MK Betzalel Smotritch (Hatzionut Hadatit) today commented on the fact that the soccer/football leagues in Israel all play their games on Shabbos, thus excluding many fans from going to or watching the games and enjoying the sport. Smotritch suggested moving league games to other days of the week to be inclusive of shomrei shabbos.

Ahhhh, the 4.5 day workweek...

There is a famous story that happened with Levi Eshkol (I think) when he was Prime Minister of Israel in the '60s. People came to Eshkol and were pushing him to establish Israel's economy to function on a five day work week. Levi Eshkol responded saying are you crazy? We can't just start working five days a week! First have the people work 2 days a week and get used that, then we can bump it up to 3 days, and eventually we'll make it up to working five days a week!

Sudden changes have been made in two law proposals that were expected to advance:

1. The Law proposal of Shuli Moallem Refaeli that would require ISPs to filter "adult content" by default and only open it to those explicitly requesting it. Refaeli has changed her proposal under pressure to not require the filtering by default and having people request it be opened, but the ISPs will have to offer the option of filtering more explicitly.

Opponents were worried about the limitation to people's freedoms, and who would decide what is considered hurtful content that should be included in the filtering, among other things.

that was a quick recapitulation.

source: Srugim

2. The long weekend law that would [start out] giving Israelis a long weekend once every two months. We are going to have to wait longer for it to happen, if it ever will.

The law was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2017, but that has been pushed further back, until next summer.

The results of the committees that have been looking into the issue to prepare the legalese for the final proposal have decided that the damage to industry will be greater than previously expected, to the tune of 9 billion shekels, by implementing a long weekend once every two months.

The presidents of the various industry organizations claim to be in favor of the law but insist on first figuring out a way to ensure that they won't lose all that money and that the lost work-hours will somehow be returned somewhere else. Another issue is the coordination with the school schedules of vacations for the kids.

Figuring out a solution and preparing the law for it cannot be done in time for January 1, so the expectations are being pushed off to the summer for implementation.
source: Yediot

The "long weekend" is getting underway, with baby steps.

Yesterday the Ministerial Legislative Committee approved the start of the long weekend, Passing in the legislative committee means chances are extremely high that it will pass in the Knesset voting, but we should not get ahead of ourselves.

According to the first stage that is being approved now, the long weekends (ie. Sundays as a vacation day) are being scheduled for days that most people would likely take off anyway - 2 Sundays in the summer when the kids are on vacation, along with 4 Sundays scheduled through the holidays, specifically being exchanged for days during Pesach and Chanukah vacations. Staring the project off like this means they do not need to retool the school calendar in any significant manner in order to coordinate kids days off with parents days off. Rather, the parents will be getting the days off on days that the kids are already off.

Eventually this is supposed to lead to one Sunday per month, and then eventually to every Sunday being a day off. Israelis work, on average, more weekly hours than other OECD countries, and this will move us more in line with the OECD, thus increasing productivity. In addition, it will improve quality of life, give people time to relax, shop, tour, spend family time and whatever else they might want to do.
source: JPost, Walla News, Kikar

I am all for it. The Haredi media has yet to give its unique perspective on this telling us what the frum perspective on this si meant to be. I wonder if anybody, maybe the Haredi MKs, has asked the gedolim yet. Is it too "goyish", as some claim? is it good, as it will give people time to relax and learn more Torah? should it be encouraged as a way of lessening chilul shabbos? Will it cause more bittul torah as people find other things to do besides being productive or learning?

The suggestion to turn Sundays into an official vacation day, at least starting with one Sunday per month, is back on the table.

TheMarker is reporting that Minister of Finance Moshe Kachlon has now agreed to support the proposal, paving its way for submission to law. MKs Dudi Amsalem (Likud) and Eli Cohen (Kulanu) have submitted the proposal to turn Sundays into a long weekend once per month, allowing families to enjoy a relaxing extended weekend. Behadrei adds that the long weekend will also be for children, meaning the public school system will not have school on that same Sunday.

The two MKs are submitting the proposal to the Knesset, and Kachlon is submitting it to the Ministerial Legislative Committee.

The proposal states that the work hours missing from that Sunday will have to be made up during that month. Over a period of 3 years, this will be evaluated, and then considered to be expanded.

It says nothing in the articles about when those missing school hours will be made up.

When Silvan Shalom was pushed to resign with a scandal and investigation brewing, I assumed that was the end of the movement to turn Sundays in Israel into a long weekend. While Silvan Shalom was not the first one to think of the idea, he was the main person in the Knesset that actually pushed it to the point where it was relatively close to being considered seriously. When he went away, I assumed this would too. I did not think it had enough gravitas on its own, he had not gotten it enough momentum to carry on without him, and nobody was spotted taking the gauntlet from him.

Sure enough, today we are greeted with surprising news..

MK Eli Cohen (Kulanu) has announced the initiative to turn Sundays into a vacation day, a long weekend. Not every Sunday, at least not initially, but once a month.

According to Cohen this would work in the following fashion. Each person would be granted an additional 12 vacation days above and beyond what he or she already gets. In exchange for those 12 days, the workday will be extended by an additional 15-20 minutes to make up that work time.

Cohen explains the importance of this to help improve the quality of life here and all the usual flexibility it will give to us - sports, tiyulim, time with family, religion, etc. And, it will knock Israel more into line with the long weekends found in much of the world.

Cohen says that while in the past the labor unions opposed the idea, they are now coming to an agreement and says the differences between them are small and it is possible that in 2017 this will already go into effect.
source: Channel 2 News

If this comes to be, part of the stipulation of those additional 12 vacation should be that they can only be used on Sundays once a month. Otherwise people will simply use them on their vacations to Europe or wherever and then the purpose will have been lost.

I know some employers are against the idea. Some say extending the workday is not beneficial, as the workday is already long and studies show efficiency goes down with that extra time, so the employers might get some more time out of their employees per day but that time will largely be wasted. I also suspect that they already benefit, often but not always, from employees who stay far longer than their required work hours, and rarely have to actually pay overtime (because of global contracts and the like), so adding 15 or 20 minutes to each day does nothing for them, as so many employees are already working at that time anyway, and one day a month will be deducted instead.

Personally I look forward to this coming to fruition.

Through the last couple of governments, Silvan Shalom has been working on his adopted project to turn Sundays into an official day off of work, essentially giving Israelis a long weekend.

He has not really gotten very far with it, as his proposals until now have never passed inn the various government votes and committees, but with this being a pet project Shalom hasn't given up on it.

With Silvan Shalom being appointed Minister of Interior in the current government, Shalom is finally actually in the one place where it is possible for him to revive this idea and get it implemented..

According to Maariv, Shalom is set to propose implementation of the long weekend, on a trial basis for now. The trial period would have 6 to 8 Sundays of the year being considered a day off of work.

We would not be working less, as an hour or two would be added to the workday on other days of the week, plus Friday would become a short workday. Minister Shalom claims that 40% of the workforce is ineffective on the weekends, so concerns about loss of work hours are not justified, and this will make the workforce more effective and efficient.

I am in favor.




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Enough with this shallow discussion between devout secular and devout religious. The need to respect the Shabbos is not a favor we are doing for Mea Shearim or Bnei Braq.

  -- Justice Minister Tzippi Livni

Livni said this when referring to Gideon Saar's decision to not allow most Tel Aviv markets to open on Shabbos. Livni also said that she is going to strongly promote Silvan Shalom's solution turning Sundays into a weekend. Livni said she supports turning Sunday into a long weekend, so that Sunday will be the day people have available for tiyulim, for shopping, for restaurants, entertainment, etc. Doing so, Livni said, will protect with the symbolism of Shabbos and will protect the special nature of Shabbos and the holidays, which also have social values. It will allow a date a day of rest on which everything is open
source: NRG and Ladaat

fabulous! and I thought Shalom's proposal was basically dead in the water for a long time already!

I was surprised to discover that the idea of a long weekend, a.k.a. Sundays off, is still on the table and has not been shelved.

I would have expected that with all the new economic reforms and taxes to spur the economy and increase work and production that "Sundays off" would have been taken off the agenda. the new concept is work and produce as much as possible. As well, I had not heard of any discussion of the idea in many months - it just seemed like it was a thing of the past, and maybe for one day in the future but not now..

Sure enough, Minister of Negev and Galilee Development Silvan Shalom, who has been the main proponent in the government of the long weekend, is still pushing it. According to the Jpost, Shalom has proposed to move ahead with this on a trial basis, starting with one Sunday off per month. His idea was discussed in the PMO and has been advanced. It will now be sent to the relevant ministries for presentation and consideration. The issue of the long weekend must be considered by various ministries, such as the Education Ministry, Ministry of Economics and Commerce, Tourism, Sport and Culture, and probably others.

They expect implementation of the pilot project to begin in the 2014-2015 school year.

We can still hope.

Not like cultural and entertainment locations, businesses need to be closed on Shabbat. Not for religious reasons, but for socialist and cultural reasons. It is important that there be a day of rest for everyone, and a day off on a different day is not the same as a shared day off for everyone.
A day off from buying is also a healthy idea. The makolet owners are right in their claim that the large chains unjustly destroy competition. Correct, people will have to take care of their shopping on Friday. But from the other perspective, they won't need to go shopping on Shabbat.

  -- MK Meirav Michaeli (Labor)

If the long weekend movement should ever succeed and turn Sunday into a national non-work day, Michaeli's argument will have to be adjusted.

The time has come to open all the issues of religion and State, because the reality has changed. The time has come that all the groups and all the influencers in the country will sit together in discussion and mutual respect and we should decide together in creating a new totality in Israel regarding the issues of State and religion. HaBayit HaYehudi is the bridge between the different parts of society... [we will] change Sunday to be a vacation day designated for entertainment and buying, while at the same time Shabbos will become a day "of special character", on which work will be forbidden..

  -- MK-elect Naftali Bennet

Twist: Netanyahu Is Prepared To Advance in Stages The Plan For Long Weekends

  -- Globes

this is great news. instead of turning down the plan, as he was nearing the time to make a final decision, Netanyahu had another meeting with Silvan Shalom about the possibility of introducing the "long weekend", meaning turning Sunday into an official day off of work, and he decided to advance it in stages. It looks like Netanyahu will declare Sundays as a day off once every few weeks, for now, and then will get feedback from economists and people in the various industries, as to how it appears to be successful or not.

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Headline of The Day

Shalom warns: Last chance for ‘Sundays off’ proposal

  -- JPost

While I always thought this is a great idea and socially it is something the country needs, I have a hard time believing the government will pass this in the middle of a downturn in the economy..

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As we all know by now, Silvan Shalom is heading a committee investigating the viability of implementing the "long weekend", having Sundays off, in Israel.

Personally, I think it is a great idea. On a personal level, on a religious level, on a cultural level. The economics I don't know about - it sounds like a good idea on an economic level as well, but the experts seem to be divided on that issue.

At a conference to discuss the issue among mayors, MKs, Ministers, rabbis, businessmen and others, the director of the football (soccer) league, Avi Luzon, and the director of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Shimon Mizrachi, came out in support of the initiative of the long weekend.

Luzon said that they support the long weekend initiative in order to enable religious fans to be a part of the various sports activities and events. (source: Kikar)

This would also help athletes like Snir Goata and many others...

Minister Silvan Shalom has been promoting the idea of changing Sunday from being a workday to being a weekend non-work-day. I think the idea is great and would do much in solving many of Israel's social issues, from family time to the religious-secular divide.

The issue has now progressed and has been moved to the next level. The Sunday issue was raised by Minister Shalom at the Likud faction meeting yesterday, and with the support for the program that he has been shoring up, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to appoint a professional committee to investigate the matter and come to a conclusion whether this is something that should be done.

From Haaretz:

Kandel is expected to set up a committee consisting of all the relevant ministries to examine the proposal's implications. Netanyahu said the issue was a complicated one and required serious examination from several angles, economic, social, religious and ideological.


Shalom's initiative was recently endorsed by the Israel Manufacturers Association, Chambers of Commerce Presidium, the Union of Local Authorities, Hotel Association, the teachers unions, the National Economic Council and the director-general of the Prime Minister's Office.


Two Likud Knesset members, Zeev Elkin and Yariv Levin, submitted private bills about introducing a long weekend. Their move was intended to force the cabinet to make a decision to advance the initiative.


Shalom proposed the weekend would be on Saturday and Sunday, while the work-week would be from Monday to Friday noon. In exchange for the longer weekend, we will work half an hour more per day.


One of the reasons for the proposal was the absence of a "real" weekend in Israel, like in the rest of the Western world. More than 75 percent of the world's population and 100 percent of the developed world's population have adopted Saturday and Sunday as their days of rest.


Shalom said the shift would be good for Israel's economy, exporters, stock exchange traders and high-tech companies. Contrary to the general assumption, moving to a long weekend would not reduce the work hours, he said.


The move will also lead to a five-day school week, which would mean introducing a long school day and providing lunch at school, he said.


A long school day would remove the restrictions on many working women, enabling them to advance to senior executive positions.


In addition, a long weekend would help to develop leisure and culture activities, with youth movements and community centers able to hold activities for school children on Sundays.

As I said, I am in favor and think it would be a great move for the country.