But what it doesn’t explain, and I don’t get, is how anyone could perform the job of Sabbath inspector during the Sabbath without breaking it.
If the solution is that they use non-Jews as enforcers (all I can think of), isn’t this also a doctrinal problem, how is this justified in terms of orthodox ideas?
Enforcing the Sabbath is not work, in the sense of productive labor, nor is it business. It is a religious duty (or at least a religious act) and so is not forbidden on the Sabbath.
It is forbidden for a Jew to have a non-Jew do for him something that is biblically forbidden on Sabbath. But it is permitted for a Jew to have a non-Jew do for him something that is only forbidden by Rabbinical decree.
I can only assume that the job of these “Sabbath inspectors” does not require violation of Sabbath rules - biblical if non-Jews are used, and even Rabbinic if Jews are used.
—Enforcing the Sabbath is not work, in the sense of productive labor, nor is it business. It is a religious duty (or at least a religious act) and so is not forbidden on the Sabbath.—
Is it, or are you just assuming it is? This is a practice in the state of Israel, not something that all Jews everywhere do. This seems like a political function, not a religious one, and it’s hard to see how people assessing fines for a law inspired by religion would be any different than people assessing fines for parking violations.
I was wondering about this while I was on call Friday night, and this seems like a good place to ask…
How would an Orthodox Jew complete a medical residency? In private practice, it woul be easy enough to get a non-Jew to take call for you on the Sabbath, but in residency one is required to take overnight call in-house on a regular schedule (usually every fourth night these days) for a lot of the time. I can’t imagine a program agreeing not to require a resident to take call on a certain day of the week, especially Friday night-Saturday, since it would mean that the other residents necessarily have to take that crappy shift more often than they should have to. Then again, I’m sure there are Orthodox Jewish doctors out there.
Is there an exception for people who provide necessary services like doctors?
Yes - Pikuch Nefesh, the greatest loophole in Judaism, states that virtually any Halachic law is superceded by the necessity to preserve life. I’m not a doctor, but I did serve in the IDF with observant Orthodox Jews, and none of them had any problem with sentry duty, patrols or operational activity on the Sabbath, so long as it was the real deal (i.e. no training exercizes).
As for the O.P. - according to Jewish law, only Jews are required to keep the Sabbath. Non-Jews are required to observe the laws of their own religioun, if any. There is a long - and in my opinion, rather contemptable - Jewish tradition of employing “Sabbath Goys” to handle all sorts of tasks that Jews are forbidden.
The Israeli Ministry of Labor, BTW, employs Druze for Sabbath supervision.
I have to add that Israel’s Sabbath laws are as much a legacy of the nation’s socialist past as they are elements of religious coercion. Supposedly, they’re there so that workers aren’t forced to work seven days a week.
There are some residency programs for Orthodox Jews - Sinai Hospital here in Baltimore has one. I know at least two doctors who went through the program. Basically, it allowed them to take Friday night and Saturday off, but they worked Saturday night and Sunday instead.
I suppose a person could keep in memory the stores that are in ciolation and write the tickets after the Sabbath.
Snooooopy:
Yes, but there are fewer perks.
Alessan:
Only partially true. Not allowing a seven-day workweek has been a labor movement standard since before the state existed. But specifically choosing Saturday as the day of national shut-down was part of the “Status Quo” agreement between David Ben-Gurion and the religious establishment way back at the beginning of the state.
In one (modern) Orthodox family I know, the wife is an OB-GYN, and served her medical residence at New York Hospital. AFAIK there was no special program for Orthodox residents; and in her specialty, of course, scheduling is often not an option. But pikuch nefesh controlled.
