6 ms·

Nope. not only in Germany. Here is Israel we have more than one site that "close" for the Sabbath. It's moderately interesting to see how religion and the inter

by mikle 15y ago

Nope. not only in Germany. Here is Israel we have more than one site that "close" for the Sabbath. It's moderately interesting to see how religion and the internet co exist.

yuvadam 15y ago
Yep. Some governmental institutions such as the Israeli Social Security have their websites up during Sabbath (Saturday), but do not accept payments. Supposedly, because just having the server up does not require any manual labor, but accepting a payments constitutes trade, which is forbidden during Sabbath. (Nevermind the fact that an institution which entire purpose is to assist those in need is the most non-accessible organization ever - from not having accessible entrances to buildings, to their payments gateway which supports IE only. Yes, IE is the ONLY browser officially supported).
- eru 15y ago
  IE 6?
- ars 15y ago
  An Israeli site has a problem that US sites don't. Although a Jew can leave a site running and even accept payments on the sabbath, that is only if non-jews are the ones sending the payment. (Because non-jews are not required to observe the sabbath.) To accept a payment from a Jew on sabbath would definitely be wrong. So an Israeli site, which can expect that Jews will use it, must shut down on the Sabbath. Leaving the site running, but not accepting money is probably the compromise they made because a lot of Israelis are secular.
blatherard 15y ago
I know of at least one site in the US that does the same. B&H, a venerable camera & electronics store in NYC, shuts down their shopping site every Saturday (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/).
- ghurlman 15y ago
  That's for religious reasons.
  - pavel_lishin 15y ago
    Which is weird, but I guess I don't know much about the finer points of the Law. Would a religious Jew have to lock down a windmill before the start of the sabbath? Or does it only matter for matters of trade? Technically, wouldn't they have to lock their Paypal account as well, as well as traditional bank accounts?
    - ars 15y ago
      No, they are not required to shut down their site by the letter of the law. However accepting money on the sabbath is not in keeping with the spirit of the sabbath, so I fully understand why they shut down. A human is not allowed to work on the sabbath, but your machines can, as long as they run automatically. Interestingly work animals are also required to be given the day off. The main thing that is not in the spirit of the sabbath is accepting payments, even if by the letter of the law it's allowed. For example, even though you could leave a physical shop open and unstaffed, and let people (non-jews) buy using the honor system, it's not the right thing to do. However, leaving the shop open, so people can take things without money, and then they settle later is OK.
  - blatherard 15y ago
    Oh yeah, I totally grok that. If you shop at their storefront location, you can see that they are staffed almost entirely by Hasidim. I was just pointing out an instance of a US-based e-commerce website that also closes for the sabbath.

by mikle 15y ago

Nope. not only in Germany. Here is Israel we have more than one site that "close" for the Sabbath. It's moderately interesting to see how religion and the internet co exist.

yuvadam 15y ago

Yep. Some governmental institutions such as the Israeli Social Security have their websites up during Sabbath (Saturday), but do not accept payments. Supposedly, because just having the server up does not require any manual labor, but accepting a payments constitutes trade, which is forbidden during Sabbath. (Nevermind the fact that an institution which entire purpose is to assist those in need is the most non-accessible organization ever - from not having accessible entrances to buildings, to their payments gateway which supports IE only. Yes, IE is the ONLY browser officially supported).

eru 15y ago
IE 6?
ars 15y ago
An Israeli site has a problem that US sites don't. Although a Jew can leave a site running and even accept payments on the sabbath, that is only if non-jews are the ones sending the payment. (Because non-jews are not required to observe the sabbath.) To accept a payment from a Jew on sabbath would definitely be wrong. So an Israeli site, which can expect that Jews will use it, must shut down on the Sabbath. Leaving the site running, but not accepting money is probably the compromise they made because a lot of Israelis are secular.

blatherard 15y ago

I know of at least one site in the US that does the same. B&H, a venerable camera & electronics store in NYC, shuts down their shopping site every Saturday (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/).

ghurlman 15y ago
That's for religious reasons.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  Which is weird, but I guess I don't know much about the finer points of the Law. Would a religious Jew have to lock down a windmill before the start of the sabbath? Or does it only matter for matters of trade? Technically, wouldn't they have to lock their Paypal account as well, as well as traditional bank accounts?
  - ars 15y ago
    No, they are not required to shut down their site by the letter of the law. However accepting money on the sabbath is not in keeping with the spirit of the sabbath, so I fully understand why they shut down. A human is not allowed to work on the sabbath, but your machines can, as long as they run automatically. Interestingly work animals are also required to be given the day off. The main thing that is not in the spirit of the sabbath is accepting payments, even if by the letter of the law it's allowed. For example, even though you could leave a physical shop open and unstaffed, and let people (non-jews) buy using the honor system, it's not the right thing to do. However, leaving the shop open, so people can take things without money, and then they settle later is OK.
- blatherard 15y ago
  Oh yeah, I totally grok that. If you shop at their storefront location, you can see that they are staffed almost entirely by Hasidim. I was just pointing out an instance of a US-based e-commerce website that also closes for the sabbath.