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Jul 11, 2022
Sirens for Shabbos in Tel Aviv
In less religious neighborhoods people like to complain about the Shabbos sirens that some people operate on Friday as Shabbos begins. In fully Haredi neighborhoods, and I think in most or all Dati neighborhoods, the Shabbos siren has become a fixture. it just exists. The problem, the conflict or friction, happens when religious people move into a not-religious area and introduce the siren to people who never had it and do not particularly want it. By the way, in different areas the siren might be different types of music or an actual siren...
Personally, I am fine with the siren. The one thing that I dont like about it is that in a big religious area like where I live there is not just one siren, but 3 or 4, and of course the people operating them can't be bothered to coordinate among each other. So Friday afternoon as Shabbos approaches, we get to hear 3 or 4 sirens, not knowing what each one is alerting us to (40 minutes? 20 minutes? a bit before 40 minutes so we know it is coming? etc).
And in some places they have the opposite problem.
According to Kipa, many religious French people have been making aliya and moving to cities like Netanya, Tel Aviv, Ashdod, and other cities and neighborhoods that do not necessarily have a religious flavor to them, along with many others who go to these areas for short term stays and visits. Because these are not natively religious areas they generally do not have these sirens in place, and the community representatives say the residents often do not know enough Hebrew or where to look for the information, and having a siren announce the upcoming arrival of Shabbos would be very helpful.
These people have put out a call to Ron Huldai to allow a siren in Tel Aviv to announce the approaching Shabbos. They specifically requested a siren be sounded ithe areas of the midrachov, a popular pedestrian walkway, and the boardwalk (I think this is the boardwalk along the beach)...
I havent seen any word yet from Huldai if he plans to approve this or reject the request. It seems to me that it would be more likely to be approved if it was being requested for a religious area where a significant portion of the residents wanted it and benefited from it. It seems less likely to me that in places like these, the boardwalk and midrachov, such a request will be approved. but we wait and see.
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They don't know where to look for the information? How about buying a calendar once a year? Or looking on the internet - you don't need any Hebrew for that.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteI don't even understand what it's purpose is at all in any neighborhood. We all have watches and phones. Sometimes I think it's just used by frum people as competition to "mark" their territory.
Like the Moslem call to prayer 5 times a day. They too don't need it, as they all have watches and clocks, unlike previous centuries.
DeleteI think they like them too, blaring as loud as they can get away with it, just to flaunt and mark the territory as Moslem.
and internet, with plenty of english and french sites, and whatever shuls they daven in probably announce the times as well.
Deletemarking their territory like a dog pees by a tree.. lol
There was once a Far Side like that, a father showing his son how the bird sings to mark his territory, "common in the lower species." Meanwhile they're surrounded by fences.
DeleteI'm eagerly waiting to see what the response will be. The vast majority of Israelis do associate with the concept of shabbat, observed in their own way. The siren ritual is not authoritative and has nothing to do with halacha, as is shabbat for many Tel Avivians. Yet to all it is a day of rest and a break from the normal workweek. I suspect people may welcome an explicit reminder of when that starts. Plus, perhaps, a non-restorative nostalgic reminder of what once was tradition in many places.
ReplyDeleteOur local shuls send out an email every Erev Shabbos with all the times. Easy to set up a service list.
ReplyDelete" and the community representatives say the residents often do not know enough Hebrew or where to look for the information, and having a siren announce the upcoming arrival of Shabbos would be very helpful."
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's a single person who cares about Shabbat who needs a siren.
Certainly outside of Israel everyone manages.
ReplyDeleteI can only tell you that in this part of Flatbush, the siren on top of Kaminetz is loud enough to curl the hair on your head. They have sirens in Flatbush, BP, Crown Heights, Mexico City, Djerba (https://mishpacha.com/blasts-of-tradition/),
DeleteI remember when visiting my mother-in-law in Petach Tikvah, religious music was played for about 15 minutes before Shabbat and that was it. The music stopped when it was Shabbat. I don't like the siren. It is very annoying to hear it almost like the siren for missile attack from Gaza. As others have said, there is the internet, Shabbat pages, newspapers
ReplyDelete