So there's still hope for a true Jewish country, which will include descendants from Avi, Charles, Assaf Wohl, Beinish and the likes. It already includes descendants of Shulamit Aloni.

Daniel Gordis raised this topic in an op-ed published in the Jerulsaem post dated 09/03/2010 16:53 To quote: ______________ YEARS AGO, we took our then teenage daughter to an evening sponsored by the army, at which religious parents could ask questions about what the army would be like for their daughters. Some of the parents were downright hostile, clearly opposed to the prospect of their daughters joining the IDF. At one point, an obviously angry father stood up, turned to the base commander and asked (or more accurately hissed), “Do you make the girls work on Shabbat?” The room was perfectly silent, for everyone knew the answer. No one moved. Even the base rabbi said nothing. He stood at the podium, leaned into the mike and, lost in thought, played with his beard. Suddenly, one of the three soldiers who’d been brought to address the parents, a young woman with her uniform shirt buttoned up to her chin, her sleeves extending to her wrists and her armyissued skirt down to her ankles, looked the father right in the eye, and without being called on, said to him, “Of course we work on Shabbat.” And then, after a second’s pause, she added, “Gam ha’oyev oved beshabbat” – the enemy also works on Shabbat. It was a game changer. “What?” she essentially asked. “You think we do this for fun? There are people out there trying to destroy us. Either we’re as serious about this conflict as they are, or they’re going to win.”

The protection and security of the State is above Shabbat for one simple reason: WE CHOOSE LIFE!

... I checked the internet feeds for both Reshet Aleph and Bet (I neglected to check Army Radio's Galei Tzahal). All I found was ... silence. Yom Kippur had already started in Israel. And that's how it should be. Army Radio should be ready to go "live" in an emergency, but those who want news and entertainment on the Shabbat can always turn to commercial stations. Re tb #2, I commend that religious woman soldier for speaking plainly. It's been clear at least since Hasmonean times that the sanctity of the Shabbat does not override preserving life or the need to defend the nation.

The story you tell indicates how childish and low-level most dialogue is. Of course some Army functions must occur on Shabbat -- those necessary to defend the country from its enemies. Does that mean that Saturday must be treated like any other day in the Army? What is the justification for having Army radio (which is for entertainment, primarily) on Shabbat? How does playing music on Army radio on Shabbat show you are "serious" about meeting the enemy? It's always easy to throw out a bon mot. Try using a little thought first.

patrolling on Shabbat, stop using radars and other electronics on the Shabbat and ofcourse do not fight on the Shabbat. We can all die on the Shabbat with their stupid intervention. Let the army and other security forces alone. Get the hell out of our lives and our country already. I served with religious soldiers that patrolled, drove, used the radio and fought on Shabbat. Because we do that we exist.

Won't that be so peachy?

What kind of nonsense is it that if "f a religious soldier has been involved in the preparation and recording of a program in advance, this program will not be broadcast on Shabbat either." Does that mean that soldiers can not eat the chollent made on Friday for their Shabbat meal?

The Army Radio is not VITAL on Shabbat . Patrolling and so IS . But i agree with you , let them leave us without their coercision .

I am having trouble reconciling a lot of Shabbat prohibitions related to technology. I can understand actaually performing work, as in manual labor like wood splitting, but most technology does not involve any manner of work. Here's one scenario: my computer stays 24/7. Why am I prohibited from sitting down and sending an e-mail to someone? No real work is involved and a case could be made, based on the possible content of the e-mail, I could even be filling a mitzvah: visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved, etc. Is there prohibition on writing a letter on Shabbat? If there is, why? It is no longer necessary to mix pigments to produce ink nor pluck birds for quills or to sharpen quills to write. We have pencils and pens with self contained ink. And what about electronically composing a letter but not physically printing it? With the situation presented in the article, I sympathize with the religious solder who do not wiosh to broadcast, but, to use an old phrase, "You're in the Army now" and that need takes precedence. The soldiers should have known that going into the military: you are going to be expected to do things outside your comfort zone or contrary to personal beliefs.

Too uniform I dressed too many prejudices too many flags and speech all the lost time,NOTHING IS INALTERABLE NOT DEFINITIVELY AT ALL THE CHANGE IS THE ONLY THING THAT REMAINS IN THE UNCONDITIONAL TIME,so many position and worry so many ideologies commitments words and fight quite fewer smiles,NOTHING IS INALTERABLE NOT DEFINITIVELY AT ALL ALONE THE CHANGE IS THE ONLY THING THAT REMAINS IN THE UNCONDITIONAL TIME,thousand things that I said yesterday today they make me laugh tomorrow I will joke of what today I could say then for that to insist (attaque 77)

Folks, I'm as gay as a three-dollar bill; I live in the heart of Tel Aviv, more exactly one block away from the "gay" beach and I can understand where your questions about Shabbat observance come from, but to be completely honest with y'all: these questions are f$%#^ stupid. It's your culture and your people. Go study a little. Educate yourselves and then you might choose not to lead a religious life, but at least you will also know where "they" (in fact, your national brethren) come from. Questions about what constitutes the so-called "work" on Shabbat, why not to use electric appliances and so on and so forth have now been reviewed and revisited for thousands of years (the former) and a couple of hundred years (the latter). I have Xtian friends who know more about Judaism than most Jewish ynet readers (!). With a proper sponge (there are restrictions) you can wash thousands of dishes in your house on Shabbat (that's not considered work); but moving a chair on the sand from one side to the other IS considered "work." Wanna know why? GO EDUCATE YOURSELVES, PEOPLE!!! And Chag Sukkot Sameach :)

For all those who attribute the existence of the State of Israel to the IDF, I beg to differ. G.d is the only reason why this tiny little piece of Holy, but still very small land is not crushed by the millions of hostile enemies we have. And if everyone decided to keep Shabbat, there would be no need for the IDF whatsoever. Our soldiers can barely stop ONE ship without getting beaten up or having to shoot. I'm grateful for the IDF, but I trust Hashgacha pratit better (Divine Providence). Hashem Ishmor!

shut down this foolish radio and get it over with. Do you think soldiers spend Shabbat or any other day of the week listening to this stupid station? They got other things to do like facebook. Get a life, you people! Stop wasting State resources on silly issues and focus on what really matters, will you? And while you're at it, NO, please don't buy that useless F-35 plane the US is trying to shove up ours!

Use the cholent for patching potholes weekdays. Give the soldiers better food.

Okay - radio, media, etc. - I get it. But hope they'll fight back on Shabbat, if not, they'll only get killed.

That's why I asked the questions. No matter how hard I try, I fail to see the connection with work and a lot of electronics. Once we came into the 20th century, a lot of 17th and even 18th century interpretations of Judaic Law do not have the same context they once did. Maybe we need a fresh, 21st Century century definition of Law with an eye to technology to come.

Dear Charles, I live in 21st century Tel Aviv, transplant from 20th century Boston through Barcelona, Frankfurt and Paris. Work, study and have a life like any other "modern" 21st century "secular" world citizen, but that's how I have chosen to live my life: knowing how to recognize that gifts always come from G.d maybe through "intermediaries" (such as the IDF in this case), and thanking G.d for all the kindness bestowed and let me tell you that has worked infinitely better than Buddhism, yoga, eastern meditation or secular Philosophy ever would (at least for me) and most likely for any other Jew. I recommend giving it a try. If not for anything else, at least it is a good exercise to step out of one's comfort zone and try something new sometimes.

Hi, I'm not a rabbi, but there are a myriad number of sources on the internet that explain every tiny little detail of the do's and dont's and why's of Shabbat. Long story short, Orthodox Jews believe we have 6 days to partner with G.d in the creation/maintenance of the world and all there is. On the seventh day we are supposed to let everything flows as is. Therefore we are to refrain from "any activity that is creative, or that exercises control or dominion over one's environment." These activities fall into specific categories such as "igniting fire," "building and destroying," etc. There are 39 activities that fit into two main divides: work that was done in the Tabernacle and work that was done for the benefit of the person. Electronics are forbidden because they may violate one, two or a few different laws, depending on what you're using them for and how you use them. In general, for instance there is always the danger of igniting or extinguishing "fire." Some rabbis claim that by turning it on or off you could break the law against building or destroying (although not everyone agrees). There are endless discussions in the Talmud and over the course of Jewish history about each category. The bottom line is that if you believe: a. There is such an entity as G.d, b. Jews have accepted to follow G.d's commandments through a mutual binding pact, c. G.d established the criteria that determine such commandments, d. those laws are eternal until G.d says otherwise, then Orthodox Judaism as set forth by the Talmud and the ancient books makes perfect sense even for modern life whether you like it or not or whether you choose to follow it or not. But if you disagree with any of the above, then Shabbat doesn't make sense and neither do any of its laws. That's why coming from a traditional household and having expreienced Reform and Conservative Judaism for several years, I feel (and it's a totally subjective and personal remark here) that both Reform and Conservative Judaism are ways to experience Jewish culture and maybe history, but the only way to experience the depth of Jewish religion is through Orthodox Judaism. But again it's a personal belief and I have friends who also disagree. So... to each his own. So even though as a gay person I am not strictly abiding by Orthodox Judaism in one way or another, I can perfectly understand where they're coming from and if there is a law to sanctify Shabbat, no matter what you understand by "sanctifying/honoring/observing," you must admit that listening to Lady Gaga on Shabbat through the Army radio is not only not holy, but it's also completely unnecessary.

You live in Petach Tikva, unfortunately a city with little to no culture, no beach, no natural beauty of its own, tons of rundown buildings and houses. If anyone would know what it's like to live in the dark middle ages, that would be you. Now stop trolling and Happy Sukkot! hehehe

Dude, chill! What was that again? hehe :)

When I started keeping Shabbat, which I did gradually,I realized that driving was annoying and stressful, the phone didn't let me get through my family dinner without being interrupted and the tv ruined the atmosphere. I do loads of laundry everyday. Once a week I take off from all this annoying electrical stuff that modern life has done to us and relax. Saturday is family day. Anything I forgot to do on Friday, I can do on Sunday.

Ok, I am no scholar of Judaism, but I will explain it as it was once explained to me by a rabbi. The Hebrew word for work is avoda. But there is another word, melacha, which implies a creative process and this is forbidden. Writing or turning on a light involves a creative process. You are making something and that is the difference. To get Judaism, you have to understand some Hebrew. I am a teacher. I know other teachers who spend their Shabbats checking papers, but because I don't write on Shabbat, I don't do that. I don't drive and get into stressful traffic jams. I don't need the noise in my house from the tv or my kid's music blasting. I don't have noise from the vacuum cleaner or the dishwasher. I surf the web six days a week. Once a week I read real books and learn Torah. If you are a Jew you haven't really rested until you've observed one Shabbat. Try to get yourself invited to some Orthodox peoples' house. Don't be shy, we like to invite guests.

Some of you people are such idiots to think that the IDF won't defend this country if attacked on Shabbat. If you read the First Book of Maccabees, which you can find on the internet, you will read in Chapter 2,lines 34-41, that the Selucid Greeks attacked a group of Jews(on a Saturday) who were hiding out in the hills, and killed them all because they would not fight on Shabbat. Mattathias and the Jewish leadership decided at that time that if attacked they will fight back, "Let us fight against every man who comes to attack us on the sabbaath day, let us not all die as our bretheren died in their hiding places."(line 41) Since then, we fight. If you recall, when the Yom Kippur war broke out, men who were in shuls fasting across the country broke their fasts and reported to the army to fight. If the radio station was needed in time of war to inform the citizens of attacks, as happened during the Gulf War, of course the station would broadcast. But forcing Jewish soldiers to work on Shabbat for the sake of entertainment is unconscionable.

By thinking that a god has given us this little piece of land . It were those brave 6000 seculars or even anti religious who gave their bllod for this country . It were the great Israeli pilots and ground staff who gave us this victory in 1967 , not your god . If you believe what you believe , tell me where was your god when 6 million of our brethren were murdered ? As always : INEXISTING .

If you don't believe in G-d, and that He gave us this land, then what are you doing here? If you don't believe that, then we really did steal the land from the Arabs and you should go back to where ever you came from. I am here because I believe a Higher Power gave me this country. G-d helps those who help themselves. He gave us the ability to establish a top rate army and through our soldiers He protects us. As for the Holocaust, some questions have no answers. I don't dwell on the Holocaust. My kids are my answer to Hitler. Every Jewish baby is a slap in Hitler's face.

The Torah is for me the HISTORY of the Jewish people . As i belong to this people , and that OUR history HERE goes back 1000's of years , it's MY country and we did'nt steal it from anybody . .The Kotel is part of this History too , and should NOT be only the property of the religious . The Kotel belongs to the whole Jewish Israeli people . The History of the Jewish people in this country is not only written in books , it's LIVE . If you believe that a god helped us to establish a top rated army , you are wrong . It are those mostly SECULARS who established it , without ANY divine intervention. Regarding the Shoa , I'm not satisfied with your "no answers" , as for me there is NO god . Regardiong your personal answer to hitler , i have the same . We are here , with our children , grandchildren .

During the gulf war the radio stations where broadcasting normally i think . Some were on stand by , believing people could switch on their radio before Shabbat , on those "stand by" stations , whom in case of ...would broadcast important news that could be heard by religious people too , who in this way had'nt to desecrate the Shabbat . Regarding "idiots" , you are right . It's called "pikuach nefesh" and is not only allowed , but mandatory . Saving lives has priority .