According to reports in the news, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman is putting together a plan that would adjust the school schedule to be more in line with the general working schedule. Lieberman is willing to pay off the teachers to get their agreement to this change - the teachers union has always opposed changes to the school-vacation schedules in the past.

The Finance Ministry supports changing Friday from a school day to a day off.

BOOOOOOO

It would not be so bad if.....

What's going on?

Relevant offices have been studying the effects of what it sees as a discrepancy between the work and vacation days of parents versus the school and vacation days of children. There is a big discrepancy, with many parents not working Fridays yet the children have school (half day), and many days where the parents have to work, such as during Hanukkah, Isru Chag, long summer vacation and other such days yet the children have vacation from school.

The effect of this, as has been discovered, is a big hit to the economy. It seems some parents don't bother joining the workforce out of concern what will be on those days they have to go to work yet the kids have no school. Many other parents do go to work but have to find solutions for those days, such as taking vacation or paying babysitters to watch the kids.

This is a big problem for many families, but the Ministry of Finance, and the Bank of Israel, are looking at it from the perspective of hot i affects the economy. They believe the effect is a cost of 250 million shekels each year from these days of lost productivity.

To lessen the negative effect on the economy, they are proposing cancelling school on Fridays. In its place would be an option day of enrichment with some sort of optional extracurricular activities programming.
source: Ynet

Unless I am misunderstanding, I do not see them proposing that instead of Fridays the children would have school on Hanukkah and Isru Chag and some of the summer vacation will be cancelled. They are simply doing away with Fridays. While it might be nice to have the possibility of a family day on Friday, I do not see how it helps the parents or the economy on all those other days.

In addition, turning Fridays into an optional day of enrichment will be an extra financial burden on the parents, or it won't be because many parents will opt not to send the children because of the extra charge. They will be increasing the par between wealthy and needy, or the wanting, with only the wealthy being given access to enrichment activities.

Besides for that, I like my Friday mornings without the children home.

If they were making up for the Fridays by having school on Isru Chag and Hanukkah and shortening the summer vacation, that would be great. It would put the various systems more in sync. Just cancelling the Friday school-day is not, in my opinion, a reasonable solution.

My intention is that by the coming Hanukkah there will already be less vacation days. There is a great desire among the parents to lessen the number of vacation days and lessen the payments [for daycare during vacation]. We have done a lot this year and saved parents a lot...My intention is that by the coming Hanukkah already there will be less vacation days in Israel. That is the goal.

  -- Minister of Education Naftali Bennet

yay!

this blog will be going on vacation starting Sunday morning for about 10 days. There might be the occasional post, but definitely nothing on any sort of regular schedule.

This blog is going on summer vacation for the next few days.

That means:
 - there might be some posts
 - there might not be any posts
 - any posts that might be posted will not be posted with any specific schedule or frequency

enjoy

The new Knesset just got started in its work, and already there have been a slew of new law proposals announced to be submitted.

One of them was announced today by MK Rachel Azaria (Kulanu Kahlon) that will make employees very happy.

Azaria is proposing to increase the number of vacation days per year for every employee, even starting from the first year of employment in a job. This proposal has MKs from both the coalition and the opposition signed on to it.

Azaria proposes that employers will have to give employees 21 vacation days per year, starting from the first year of employment, and in every subsequent year that number will increase - 23 in the 2nd year, 25 in the 3rd, and then each subsequent year would add another day per year until the maximum of 28 per year is reached.. That is a big change from the 10 vacation days granted by law as of right now, with it going up only after 5 years of employment.

Azaria points to changes in the workforce with increased turnover of the employees - it used to be people would work in just one or two jobs throughout their lifetime, but now people change jobs very frequently. The workforce is more flexible and less stable.
source: NRG

I'm not quite sure what the higher turnover rate has to do with increased vacation days, but employees will be happy about it.

This reminds me of the story of Levi Eshkol (and some relate it to David Ben Gurion).. someone proposed to him to change the Israeli work week to 5 days a week, rather than 6. Eshkol supposedly responded, first let's have everyone work 1 day a week. Then we'll advance to 2, eventually 3.. and eventually we will hopefully even get to 5 days a week.

We have so many vacation days built into the system already, with all our holidays, that I cannot imagine employers being happy about this...

Life in Israel blog has followed closely the advancement of the law proposal pushing for declaring municipal election day as a public vacation day.

Yesterday the Knesset made it final and passed the law in its final readings. The day of municipal elections is now officially a full vacation day, just like it is on national elections day!

While MK Maklev (UTJ) opposed the bill claiming the cost to the economy will be too great, while at the same time claiming this law wont help and voter turnout will continue to shrink as people will use the day to run errands and entertain themselves instead of voting... Minister of Interior Gideon Saar responded that while this law alone won't turn things around and solve the problem, this law still puts the municipal elections in its proper place of importance, and people should be given the best conditions possible to encourage them to go vote.

Too bad elections are only once every five years...

With the law proposal to turn municipal elections day into a national holiday moving forward, there is definitely room for discussion of the relevant issues. There are surely reasons to argue that perhaps it is not a good idea, perhaps the benefits will not justify the costs, perhaps there are details that need to be changed and improved, or other factors to consider. Such as, the main argument of opponents has been the cost to the economy. Fair enough.

One argument I would not have expected is that the law is anti-haredi in nature. But of course to UTJ everything not to their automatic benefit is anti-haredi by default.

MK Uri Maklev (UTJ) argued just that, in his opposition to the proposal. Maklev said the benefits are so minimal that it must be the only reason to propose such a law is to harm the electoral percentage of the haredi voters. Maklev says a vacation day wont bring voters to the polls, but will free them up to take care of errands and other needs and spend the day with the family. Maklev says people don't  vote because they don't care enough, not because they have to go to work. Maklev also pointed to the economics of it, pointing to the economists who say the costs will be too great. Another problem is with municipal electiosn not being on the same day across the country, there will be problems with these vacation days - such as someone who should get the day off because he lives in a city with elections, but he works ina  city that is not holding elections..

Maklev's conclusion is that clearly the entire intent of the law is just to harm the Haredi public. Maklev, to his credit, did suggest turning it into a half-day vacation instead of a full day, but his suggestion was rejected.
source: Ladaat

As I said, surely there is room for discussion and figure out what the main problems will be and come up with solutions in advance. Regarding people not caring, perhaps this is going to be just one factor in what will be a number of changes made in order to encourage the public to go vote.

Regarding it being anti-haredi:
 * encouraging people to vote is only anti-haredi? there is no way to see it as trying to get people to be more involved in the process?
 * it seems disingenuous to say that only haredim have a right to vote, which is basically what he is saying. If Haredim go out to vote, which is great, shouldn't other people be allowed to as well? again, trying to get them to the polls is only to counter the haredim? shouldn't a democracy try to find ways to include the people and try to involve them more?
 * I agree that it is more than just people being stuck at work, though there is some of that. I have never missed an election due to being stuck at the office. Either vote before work, or after work - work is not a great excuse, but it is a problem for some people. Maybe they get home too late to go vote, or maybe they don't have enough flexibility to show up a bit later if necessary, or maybe they get home and are too tired to go stand in line to vote. Work does present a problem for some people in regards to their ability to vote, and this would help them out.

Minister of Interior's proposed law to turn the day of municipal elections into a national vacation day has advanced with further success...

The Knesset Interior Committee yesterday approved of the law proposal to allow it to go back to the Knesset for its final readings.

The thought behind the proposal is to increase the voter turnout and encourage more participation. The Ministry of Interior says it hasnt been a vacation day in 33 years, and since then voter turnout has decreased, with this being one of the factors. A second reason is the logistical problem created in setting up polling stations in schools when it is not a vacation day.
source: Globes

The Ministry of Education has been moving on a plan to shorten the summer vacation. This past year the MoE began the school year prior to September 1st as part of that program, and according to plans the opening day was supposed to get even earlier in coming years..

but that's a changin'.

The Ministry of Education today announced it has scrapped the original plan and will move "opening day" of the school year back to September 1.

They are going to make other changes though.

That pointless vacation they give after Yom Kippur until Sukkot? done? no more vacation.

All that vacation during Channukah? This will be shortened by 2 days.

Ridiculously long Pesach vacation? Now it will be 2 days shorter.

This is in addition to the summer program the Ministry of Education will begin operating this summer that will run for 3 weeks as a natural continuation of the school year.
source: Walla News

These times are very difficult for working parents, with the kids being given vacations at times that vacations don't seem to be necessary or justified. Cutting these mid-year vacation dates is probably more important than cutting a few days out of summer vacation...

National elections is legally a vacation day. The government wants its citizens to participate in elections, and it encourages the people to do so by giving them a vacation day. Some people take the vacation day and still don't go vote, but most people don't really have a good excuse to not vote. Some choose not to because they don't like the options of whom to vote for, but some just prefer to spend the day on the beach or in the mall or doing whatever.

We are now on the way to getting another legal vacation day every 5 years or so.

Interior Minister Gideon Saar has proposed a law by which the day of municipal elections will officially be a legal vacation day. The proposal has now passed its initial reading in the ministerial legislative committee, and now has to be prepared for further voting in the Knesset.

Saar says that making it a legal vacation will increase the voter turnout, which has consistently decreased in recent years. Saar believes that municipal elections are no less important than national elections, and turning it into a vacation day will make it easier for people to actualize their democratic right to vote.

I agree and applaud the move. We can all use more legal vacation days. The more the merrier. And if they speed up the legislation, perhaps we in Bet Shemesh might already be able to benefit from this law quickly, if the courts will decide to call for new municipal elections due to fraud in the original edition of elections!

of course the Haredi media sees this as something bad and harmful to the haredim. The headline on Kikar's article about this proposal reads "Blow to the Haredim...".. and explains that the haredi community and haredi political parties has benefited from municipal elections being a work day, thus causing many non-haredim to not bother going to vote.

A parent's dream come true?

Every year the summer arrives, the kids go on vacation from school, and we parents start complaining. The vacation is even known in Hebrew as "Hachofesh Hagadol", and the name is very appropriate considering how long the vacation is. Parents still work, so the kids are either largely unsupervised, going to work with the parents and getting in the way, going to day camps which gets very expensive when the vacation is so long and other solutions parents find.

For years the Ministry of Education has been suggesting possible solutions of extending the school year or adjusting the vacation schedule - but they have never actually done anything serious about it. Finally, that day looks to be here.

According to Ynet, the Ministry of Education is planning on starting a new program this summer. They will be significantly extending the school year and cutting the vacation, but not with formal education and classrooms. The program will be launched for first and second graders, and will later be extended to include more classes.

The program is planned to take 3 weeks of the vacation period and have teachers teach in the form of a day camp, of sorts. Pay will be determined by the city or town's socio-economic standing, and will be divided between the parents and the government.

This can both save the parents some money, and keep the kids in a structured program and save them from the boredom of the long summer vacation...

This might even be a sign of Mashiach's impending arrival...

There seems to be a machlokes between Rav Shteinman and Rav Chaim Kanievsky about when people should start their vacations, specifically travelling around the country to go camping or stay in hotels and cottages...

Ladaat quotes Rav Shteinman as saying that people should not go away for vacation - the yetzer ha'ra does not take vacation, so anybody who can do without it, should. As well, if going out, people should be very careful about safety. People say it wont happen to them, but there are many accidents and tragedies that happen with water. He says the Chazon ish says the sea is important and was created for those who learn Torah, but the Chazon Ish never said one must go in to the water.  Also, he would say the benefit of going to the sea is for up to 10 minutes - beyond that adds nothing. Rav Shteinman said that when his kids were young he would take them on vacation to visit the Kotel and to visit the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron.

Kikar quotes Rav Kanievsky as saying that people should not go away on vacation until after 15 Av. His rationale is that Shulchan Aruch says when the month of Av is brought in, one should minimize his simcha. This applies, Rav Kanievsky says, until the 15th of Av. As well as vacations, one should avoid renovations on his house until 15 Av as well as buying real estate.

15 AV is today, so from now you can enjoy your vacation... unless you hold like Rav Shteinman...

Two days of vacation from school for Lag b'Omer has been over the top. It might have been the straw that breaks the camels back. As working parents got extremely upset at having to figure what to do with their bored kids, they turned their anger towards the Ministry of Education. Why are the kids given a senseless vacation day while parents have to work - what are the parents meant to do?

The problem is not really that kids have vacation at times when the parents do not. That happens a lot. The kids get about 3 months of vacation over the course of the year, and the parents generally are able to deal with it. Most of the vacation is during the summer months. Parents find camps for the kids, and parents take a few days or a week off of work to spend with their kids on a vacation. it might be a difficult, and camps might be expensive when you have to pay for a few kids, but it is something parents can usually deal with (though personally I think the summer vacation is way too long).

The problem is more with the random vacation days in the middle of the year. A day here, a day there, and the parents don't know what to do. Take a day off from work? We do not get that many vacation days as it is!

An interesting solution has been proposed by new blogger Yama VeKedma. The thrust of it is that the kids would not have school on Fridays in exchange for all those random vacation days and if necessary a short part of the summer. Most parents do not work on Fridays anyway, so the bulk of the people would not need to take vacation days or have a dilemma about what to do with the kids.

It turns out that the Minister of Education just announced that he is considering such a solution. New blogger Yama Vekedma hit the mark with his first post!

It is almost always the season for hotel advertising in the frum newspapers, and though these advertisements seem to bother some people they do not bother me. I recognize it as something people want to do so the newspapers accept ads for such trips. I don't believe it is the newspapers job to decide what is allowed and acceptable for society and what is not, though things that are clearly prohibited or immoral should be taboo. I would not expect pornographic material in Hamodia or Yated, nor would I want them advertising gambling or ponzi schemes. Vacations don't seem to me to be so bad, even if they are vacations I would not go on or cannot afford, even if they are not necessarily in the spirit of ruach yisrael saba.

Now, with Pesach approaching, it is always humorous to see the vacations advertised in the frum newspapers, offering people to leave Israel and go to exotic places like Greece, Switzerland, Italy or many other places (I even saw an ironic ad one year for a Pesach vacation in a hotel in Cairo!). Despite that I prefer to stay in Israel for Pesach, I do not begrudge anyone their vacation and recognize the ads are targeting people who want to go on them.

Hamodia ran the following ads for Pesach vacations in hotels and resorts. The ads themselves are not what I am pointing out, but the disclaimer they ran. Hamodia seems to feel guilty taking money for advertisements that officially go against their morals or preferences. They justify the advertisements, as you can see in the disclaimer, by saying there are people who justifiably must go away for Pesach. The examples they give are elderly people who are unable to make Pesach in their own homes or people with health problems. They also state in their disclaimer that they are not stating, via the ad, an opinion on the halachic issues of leaving Israel nor do they take responsibility for kashrus or tzniyus issues.

Of course, if this really bothered them, they could only take advertisements for simpler vacation packages, perhaps only for hotel packages in Israel. After all, just because someone has a health issue or is elderly and therefore cannot make Pesach in his or her own home does not mean they must travel to St. Moritz, France, Italy or anywhere else. Yet somehow, all these elderly people and people with health issues must travel abroad to deluxe resorts. Again, I don't mind that they do, but Hamodia's disclaimer is a joke. They know perfectly well that the issues they raise are not the subjects of the ad - if it really bothered them, they should not give ridiculous justifications.

And one more thing - I want to know if these elderly and sick people who cannot make Pesach in their own homes are the ones who are going to be going skiing in the Alps and using those ski-lifts, or if they will be going "snow tubing" or ice skating as the ads below promote....




The Hamodia disclaimer is a joke. They should have just run the ads, or not, and not added commentary that just reeks of hypocrisy.

With summer vacation upon us, you can consider this post to be a public service announcement. You can either think it is a great idea, and try to incorporate it into your upcoming vacation plans for hiking through the Golan Heights, or you can think it is absolutely insane and stay as far away as possible.

According to this report in The Times of Israel, the hot tourist attraction up north is the border with Syria. Tourists are going to the area of the border so they can hear, and sometimes even get a glimpse of, the fighting on the other side of the border between the Syrian government and the rebels.

It all started when images were released of Defense Minister Ehud Barak watching the fighting from a location in the Golan. After that, people started flocking to the border area to try to get a glimpse..


This is definitely something I would consider doing...





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Rav Ovadiah Yosef is not the only one calling for an end to summer vacation. Rav Efraim Zalminovitch, the rav of Mazkeret Batya, has written to Minister of Education Gideo Saar recommending that the Ministry of Education cancel the long summer vacation.

Rav Zalminovitch writes that the summer vacation, being 2.5 months or so long, has become a major financial burden on the middle class parents, having to pay for camps and day care while the parents continue to work, along with just to keep the kids busy, or else parents have to take days off of work.
Canceling the vacation would save a lot of money to the parents and to the workforce, and it would save a lot of kids from nights wandering aimlessly looking for entertainment.
Rav Zalminovitch recommends using this time to teach the kids in an informal setting about Torah and derech eretz.
(source: Mynet)

I always thought, as do many, that the "chofesh hagadol" of summer vacation is way too long. Kids get bored after just a short vacation. Whatever they should teach, whether it is as Rav Zalminovitch suggests or maybe something else, keeping the kids in a framework with only a short vacation would be great. It would save parents money, as he says, and it would keep the kids from getting into trouble.

I don't expect it to change though. The teachers want their vacation, and would never agree to working an additional 6 to 8 weeks...

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In this week's kashrut update from the Rabbanut fraud division, there was an important message regarding the upcoming summer vacation that I think is worth pointing out here..


Summer vacation is a time when people go traveling around the country and might end up in places  with which they are not necessarily familiar with the kashrut standards. the Rabbanut offers a set of guidelines, or a list of things to be careful about.

1. Always ask to see an original teudat kashrut, and do not rely on photocopies.
2. Make sure that the name of the Rabbanut on the teuda is the Rabbanut responsible for the area you are located in and not from somewhere else.
3. make sure the teuda is valid and not expired
4. Make sure the name and address of the place of business is the same as that listed on the teuda, and that the teuda is not really registered to a different place..
5. It is always good to find out if the mashgiach is around. if he is not, you can call him using the phone number on the teuda or the owner of the business can give it to you. Talk with the mashgiach a bit and get a feel for the status of the kashrut
6. Dont go into a place that has a teuda authorizing supervision of the place unless it also has a teuda from the local Rabbanut
7. Dont rely on claims made by the owner of the place presenting it as kosher saying that he doesnt have a teuda only because he is open on Shabbos, or that he might claim that he is kosher but the mashgiach has not yet brought the new teuda, etc.
8. Don't rely on the kashrut of "personal cakes" sold in kiosks with no hasgacha that bear a sticker with a kashrut symbol but no manufacturing name or other information
9. For those vacationing in tzimmerim (bungalows) or guest houses, besides for the kashrut issues, one should check to ensure what the status is rgeraidng other issues like shmirat shabbat - is there an eiruv, is there supervision on shabbat, is there electronic eyes for opening doors, automatic air conditioners in rooms, electronic faucets, certified shabbos elevator, etc.
10. You should be aware that there are tzimmers without hasgacha that offer kosher meals. It is possible that they cook the food in their own pots and utensils in their private kitchens, and some might order pre-packaged meals. This issue should be checked out.

Enjoy your vacation!

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Quote of The Day

The potential for tourism of the State of Israel is great, but when it comes to tachlis, there are a lot of problems, among them the geopolitical situation and the negative image around the world that filters out tourists. After on filters out the danger and the image, one gets to the main problem; it is very expensive. We are very expensive when comparing with a similar product in other similar countries in the Mediterrenean region and also compared to Europe.
For example, after Egypt and Tunis lost tourists because of the uprisings in those countries, I recommended to the travel agencies in France to send us the tourists instead of to Tunis and Egypt. They checked it out and said no thank you.Why? Because we are twice as expensive. Vacation in israel is expensive, among other reasons because of governmental regulations on the industry including in security, kashrut and arnona....
Just like Minister Moshe Kachlon brought to the government meetings the reform in the cellular industry and overturned the entire industry, I am also able to bring reforms to the government in order to make vacationing in Israel cheaper and overturn the industry. There will not be a minister who will oppose this.

  -- Minister of Tourism Stas Maseshnikov

I just hope he does this right away, before the summer tourism season that we are about to embark upon..





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