Be’er Sheva, Israel – The Egged bus cooperative, Israel’s main public transport company, has apparently secretly begun to operate buses on Shabbat, Haaretz has learned.
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Buses Nos. 370 and 380, on the Be’er Sheva-Tel Aviv route, depart Be’er Sheva before the Sabbath is over. The early departures are not featured on the company’s Web site. At 4:30 P.M. Saturday, the first bus from Be’er Sheva’s central bus station departed for Tel Aviv.
Two others departed 30 minutes later, despite the fact that Shabbat officially ended at 5:26 P.M. The Nos. 370 and 380 routes were operated by Egged until about 10 years ago, when they were privatized and thereafter shared by Egged and the Metropolin company.
An Egged customer service representative told Haaretz the first bus for Tel Aviv departs Be’er Sheva on Saturdays no earlier than 6 P.M. In response, one of the company’s drivers told Haaretz: “I guess they don’t want to upset the ultra-Orthodox. Buses leave Be’er Sheva an hour and a half before the end of the Shabbat every Saturday.”
Be’er Sheva council member Ofer Karadi (Shas), told Haaretz: “If this is happening, I protest it very strongly. We, the ultra-Orthodox community, have placed our trust in the Egged company, and if this information is correct, I will raise this with our rabbinic council as soon as possible. We may have to resort to strong measures to counter this. We will do everything to prevent any affront to the feelings of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox populations in Be’er Sheva or elsewhere.”
In a statement, the Egged management said the buses, operated jointly with Metropolin, leave half an hour after the end of Shabbat, in accordance with the schedule posted on the Internet.
what???? chilel shabbs? we must boycott egged, & open a new mhadrin route un beir shava. is isreal still a jewish state??
“We will do everything to prevent any affront to the feelings of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox populations in Be’er Sheva or elsewhere.”
Any what will you do? Throw rocks at the buses, slash the tires, maybe burn the buses ? Normal yidden in EY who get up each day, go to work, pay their taxes to support Eged subsidies are simply ready to throw up every time we read of the newest “affront to the feelings” of the orthodox. TOO BAD!! For those who need the buses for transportation, they should have access. No one is holding a gun to the heads of their orthodox forcing them onto the bus on shabbos. Why don’t you live your own lives and let us live ours in peace. The first one who tries to interfere with the buses should be thrown in jail with the other dysfunctional chareidim who are filling the jails for their riots and demonstrations.
A few weeks ago I had to be in Yerushalayim asap after Shabbos. My bus arrived from Kiryat Shmona to my town 1 hour after Shabbos if not less. It is more than an hour’s ride from there. It only hit me when I was on the way that this bus lewft after seuda shlishis. I was srry, but I wouldn’t have had another option. In any case, our city had Egged busses on Sghabbos and now we have another company.
I just checked the Egged schedule for Shabbos r”l leaving Tel Aviv to K. Shmona at 15:30.
So what else is new in Beer Sheva???
If true, this is indeed a violation of the status quo, and Egged should be prompted to adjust schedules. However, am I the only one who feels that a statement like Ofer Karadi’s [“If this is happening, I protest it very strongly. We, the ultra-Orthodox community, have placed our trust in the Egged company, and if this information is correct, I will raise this with our rabbinic council as soon as possible. We may have to resort to strong measures to counter this. We will do everything to prevent any affront to the feelings of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox populations in Be’er Sheva or elsewhere”] is not the most diplomatic way to sway someone’s opinion, and by putting people on the defensive, may actually make the fight harder?
Wouldn’t it be more productive to say: “If this is happening, it is very grave. We, the ultra-Orthodox community, have placed our trust in the Egged company, and if this information is correct, I will raise this with our rabbinic council as soon as possible and seek to resolve this matter in cooperation with Egged management, in the shortest possible delay”?
raise the issue all you want Israel is not beholden to the rabbinate.
You do not want to drive don’t do not tell others what to so.
what if some rabbunem decide that a shtameil is tzar ball ha’chaim and should be banned I am sure you would follow and not wear it anymore. let see how you like to be told what to do.
The secular made an exemption for fur imports for the cheraidem. that was a big mistake they should have given the cherdiem a taste of their own medicine
Live in America until Moshiach, this way you don’t have to worry about chillul Shabbos of the bus company.
everyone needs to make a living…people should mind their own business,and if they don’t like it don’t use egged..
How can Egged run a secret bus schedule? If it’s secret, then no one will know to use it. If people are using it, then they know about it and it’s not secret.
it aint a secret anymore
Well, now at least the truly religious Jews in Israel will have a choice to riot and disrespect Shabbat by acting like disgusting humans in more than one place. They will be able to choose between the parking lot in Jerusalem that has absolutely no affect on their lives, the computer company that brings hundreds of paid jobs to their area and considerable income into Israel in general and now the bus company. So nice to give these ‘humans’ a choice of where to be on Shabbat rather than in Shul or home with their families. At least they have diversions.