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Poll: Most Israeli Jews don’t want to work on Shabbat

Ynet-Gesher poll shows that 79% of Israeli Jews don’t want to work on Shabbat, and the few who do are motivated by the high pay and the fear of being fired. Survey also finds Israelis still not ready to replace Friday with Sunday as day of rest

The religious protest, the social welfare organizations scream, but it looks like most of the public agrees with their opposition to working on the Shabbat. Ynet-Gesher’s weekly survey shows that 79% of the public answered in the negative when asked “are you interested in working on Shabbat?” and among the secular the figure was 69%.

 

In the meantime, this doesn’t prevent hordes of people from visiting shopping centers on the “weekly day of shopping.”

 

The survey, conducted by the Mutagim Institute, included 501 respondents who were a representative sample of Israel’s adult, Hebrew-speaking Jewish population.

 

Thirty-three percent of the respondents who declared that they are not interested in working on the Shabbat said this was because of Shabbat observance, while 46% replied that it was because “I want to spend time with my family and friends.” Sixteen percent said it does not matter to them if they work on the day of rest, while 5% replied that they want to work on Shabbat.

 

One percent of those agreeing to work on the Shabbat said that they did so for fear of being fired, while the other 4% said it was because of the higher wages paid for Shabbat work.

 

A breakdown of the results by religious affiliation indicates that there is a clear majority among the secular public who oppose work on the Shabbat. As against 69% who said that they are not interested in working on the Shabbat, 24% said that they have no opinion on the matter, and 7% declared that they would agree to work on the weekend. Naturally, among traditional Jews the results were even sharper: 83% would not agree to work on the Shabbat, and only 4% would go to work.

 

Sunday as a day of rest?

In the survey’s second question, respondents were asked to address one of the main aspects of the “Shabbat revolution” proposed by MK Zvulun Orlev (National Union-National Religious Party), which involves turning Sunday into a non-working day rather than Friday.

 

Forty-five percent of respondents prefer to leave Friday as the day of rest, 37% chose Sunday, and 18% said that it did not matter to them which day was chosen.

 

An additional analysis of the survey results shows that traditional Israelis are the only group supporting Orlev’s initiative: 44% favored Sunday as a day off work, while 38% preferred Friday.

 

Orlev, who is chairman of the National Religious Party, told Ynet that this move, together with the absolute prohibition of commerce on the Shabbat, would significantly reduce Shabbat desecration because on Sunday there would be no limitations on commerce, and sporting and cultural events would also take place.

 

Orlev also noted that “in most Western countries there are two full days of rest for the entire economy, on Saturday and Sunday. This is beneficial to the family unit and allows family members to spend more time together while taking part in leisure activities. Such a change is liable to reduce disagreements between religious and secular and to bring about a reduction in unemployment and in social gaps.”

 

Effect of globalization

Gesher director Shoshi Becker has called for an infusion of Jewish content into Shabbat so that it is not just a “work-free day.” She believes the opposition to replacing Friday with Sunday as a non-working day stems from the need to prepare for the Shabbat.

 

Nevertheless, she says, “it is possible that the process of globalization is accelerating the desire for a day off on Sunday because that is how the world of commerce works, and many people in Israel are connected to that world.”

 

Becker believes that Shabbat observers need Sunday as a day off because it allows them to go on excursions and participate in family events that cannot be held on Shabbat.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.09.07, 09:51
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