Dalia Itzik to rabbis: Find a solution to daylight saving time crisis
Kadima MK urges chief rabbis to find a "creative solution" to the dispute that has divided religious and secular Israelis.
By Haaretz Service and Jonathan LisDalia Itzik MK on Sunday urged Israel's Chief Rabbis to drop objections to a proposed law that would extend summer daylight saving time.
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MK Dalia Itzik during Knesset debate, Jerusalem August 9, 2010. |
| Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum |
Itzik's request came as public debate intensified following a proposal by Nitzan Horowitz, an MK for the leftwing Meretz party, to extend daylight saving time until the last Sunday in October, which is when many other countries make the change.
Rabbis have objected to the move, claiming it would lengthen the Yom Kippur fast, observed each fall on from sunset to sunset the 10th day of the Hebrew calendar month of Tishrei, making life harder for religious Jews.
But the proposal has won support from non-observant Jews, pointing to what many see as a growing gulf between the religious and secular strands of Israeli society.
"You have the power to take action and prevent a rift in Israeli society," Itzik,a Kadima MK and former Knesset speaker, told Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar. "You must find a solution that will bridge the gaps and help unite our society in time for the holidays."
Earlier Sunday, Interior Minister Eli Yishai suggested a compromise that would move the clock to standard time during Yom Kippur, switching back to daylight saving time at the end of the 10-day holiday period.
"Religious people enjoy daylight saving time just as much as secular people," said Yishai.
Under the current law, Israel switches back to Standard Time on the Sunday before Yom Kippur, about two months before the United States does so and well over a month before Europe does, on October 31 this year.
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Besides, if you manage 25 hours without food or water, you can survive another hour, it's once a year anyway.
Religious people indeed would like to have long days for Chol Hamoed Sukkot -- including most Shas supporters. The proper time for DST is (1) to start DST the day after Sedar Night (so the sedar is early, and chol hamoed Pesach days are long for tiyulim, and (2) to end DST at a convenient date AFTER Sukkot -- probably end of October is good.
This is no "crisis", and hopefully cannot cause "a rift in Israeli society". The length of Yom Kippur is fixed by the length of the day, regardless of what time the clocks show. The religious want standard time, so that the clock will show an earlier hour to begin and to end the day. I don't quite understand the idea, but it is obviously petty. Perhaps they believe that the fast will be easier for them (psychologically) if the clock shows an earlier hour. But Jews all over the world manage with Daylight Savings Time, and they are still psychologically unhurt. Put an end to this over-indulgence of the Religious' childish whims. Say "no", and let them grow up.
Yes, it would end an hour later, but it would also START an hour later. It will last not a second longer. The only difference is what time it says on your watch. The rabbis who pushed the original change are making a mockery of Jewish values and common sense. Even the modern Orthodox are asking, "What were they thinking!"
they should accept the challenge
One must be really idiot to believe that 24 hours summer time is longer than 24 hours winter time, and therefore is harder to fast! It seems that our interior minister is one of those believing this! He even suggested a compromise moving the clock back and forward and so forth!! What a minister we have!!