New Bill to Make Sunday a Day Off in Israel
- 9 years ago
Jewish Home party MK Yinon Magal has tabled a bill that would make Sunday an official day off in Israel, in a move that is likely to reignite debate over the somewhat controversial topic.
Currently, weekends in the Jewish state are from Friday-Saturday, the latter of which is the Jewish Sabbath.
But while having Fridays off enables religiously-observant Jewish families to adequately prepare for Shabbat, it also means there is no "day off" as there is in other countries, since Shabbat-observant Jews are prohibited from performing many activities such as driving or otherwise traveling long distances, and spend Fridays preparing for Shabbat as opposed to spending time with their families.
Addressing the question of how the lost working hours to the Israeli economy would be made up - given that observant Jews cannot practically work more than half a day on Fridays - Magal's bill suggests half a days'-worth of hours be made up by extending working hours Monday-Thursday, with the remaining made up by a half-day on Fridays.
Currently, weekends in the Jewish state are from Friday-Saturday, the latter of which is the Jewish Sabbath.
But while having Fridays off enables religiously-observant Jewish families to adequately prepare for Shabbat, it also means there is no "day off" as there is in other countries, since Shabbat-observant Jews are prohibited from performing many activities such as driving or otherwise traveling long distances, and spend Fridays preparing for Shabbat as opposed to spending time with their families.
Addressing the question of how the lost working hours to the Israeli economy would be made up - given that observant Jews cannot practically work more than half a day on Fridays - Magal's bill suggests half a days'-worth of hours be made up by extending working hours Monday-Thursday, with the remaining made up by a half-day on Fridays.