Shabbat Travel in Tel Aviv-1949
While doing research for an article that I am writing, I came across the following in Arthur Koestler’s book Promise and Fulfilment: Palestine 1917-1949. In this excerpt Koestler describes his meeting with the Minister of Religion, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Fishman Maimon. I found his theoretical comments at the end about electric travel on Shabbat interesting.
It also seems that then it was common for religious people from Bnei Brak to take Shabbat walks on the Tel Aviv beache.
For discussions about using public transportation on Shabbat outside of Israel see here and here.
July 11th, 2012 at 11:35 am
Intressante piece. it would be nice indeed to ride around on shabbos, but im pretty sure it would sound the deathknell for sabbath observance, just like it did for the conservative movement. no way around it, in my opinion.
I love the hypocrisy of Koestler. He and his fellow liberals would never speak so patronizingly about, let us say, blacks. but he has no compunctions about speaking thus about religious jews.