Ruth Gavison: People can adjust

Professor Ruth Gavison, founder of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel," says: "If the masses of secular people think that existence mandates some kind of cultural depth, they will respect the need of a shared day of rest. It is not enough for each individual to have one day of rest each week. Everyone should have the same day. My ability to go shopping on Shabbat is the inability of someone else to rest on the same day."

The comparison made by Professor Ravitzky and Rabbi Meidan between the disengagement and the closing of malls implies that closing of the malls is a very dramatic step.

"In a certain sense it is. There could be a war every Shabbat, like on Bar-Ilan Street. It will be exceedingly difficult to stop those who earn a lot of money every Shabbat. But people can adjust to living without shopping on Shabbat and the majority of the secular public will enjoy it and accept it, especially if it comes with a deal that permits entertainment and public transportation."

Why should people agree to give up shopping on Shabbat to get entertainment they already have anyway?

"The answer is the rule of law. Rabbi Meidan notes that the legal situation in the area of commerce on Shabbat is far more serious that the matter of the houses in Amona. And, in truth, the prohibition on commerce on Shabbat is so unenforced that it is simply a joke. But because there is an interest in placing so much weight on the rule of law and destroying houses in outposts because they are illegal, then the systematic turning of a blind eye to the breaking of the law on the matter of Shabbat is not a good thing.

The rule of law should apply to all laws. Laws awaken respect when they reflect a truly value-based decision by society and are carefully enforced. The deal is good for the secular community because it takes something illegal that exists in reality (commerce) but makes legal something else that is important (entertainment), which is also illegal."

There are people whose entertainment is shopping.

"The shopping entertainment can be done six days a week. There are other countries in which this is the practice, and they do it because of a cultural judgment supported by the strong economic force represented by the workers' organizations. If Shelly Yachimovich and Amir Peretz and the Histadrut [labor federation] fight, as they promised, for the right of workers not to work on the day when the economy does not work, it will be a huge accomplishment for Israeli society. There is an opportunity now to organize groups that want to fight for this, and I hope that this time it succeeds." (S.I.)