Israel switches to kosher electricity for its orthodox Jews
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel switches to kosher electricity for its orthodox Jews*
By Harry De Quetteville in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:28am GMT 17/12/2006
Fifty years after a rabbinical ruling made it sacrilegious for orthodox
Jews to use mains power on the Sabbath, Israel's national grid has come
up with a bright idea for the observant: kosher electricity.
The £6 million scheme, announced last week, will light up lives in
highly religious neighbourhoods across Israel, where families have
traditionally relied on meagre generator power or even spirit lamps on
the holiest day of the week.
A 'kosher' generator
Arieh Moshkovitz with his ‘kosher’ generator
The religious ban on using the national grid on the Jewish Sabbath,
which runs for a day from sundown on Friday, was imposed because Jewish
technicians at Israel's national electricity company work on the holy
day, contrary to Torah law.
"It's written in the Torah that Jews are not allowed to work on the
Sabbath," said Arieh Moshkovitz, from the ultra-orthodox neighbourhood
of Mea Shearim, in Jerusalem. "Jews at the electric company work on the
Sabbath to make the power, so we don't use it."
To overcome the problem, the 50-year-old father of 16 children, Mr
Moshkovitz, has been one of an unlikely troop of ultra-orthodox
electricians who have for years maintained generators to power religious
districts on the Jewish day of rest.
Under a small stone bridge, in a narrow street peopled exclusively by
residents dressed - like him - in traditional black hats and coats, Mr
Moshkovitz fiddled with a large collection of keys before finding the
one that fitted a small metal door.
Inside, an eight-cylinder British-built diesel generator distributes
enough electricity, once a week, to power a hotplate and a light bulb or
two in 500 nearby orthodox households.
"The exhaust goes 10 yards higher than the tallest local building," said
Mr Moshkovitz. "That's the synagogue, of course." Next to the generator
lies a greasy mattress and a box of tools for emergency repairs. But
they do not belong to Mr Moshkovitz, who, as an orthodox Jew, is unable
to work and fix anything on the Sabbath. Instead, the tools belong to a
Palestinian.
"We have a goy Arab who sleeps here every Sabbath," said Mr Moshkovitz,
using the Jewish term for non-Jews.
Now the electricity company will also start producing "kosher
electricity", using so-called "Sabbath-goys" to do the work. "We will
automate some processes but we will also employ 150 non-Jews to work on
the Sabbath," said Elad Sasi, from the Israeli infrastructure ministry.
Mr Sasi said that the official production of kosher electricity would
save lives, as the alternative homespun generators cause accidents.
"We have wanted to close these generators for years, because the
orthodox don't have a licence to run them and they are dangerous," he
said. "Instead of doing it by force, we have come up with a peaceful
solution instead." But the £6 million price tag has led to complaints
that Israel's orthodox Jews, who are spared otherwise obligatory
military service, are being pandered to by the government. In recent
weeks the religious community, which makes up almost 10 per cent of
Israel's seven million population, has forced a string of leading
companies to adopt religious business practices.
Egged, the national bus company, has recently begun to segregate buses
by gender on certain routes so as not to offend the strict sensibilities
of the religious community.
"My fear is that segregated bus routes are just the beginning, and a
slippery slope toward widespread segregation awaits Israeli society,"
said Orly Erez-Likhovski, a lawyer from the Religious Action Centre,
founded in America by "reform" Jews, who live their religion less
hidebound by tradition.
In Mea Shearim, however, there is little sign of any change to the
strict tradition and rabbinical law that have governed everyday life for
decades.
"I'm partially happy about this 'kosher' electricity," said Mr
Moshkovitz, as he checked over the generator. "But I'm sure Jews will
still be supervising the Arabs at the electricity company on Sabbath."
Asked whether that would mean he would have to keep running the
generator, he replied: "I don't know. I'll do whatever the rabbis decree."