High Tech Shabbat Cell Phone Makes Calling On Shabbat Kosher

By
Omri Ceren
– February 17, 2007Posted in: News

How on earth did we miss this the first time around? Jewish ingenuity at its most robust and amusing:

A recent decision by the IDF top brass to institute a “kosher telephone” that minimizes Shabbat desecration is yet another sign of the growing influence of religious soldiers on the army. In recent weeks the IDF purchased hundreds of telephones developed by the Tzomet Institute, a research group that finds technology-based loopholes in Jewish law, according to the army weekly Bamachane. “The growing number of religious mid-level officers and soldiers, many of whom are graduates of pre-military preparatory academies, has created a real demand for solutions to the problem of Shabbat desecration,” said Rabbi Israel Rosen, head of the Tzomet Institute in Alon Shvut. “These solutions reach the IDF as a result of a demand from the bottom up,” said Rosen. “Religious soldiers want to do everything to minimize transgression of the Shabbat.”

Read that again. There’s a tech company that specializes in technologically exploiting loopholes in Jewish law, and they find great demand among some of the most religious of Jews. Using this as a basis for a discussion of differences between Jewish and Muslim fundamentalism is left as an exercise to the reader.

Now, is there something that will allow us to blog without breaking Shabbat? (via Crunchgear via uberphones via textually.org via pasta and vinegar)

References:
* ‘Kosher phone’ helps IDF minimize Shabbat desecration [JPost]
* Shabbat Shalom (Inside A Phone) [Crunchgear]
* Israeli soldiers get Shabbatphone [uberphones]
* The Shabbat phone for israeli soldiers, minimizes Shabbat desecration [textually.org]
* Yet another kosher phone [pasta and vinegar]

Previously:
* Morning “Civilizational Progress” Roundup
* More Israeli Geniuses
* The Death Of The Future