A video is going around social media in which construction workers from the Gesher Yehudit project can be seen taking a break from their work on Friday night to make kiddush and eat some dinner. They are in full construction gear and make kiddush while reading the text from a cellphone with the construction site in the background.
The reactions to this clip are varied, from shock to insulting to impressed to demeaning to insulting to insulted, and to all sorts of other reactions. Some feel bad that these people are forced to work and resort to making kiddush like this, while others think they are idiots, or worse, for making kiddush amidst such serious chilul shabbos, while others yet think they are wonderful for trying to keep some tradition despite the circumstances.
Life is complicated. It is not back and white, as many people make it out to be. Israel has a very high percentage of people who are not religious but keep some level of tradition. Many make kiddush on Friday night and have a family dinner, even while watching a football game n television or a movie or using their cellphones. These people were not forced to work on Shabbos against their will. At the same time that they felt it necessary to work, whether for the higher paycheck or for professional advancement or for belief in the task at hand or for whatever reason, they still felt it important to commemorate the day in their traditional manner. Had they been home, they also would have been mechalel shabbos. No religious Jew is being forced to be mechalel shabbos - at least none is evidenced in this video.
As an aside, I find it cute that they pass around the wine for drinking according to age. One might think, ok they did something traditional, but the overall chilul shabbos would show they don't care too much. That might or might not be true, but most, or many, people do what they know, what they grow up with, whether it makes sense or not, even if/when it contradicts other aspects of their lifestyle. I find it somewhat endearing.
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