asking this question. G-d bless the Rabbis for trying to stand up for what’s right, you know what I mean? If people ARE in fact desecrating the Sabbath…it’s a huge chillul HaShem to allow it to continue!
But I guess I’m just a little confused about policy. Can someone please elaborate for me?
Thank you & G-d bless.
And working on the Shabbos will speed things up? Beware: Only at the expense of the soundness of its structure.
if they arent jewish why this fuss the workers, whom do theese rabbis think they are they have no right to tell nonjews not to work on shabbas even if the boss is jewish this is insanity .
There is no law in EY against goyim working on shabbos.
If the workers on non Jewish I don’t see why they should make a big stink about it! Maybe they got a heter?
The most marvellous example of גמילת חסד in the building trade was exhibited by the Reichman Brothers in the late 1980s. They were the main contractors for the transformation of the derelict London docks into the marvellous Docklands business district of today.
Paul Reichman and his brother (whose name escapes me at the moment) insisted that all their employees – goyim and yiddn alike – down tools one hour before the beginning of שבת ומועד and that no work whatsoever be done on those days.
A goy can always work on Shabbos, as long as it is of his own volition
The Reichman brothers actions may seem admirable but a non-Jew is not prohibited from working on Shabbat if he or she so wishes. If the non-Jew observes either Friday or Sunday as his or her Sabbath. and he or she is also prohibited from working on the Jewish Sabbath, his or her ability to make a living is burdened.
A Jew is not allow to tell a non Jew to work on Shabbos. If he gives him a job and gives him enough time to do his job he can do it on Shabbos. This mall is about bring more chillul Shabbos to the area and should not be built on Shabbos.
Israel is a secular country, isn’t it?
Look at Shulchan Aruch Orach Hayim Siman 244, where it states that even if a Gentile works for own profit [=contractor], if he is doing building construction and it is in a Jewish neighborhood, it is not allowed because of “Maarit Ayin”. In our case, since the Gentiles were under pressure to finish, it may be that they are not considered “contractors”, but rather direct workers for Jews, which is more severe. In any case, the act of building by Gentiles (for a Jewish-owned building) in a Jewish neighborhood is definitely prohibited. To me, it is not clear whether one must protest this, but if the Rabbis deemed this so, we must support them, or at least not oppose them.