All of us outside of Israel are concerned with rocket attacks and try to stay connected to Israel. This next article connected me more than anything else. They are the guidelines for keeping Shabbat under rocket fire by Rabbi David Stav. Please read, its worth your next 60 seconds. “Due to fears of rocket and missile attacks from Gaza on Israeli population centers we must take extreme care to fulfill the commandment Be extremely careful with your life.” All the guidelines mentioned here are subject to the guidelines the Home Front Command and do not come to replace them. A. You are allowed to leave the radio on to the special Shabbat silent channel during the Sabbath so that everyone can hear the sirens when necessary. B. Those who walk to the synagogue are concerned that they won’t find a place of protection due to the short time between alarms alert the rocket landing - it is better to pray at home and not endanger their lives by walking to the synagogue. C. Civil servants or active reserves, who are in their homes are allowed to answer phone calls during the Sabbath, for there is a chance that you might be called to return to service during the Sabbath. D. Recruited soldiers or civilian employees of the army, and are released during the Sabbath day to go home, are allowed to walk back home only if the distance between their home base is not greater than twelve kilometers. You may not go home by vehicle. E. The Halacha is that we don’t cry out and beg God for mercy on Shabbat, but definitely do so when even a single person is in danger on Shabbat and all the more so when the whole community is under attack! We should pray and beg for peace this Shabbat. Thank you to my father, Stuart Pilichowski for sending this to me.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 02:53:02 +0000