President-elect Donald Trump wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time.
In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office.
“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote.
Setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall is intended to maximize daylight during summer months, but has long been subject to scrutiny. Daylight saving time was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942.
Lawmakers have occasionally proposed getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act, had proposed making daylight saving time permanent.
The measure was sponsored by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump has tapped to helm the State Department.
“Changing the clock twice a year is outdated and unnecessary,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said as the Senate voted in favor of the measure.
Health experts have said that lawmakers have it backward and that standard time should be made permanent.
Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said that it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology.
Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do, the date that clocks are changed varies, creating a complicated tapestry of changing time differences.
Arizona and Hawaii don’t change their clocks at all.
The end of Daylight Saving Time (DST) would have significant implications for observant Jews, primarily affecting their daily davening schedules, which would have allowed ripple effect on the rest of their day. Being that halacha mandates fixed times for davening, with Shacharis requiring enough daylight for Tallit and Tefillin to be worn. With the abolishment of DST, sunrise and nightfall would shift later in the day for much of the year, complicating the ability of observant Jews to balance religious obligations with work and school commitments.
During the winter months, the absence of DST would delay sunrise significantly, making it difficult for many working individuals to complete Shacharis before their workday begins. This challenge is particularly acute for those in professions with rigid schedules, as they might be forced to choose between attending shul and arriving at work on time. Similarly, nightfall would occur later, pushing Maariv deeper into the evening hours. This would extend the length of the day for observant Jews – too long for some people.
For families, especially those with young children, the elimination of DST could also disrupt daily routines. Children would be heading to school in the dark, posing significant dangers.
(YWN/AP)
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10 Responses
You did not give a single reason why this would be bad for the Jews.
How is ending DST terrible for Jews? We heard the arguments that keeping it on DST all year will make it hard to daven early but what’s the issue with canceling DST altogether?
This is likely just the beginning. Cuts to SNAP benefits, cuts to Headstart, elimination of ACA subsidies. All these will hurt large frum families. And the coming tariffs and labor shortage will have a disproportionate impact on large families that benefit from purchasing low cost imports.
Year round daylight savings would be a big advantage for those who are required to work on Friday afternoons. It also isn’t a problem for Bnei Yeshiva or anyone self-employed who can always adjust their hours. It might require having more minyanim closer to work so people could get up, commute, and then go to shul rather than davening in their home neighborhoods.
It would only be terrible for Jews if they would keep daylight savings all year round as the Sunshine Protection Act had proposed. If I’m understanding Trump’s proposal correctly, he wants to keep standard time all year, while doing away with daylight savings time, which is the way Hashem intended it to be.
Why is this terrible for the jews? Because it means if you are makpid on zman krias shma you have to wake up early? OY. How many of those davening late really care anyways. I for one will prefer an more normal shabbos in the summer without DST.
BH! It’s so much healthier to align with the sun and the natural body clock.
The days in the summer months are ridiculously long and leave both adults and children exhausted.
Not to mention simchas that start so late and kill the next day.
Enough already!
Why is it terrible? The summer clock is terrible since in NY Neitz will be around 8:20am, even in camps they change to the winter clock since it is so much better.
America should do what’s good for America, not what’s good for the Jews.
The article doesn’t explain the headline! Why is it terrible for Jews?
This means that during the dead of Winter, נץ החמה won’t be before 8:20 am. or thereabout. That makes davening really problematic.
Additionally, school-age children will be going out to the bus in the dark. That, I think, could be a real safety issue especially for the little ones.