Do a Kibbutz and a State Have a Religion?

Opening Post by the Rabbi

Do a Kibbutz and a State Have a Religion?

Posted on 14/11/2007

| |

Do a Kibbutz and a State Have a Religion?

The National Labor Court ruled: the law prohibiting work on the Sabbath does not apply in kibbutzim

An outrageous decision: the court dismissed the indictments filed against Kibbutz Tzora and six of its members, who operated retail stores open to the public on the Sabbath

B’Hadrei Haredim staff writer

Date: 08/11/2007 7:27:00 |

The “Hours of Work and Rest” Law does not apply to stores owned by cooperative associations, including kibbutzim. This follows from a decision issued by the National Labor Court, which dismissed the indictments filed against Kibbutz Tzora and six of its members, who operated retail stores open to the public on the Sabbath. This was reported by the newspaper “Globes”.

About ten years ago, an indictment was filed against Kibbutz Tzora and six of its members. The kibbutz and its members argued that the “Hours of Work and Rest” Law does not apply to stores owned by cooperative associations when the members of Kibbutz Tzora operate the stores themselves, and therefore the law does not prohibit opening the stores.

The Regional Labor Court accepted the argument and dismissed the charges.

The state appealed this to the National Labor Court. The National Labor Court accepted the appeal after determining that it was clear that the purpose of the law was also to prohibit members of cooperative associations – kibbutzim – from conducting trade in the association’s store on their day of rest. The kibbutz then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The appeal argued that “The fact is that, for 38 years, the legislature saw no need to change a situation in which kibbutz members operate their stores on the Sabbath. And what could not be done – or what they did not wish to do – in the Knesset, there is no reason to do in the Labor Court within the framework of criminal proceedings. Moreover, the court, in its judgment, notes – and rightly so – that the said amendment came into being entirely within the framework of ‘coalition agreements,’ and yet it ignored the fact that those coalition agreements presumably, and as is customary, included concessions and balances agreed upon among the various parties.”

“Globes” reports that about a week ago the state informed the Supreme Court that, after reexamining the legal issues in the indictment, it had decided that the kibbutz could not be charged with the offense of working on the Sabbath, since the relevant section of the Hours of Work and Rest Law does not apply to a corporation. This is because the law refers to a person’s days of rest according to that person’s religion, and no religion can be ascribed to a corporation. Accordingly, the state asked that the judgment of the National Labor Court be set aside, even though it had ruled in the state’s favor. Likewise, in light of this position, the state asked that the indictment be dismissed.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the Regional Labor Court issued a decision dismissing the indictment against the kibbutz and its members.

Quite apart from all the absurdities in this decision (namely, that the legislature did not see fit to amend the law when it saw that the law was being violated).

When one says that a kibbutz has no religion, does that not also mean that a state has no religion? Put differently: if there is no Jewish kibbutz and no non-Jewish kibbutz, then there is likewise no Jewish state and no non-Jewish state?

And indeed, our own eyes see that this is not so…

Source (forum “Stop, People Think Here”): http://www.bhol.co.il/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=2312702