Gun N Roses is coming back to Israel for another concert. The concert is scheduled for this Saturday night and was originally scheduled to begin shortly after the conclusion of Shabbos. Even though many religious fans would have had to come a little bit late to the concert, they got upset when GNR announced the concert was being lengthened to 3.5 hours and therefore advanced to begin at 8pm, while it is still Shabbos. Now, despite more concert time, the religious fans are missing a more significant part of the concert. After some complaining, GNR agreed to refund tickets for religious people who felt they could not participate.
But there is another problem.
Much, probably all, of the preparation for the concert is going to be done on Shabbos. Even though Axl Rose and Saul Hudson (Slash) are not Jewish, the people putting the event together are the Israelis in the production company hosting the performance. With all that chilul shabbos going on for the concert, is one allowed to attend, even after Shabbos?
Rav Benzion Algazi, head of the organization Tzurva mRabanan, responded to this query explaining that it is simple and clear that it is a problem to attend the concert. Because all the prep is being done for the people who bought tickets, the chilul shabbos is therefore being done for them specifically. Therefore it is prohibited to go to the concert, regardless of the fact that they will be beginning on Shabbos.
Can one sell his tickets to the concert? Rav Algazi says one could return the tickets to the box office for a refund, even though the tickets will be resold to other people, but one cannot sell the tickets directly to other people. That would be "lifnei eever" because by selling them the tickets they will be benefiting from the chilul shabbos of the concert.
source: Kipa
I find it interesting that not a word is mentioned of either the "Three Weeks" or the appropriateness of attending such a rock concert in the first place.
Regarding the Three Weeks, the rav is Sefardi, so Three Weeks is not an issue. Maybe an Ashkenazi rav would have related to this problem.
Regarding the appropriateness of the concert... I am no major prude but I am surprised the rav did not even relate to the issues of tzniyus, drugs, and everything else that goes along with the genre. Perhaps it is to his credit, knowing that people going are going anyway and talking about that would not change anything, but I am surprised because from my history and experience, the rabbonim I have always seen and heard would always have talked about this issue and raised it as a problem, whether or not people would listen.
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
