As a chronic game-going soccer fan, it would actually suit me to have games stop taking place on Shabbat. Last year, I only missed two of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Premier League matches, and in my extensive experience over the years, I found that the rush to the stadium on Saturdays disrupts family time. Soccer fans enjoy the game together, and everyone else feels left out. Nevertheless, I proposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Religious Services Minister David Azoulay that soccer games on Saturdays -- a tradition since the British Mandate period in the 1920s -- be permitted to continue effective immediately (following the recent court order that they be halted). If Deri continues with the wishy-washy, yes/no, I can/I can't tactics that characterized his handling of the gas issue, he will find himself in conflict with the public. Gas production may be more important, but stopping the matches will cause more outrage. He has excuses. He is not to blame, he is not responsible for the court's decision against Shabbat games, and it's not important. But since Deri doesn't dare to shut down museums, public swimming pools, restaurants, taxis or cinemas on the Day of Rest, there is no reason in the world that he shouldn't step in to allow the same policy to continue in the world of sports. As our sages say, this is a decree that the public simply cannot follow. It's not like he is being asked to open something on Shabbat, all he is being asked to do is maintain the status quo that has been kept for nearly 100 years. What applies to Pablo Picasso should also apply to soccer player Eran Zahavi. Usually, the religious and ultra-Orthodox are the ones asking the public to respect the status quo, and now for the first time, the shoe is on the other foot, and Deri "cannot." Netanyahu, Deri and Azoulay all have the authority in their respective positions to permit this. And this is my suggestion: A general permit along with an announcement that a committee will look into which days are most favored for soccer matches. It may even suggest that Sunday become the new day of rest, and they will deal with that; or perhaps they will look for another solution -- but stopping the Premier League games (as well as the games of lower leagues) is a management disgrace. The government has been caught up in unreasonable delays, starting with selecting a new governor for the Bank of Israel, moving on to the appointment of the Antitrust Authority director general to replace Professor David Gilo after his resignation and ending with the standing-water policies of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and the gas production issue. This is bad for the public. Canceling soccer on Shabbat will hit a raw nerve. It is their duty not only to get the league back up and running, but to do so this week. As this kids say, "don't touch our soccer players." Deri and Azoulay are not being asked, God forbid, to stamp their approval on the desecration of Shabbat -- though surely some members of their communities skip synagogue on Saturdays in favor of the stadium. They are being asked to permit the status quo until it is otherwise decided, if it is otherwise decided. If they establish a committee to look into this issue, I will volunteer to suggest that matches be moved to Sundays (if Sundays are made into holidays) and Mondays and I will enjoy my family time.
