Working on shabbat
Working 9 to 5 – even on Shabbat
From yeshiva students who make 'good money' by working as waiters during the Shabbat, to cantors whose source of income is working at bar mitzvahs on Saturdays, there are plenty of members of Israel's religious public who have little choice but to work on Shabbat. How does that fit in with Jewish religious law?
The issue of Shabbat has become one of the most beloved of Israel's elected officials. It sometimes seems Shabbat is protecting politicians more than politicians are protecting Shabbat – or at the very least, that it's keeping them in the headlines.
It may seem that the current war around Shabbat is directed at one part of Israeli society only – the secular demographic. Yet there are thousands of observant Israelis – religious, traditional and ultra-Orthodox – across the country who are on duty every Saturday and on every religious holiday in hotels and guesthouses that cater to the religious community.
Plenty of religious people work as waiters on Shabbat in Israel. But how do they reconcile this with Jewish religious law? (Illustration: Ruth Gvili)
They look after Shabbat ceremonies and bar mitzvahs, and even cater events for tourists as well as conventions and congresses. Most of the people providing this variety of Shabbat services keep Shabbat themselves and are not doing this voluntarily – they are paid handsomely for their "out-of-hours" work.
Moreover, in many instances these employees and service providers are in fact financially supporting themselves principally by working on the Shabbat.
Yes, you read that correctly: Waiters, crew members, kashrut supervisors, cantors and teachers all engage in paid employment on Shabbat, week after week, and there is no member of the Knesset – religious or secular – speaking out about it.
In order to get to the root of the phenomenon, we pretended to be the mother of a son who was due to celebrate his bar mitzvah in the summer. She wanted nothing but the best for her son and was organizing an event fit for a king.
Needed for the plan: an elegant, kosher hotel that would host prayers and guests. We rang round a few cantors, hotels and hostels. We were looking for 20 rooms for friends and family, all of them religious and, of course, all of whom kept Shabbat.
The first hotel, located in a religious kibbutz in the north, promised us that the establishment was Mehadrin (the strictest level) kosher. They were nearly fully booked, and therefore told us that we needed to decide quickly: "It's packed here every Saturday – bar mitzvahs are booked a year in advance."
In the end they found us the 20 rooms we'd requested, on the agreement that we would divide the dining room with another religious group that would be at the hotel for a convention.
What about the waiters?
"They're all Jews. There are no Arabs here. And most of them are religious."
The waiters work on Shabbat?
"They have to. Otherwise we wouldn’t have anyone coming here on Shabbat."
I'm just puzzled as to how that fits with the halacha (Jewish religious law).
"I haven't got the faintest idea, but everyone does it."
But just because everyone does it doesn't mean that it's in keeping with halacha.
"But that's how it is. There's no other solution."
Ronnie Schwartz, a 20-year-old yeshiva student from Kfar Saba, used to drive on Shabbat to work as a waiter at events for the religious public.
"I'm assuming that technically this is permissible under halacha," Schwartz says in justification. "I would work a few hours before Shabbat and a few hours after. On Shabbat itself I would serve food, which itself isn't a desecration of the Shabbat."
The halachic "trick" is this: The employer pays the employee according to working hours that are registered before or after Shabbat, but ultimately the majority of the work is done on Shabbat. Ronnie, like the rest of the religious employees, is obviously well aware of this fact.
"I wouldn't do it now," he said. "I care about what these acts mean. And it disturbs me."
Another former waiter, 20-year-old Arnon Ben-Dov from kibbutz Ein-Tzorim, drove to wait tables on Shabbat along with friends from his yeshiva throughout their high school years.
"I worked as a waiter in order to fund a trip to Poland, and it paid a lot more to work on Shabbat," Ben-Dov explained. "The money was good, the work relatively easy, I worked with friends I knew well and I didn't really feel that I was desecrating the Shabbat.
"In retrospect, I realize it's problematic. But the reality is that other people don't stay home on Shabbat and someone needs to serve them. Yes, I worked on Shabbat, but I didn't have a choice."
Would you do it again today?
"If I had no choice? I don't know. But I aspire to keep the Shabbat as a day of rest, both from a halachic and a financial perspective."
'It's not ideal, but what do we do – stop going out on Shabbat? Stop living?'
Next, we spoke to a kashrut inspector at another hotel in order to try and delve a little deeper into the matter.
How is it halachically permissible to employ a staff of waiters and cooks on Shabbat?
"It's important to everyone these days that there won't be Arabs waiting tables, given the situation. Who will serve the food otherwise?
I'm assuming a solution can be found, but isn't it problematic from a halachic perspective?
"It is problematic. I'm aware that it's not ideal, but what do we do – stop going out on Shabbat? Stop holding bar mitzvahs on Shabbat? Stop living?"
If we're talking about desecrating the Shabbat, then perhaps that is the solution.
"It's not exactly desecrating the Shabbat. As you know, with Jews everything is in the details – there's always a solution to every problem."
We also spoke with a cantor under the guise of wanting to hold a Shabbat bar mitzvah.
First of all, I want to understand: Do you really work on Shabbat?
"Technically? Yes. I support myself by working on the Shabbat. Holidays. Synagogues. Events. Most of the money comes from working on the Shabbat."
Is that not problematic under halacha?
"I know there are people who are uncomfortable with it, and I recommend not charging extra for smaller events."
Honoring the status quo
The truth has to be told: Halachic solutions have been a central part of Judaism for thousands of years. For every social, technical or financial challenge, a religious ruling has been handed down in order find a way around it.
However, the Shabbat issue does call into question the purity of the intentions of those who are responsible for the current battle to keep the Shabbat day holy. If a solution can be found to the problem of working on Shabbat, why can't these politicians also find a solution so that shops can be kept open on Shabbat and allow urban life to continue in secular cities? Theoretically speaking, buying something on credit at the local corner shop is no different from most waiters' tasks.
We therefore spoke with Likud MK Miki Zohar, who despite not being religious is leading the line to preserve the Shabbat as a day of rest. His most recent proposed bill would levy harsh fines on any businesses that operate on Shabbat, as well as exposing business owners to the risk of civil lawsuits.
It turns out there are a lot of religious people who work on the Shabbat in order to support themselves. Could it be that you are mistaken in your attempts to prevent secular people from supporting themselves by working on the Shabbat?
"I explicitly stated that my proposed bill is intended to protect those working on the Shabbat, who are forced to work on Saturdays for one reason or another. They want to relax with their family and can't, and they're the ones I'm trying to protect.
"The issue here is social, not halachic. Everyone deserves a day of rest, and in the State of Israel – a Jewish and democratic state – it's the Shabbat."
But it's actually religious employees with whom we spoke who have said they don't have much choice other than to work on Shabbat. It's the only way they can support themselves.
"That's their right. Who am I to stop them? As long as they're not working in a business."
So the Shabbat of a religious waiter is worth less than that of a secular kiosk attendant?
"It's above all not OK that people don't even rest one day a week – on the Shabbat – in a Jewish and democratic state."
Where's the logic in one being outlawed and the other not?
"As per my bill, I want everyone to be allowed a day of rest."
Why are hotels OK and corner shops not?
"It's the status quo."
