It's intolerable that those who don't have cars cannot visit the sick (a mitzva), and friends, and also really relax on Shabbat whether on the beach, parks or whatever.

Nobody is forcing the religeous sector to travel on Shabbat, they have the freedom to choose. So give us seculars the same freedom of choice!

Waw, it should have been operating from yesterday. What about trains? Name a country where public transport stands still one day a week? The absence of public transport on Shabat targets (unwillingly) socially weak population.

like someone who steals money for the purpose of fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah. Lo me'duvshach velo me'uktzach - I don't need your honey and don't need your sting. The merit of keeping Shabbat will heal your sick family member or friend. On the other hand, chillul Shabbat can just make it worse.

do it for heaven's sake

....and I will, I will clean up your acts. Never again shall anyone go against the laws and desires of God Almighty.

Currently the poor and the elderly who cannot afford cars or are unable to operate them are held hostage in their homes over Shabbat. The current situation forces Shabbat observance only on the poor. It should not be the case that only those who can afford it can do what they like with their lives.

I am a religious person living in the center of town. What about my rights to have a quiet peaceful Shabbat without the noise of buses. It's the only day I get any relief from that noise! There are already taxis and cars drive. If someone just has to get somewhere let him rent a car or take a taxi that day, but there will not be any Shabbat Shalom for anyone with buses running the roads!! And it is not necessary. It's nothing but a provocation and it makes hate where none existed before.

Simcha, Your the only talkbacker to talk of "Hate" How about talk of Tolerance, it makes better sense.

Some analogy, some logic. Also, I was in hospital recently. Nothing could possibly be more comforting than having visitors no matter how much I prayed.

and not in the opposite direction. These people struggling to remove Israel, more and more, from its roots ,pushing it to be as any other country,more and more,are enemies and want ,ultimately,the dismiss of Israel(I wonder where they are going to go then) Those wishing to live as complete secular westerners,should not live in Israel.Those loving in it(excuse me,I meant "living in it"),should be ready for compromises towards our Commandments.

for receiving Jewish visitors to Jewish patients in a Jewish way.I mean,if they come in Shabbat,they should come before it and have where to sleep there,along or nearby their sick friend. One can work in various ways for the benefit of the country;it is a matter of WHICH ways a country wants to,or should ,chose.It is possible to make it confortable to the population in both ways,but Israel insists in choosing the wrong one.

There is nothing Jewish about public transportation on the Sabbath. It is better to sit at home and not descecrate the Sabbath than to travel by car or bus and visit the ill or sunbathe. The holiness of our eternal "day of rest" supersedes all those other considerations. By permitting (and funding) public descecration of the Sabbath, we undermine the essence of the "Jewish" character of the State (whatever little is left of it).

the goyim are low-profile, but when Jews behave like goyim, the goyim come to remind us who we are. Remember what happened in Germany the first country Jews intermingled and tried to assimilate with the goyim. Then came the Fuhrer and reminded them that they were Jews even those who tried to hide it by intermarriage. Warning: Don’t start up with Shabbat. Shabbat will not tolerate it and take revenge.

You are actually saying that what happened to the Jews in Germany was due entierly to thier fault. So in your oppinion, the Germans had nothing to do with it, it was all down to the Jews wanting to live like the "goyim". It is backward people like you that drive us away from Judaism. And to the "goyim" reading this, please dont be offended by her language, she is just a prick.

GREAT IDEA!

to the economy as the folks who work hard all week - but who depend on public transportation because their high taxes pay for yeshivot - then we'll talk. In the meantime, you all should be going after the actual goyim, who get drunk and chase after STDs in skirts on Shabbat. Isn't it ironic how somehow that is not anti-Torah?

I think that government activities dafka should be allowed and that all the members of the government should go to work on shabbes. I would like to see how many of the secular members are prepared for such a suggestions - or is the shabbath only holy for members of the government????

exist as long as the Shabbat is kept: the Seventh Day, not the first day Shabbat. But the Bible also says that worship without righteousness is an abomination to the Lord. So the people who do not worship God in holy righteousness in their lives are not expected to honor the Shabbat. Indeed, sinners honoring the Shabbat is an offense to the Lord UNLESS they are truly repentant and try to change their lives. So there are people who offend the Lord by honoring the Shabbat and there are those who protect the nation by honoring the Shabbat, depending on their personal righteousness in the Lord.

Shame on you first for being an a*** kisser: "And to the "goyim" reading this, please dont be offended by her language, she is just a prick". Shame on you to refuse to see what is correct:#14 is right. When a body is weak,all kind of viroses,dangerous bacteries,wild animal,etc,attack thet body. All these diseases were the germans of hitler;the weak body was us,exactly for the reason cited by #14.

do people who work hard the whole week are devoid of pleasure of taking their kids to the sea or regular travel outside their neighbourhoods or doing some shopping for the coming week, if they don't have a car? We do they have to be confined to their homes in order to please people who live on their taxes? There's nothing more hypocritical than a haredi using a shabbath elevator or demanding that there're no movies on the plane. If you want to live in your cell - go ahead, why do other people have to that?

what about my right to buy hametz during Pesach and the rights denied to friends of mine to get married in Israel

What is Judaism to you? What is the Torah to you? What is Shabbat to you? What is Israel to you? If you would like to grow and learn more about your religion please contact your local Rabbi or any Bet Chabad in your area.

Israel is the country where we live, work, serve in army and pay taxes. Shabbat is our day off.

Shavua Tov! The Talmud says: 'Megalgelin zchut al yedei zakai umegalgelin chov al yedei chayav'. G-d brings about good things through a good person and evil through an evil person. When G-d decrees that a person must be killed, He looks for an evil messenger to do this job. In the Torah in the Tochechah in Parshat Bechukotei and Ki Tavo and Ve’etchanan which we read on Tisha b’Av, the Torah warns the Jewish people to adhere to Torah and mitzvot and if not, wow to them. People in Germany were, unfortunately, not behaving properly according to the Torah. So when Hashem wanted to punish them, He picked an evil person and an evil nation who were the messengers to do the dirty job. There is a concept: “Kol yisrael areivim zeh lazeh”. If a fellow Jew commits a sin, it affects all Jews and other Jews can get punished for it too. That’s the reason when you see someone committing a sin, for instance, chillul Shabbat, you protest it, because besides the mitzvah of “hoche’ach tochiach” to give mussar to your fellow Jew, it’s simply affects everyone. That’s why religious Jews, when they see a Jew driving on Shabbat, they demonstrate against it. It’s just like a person who sits in a room of a smoker. Although he himself doesn’t smoke and is anti smoking, he could get affected. That’s why he has the full right and obligation to protest it.

For MK Moshe Gafni to come out with the statement that he cares so much about workers rights etc is total rubbish and he knows it. All he is doing is trying to impose his life style on the secular population and thats all there is to it.