Perhaps a bit behind the United States, Israel on the night between Thursday, March 27rd and Friday, March 28th, at 1am, will move clocks ahead one hour, changing over to daylight savings time before Pesach.
The move is a compromise between the frum (Sabbath-observant) and secular communities. While the move before Pesach results in the seder beginning an hour later, the clock changes back to standard time on October 5, 2008, (6 Tishrei), in time for Yom Kippur, thereby bringing the fast to an end one hour earlier.
This despite the fact that many secular lawmakers fought to extend the daylight savings time well into the yom tov season, including Yom Kippur and possibly Succos, stating too much money is saved to take the religious considerations into account.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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9 Responses
that’s ok, i’d rather have an extra hour of prep erev pesach (although it doesn’t matter this year, since EP is on Shabbos)
Also, to clarify: the clock changes at 2:00AM, not 1:00AM – a nafka minah to bochurim learning tonight @ mishmar.
For #2
Not quite a red herring. It’s true that under Standard Time, the fast starts and ends one hour earlier. However, unless shuls adjust davening times for Yom Kippur morning, (ie starting at 7:00 AM instead of 8:00 AM) people would likely get up an hour later than on Daylight Time. So the fast probably encompasses fewer waking hours if it is on Standard Time.
#3: the shuls have to adjust their clocks (for the starting time), since otherwise they’d miss Zman Krias Shma
Yom Kippur is spent almost all day in shul. Nothing the government does can change the amount of hours between zman krias shema in the morning and tzais hakochavim in the evening. You can call the numbers what you want. If you’re going to start a given amount of time before zman krias shema in the morning, and end at tzais, it could be Timbuktu Central Standard Time or Yehupitz Kalamazoo Daylight Savings Time, it is the same hours!!
the red herring is that even most secular jews fast on Yom Kippur so the “compromise” although certainly welcome to the frum also well serves the secular community
Although it’s nice that y”k ends so early here in e”y, it starts so early in the day that I am already hungry by the time I go to sleep.
I find a slight psychological advantage at being able to break my fast an hour earlier on the clock, even though it is the same 25 hours. Of course, I personally would not make a very big deal over it.
But the change in clock actually makes it more difficult for the many Jews who daven Vasikin on Yom Kippur. They have to get up an hour earlier for Neitz.
why not change the clock on saturday night like uk, and usa? not to disturb a work day trying to adjust with less sleep. one svara i can think of in favor is that you can catch up the next night which is shabbos as opposed to americans who wait a whole week.
It looks like I’m outvoted.
Still, looking at the Magen Avraham Sof Zman Kriat Shma, it is around 7:50-8:00 AM in Yerushalayim standard time, for the date range in which Yom Kippur could fall (Myzmanim.com) Add one hour for daylight time. A shul could conceivably start at 7:30 when in daylight time, and 7 AM during standard time. This still potentially would mean a net half hour more sleep during standard time.