JTF being offline for most of this week

[Nic Brookes]

I am very angry about this. How can you expect Gentiles to support JTF when the forum is down for more than half a week from time to time? It feels like Gentiles are being ignored. This can only damage the forum.

[judeanoncapta]

It's not a slight against Non-Jews.

Chaim shut down the site when it became obvious that Jews were posting on the Sabbath. You can't expect Chaim to aid and abet Jews in breaking the Sabbath which, if you consult your Bible, is a death penalty crime in the eyes of G-d.

[cjd]

It's not a slight against Non-Jews.

Chaim shut down the site when it became obvious that Jews were posting on the Sabbath. You can't expect Chaim to aid and abet Jews in breaking the Sabbath which, if you consult your Bible, is a death penalty crime in the eyes of G-d.

Chaim is only trying to do the right thing here. The thing is that people who are going to break the Sabbath are going to do it anyway if not on JTF then elsewhere. Its impossible to remove every temptation at peoples disposal. Whats needed is better understanding of why Shabat observance is important for Jewish folks to do. Closing down the forum when many of the moderators and even administrators are non Jews to me seems to me a little like sweeping dirt under the rug. Whatever we are trying to get rid of is still there but its now out of sight. The non Jewish staff and members can carry the ball for the few days when Jewish folks  need to make observances and keep the work of JTF moving forward. If people come to our forum from YouTube and its closed down in most cases we might loose them for good. As I said at the start Chaim is only trying to do whats best so all said and done we should all try to understand and respect his decision.

[RationalThought110]

An idea:

    If possible, an option should be added to the "Account Related Settings"  of the profile to allow users to check-off whether or not they want to be allowed to access the forum and to have the right to post on it during Shabbat.  Thus, those who don't want to feel temped to post on Shabbat will choose the option to not be able to access (thus also preventing them from posting) on Shabbat while other people will be allowed to access the forum and post. 

     Also, there would need to be an option (I'm not sure if there already is one) to select which time-zone you live in so then the forum would know what time Shabbat starts/ends for specific people (for those who would not want to be able to access the forum during Shabbat).

    I think this potential idea would be fair to all. 

[nessuno]

CJD is right - we must respect the decision that Chaim has made - but RationalThought110 you have offered some great options.  I would also like to see the forum stay open.

[raiseyourfist]

It's not a slight against Non-Jews.

Chaim shut down the site when it became obvious that Jews were posting on the Sabbath. You can't expect Chaim to aid and abet Jews in breaking the Sabbath which, if you consult your Bible, is a death penalty crime in the eyes of G-d.

LETS NOT GO OVERBOARD...

Chaim did the right thing but i dont think it is fair to say it is a death penalty in the eyes of G-d. That isn't fair... remember not all jews on here are religious like you

HAVING SAID THAT I AGREE THIS FORUM NEEDS TO REMAIN INACTIVE DURING THE SABBATH OUT OF RESPECT TO THOSE WHO ARE

[Dr. Dan]

Listen, when i get on an elevator on shabbat, I press the buttons when the jtf forum is closed.... So am I goign to be sentenced for death for doing that?

I like the idea that jtf is closed on teh Jewish sabbath or on a holiday like Yom Kippur if it feel on a different day...In my opinion, it's a little intense to shut the forum down for 4 DAYS IN A ROW!  It's best to start a little bit at a time with these rules.  By doing it this way closing on the first two days of a holiday and then closing it on the 7th and 8th day of a holiday, you actually might be turning off some Jews to Judaism all together!  Quite frankly, Chaim always mentioned that if he came to power that he wouldn't force Jews to become religious but woudl little by little through education and tv shows help to changet teh point of views of non religious Jews...Suddenly closing this forum on 4 days in a row etc is not setting an exmple of that promise.

[Nic Brookes]

I like the idea that jtf is closed on teh Jewish sabbath or on a holiday like Yom Kippur if it feel on a different day...In my opinion, it's a little intense to shut the forum down for 4 DAYS IN A ROW!  It's best to start a little bit at a time with these rules.  By doing it this way closing on the first two days of a holiday and then closing it on the 7th and 8th day of a holiday, you actually might be turning off some Jews to Judaism all together!  Quite frankly, Chaim always mentioned that if he came to power that he wouldn't force Jews to become religious but woudl little by little through education and tv shows help to changet teh point of views of non religious Jews...Suddenly closing this forum on 4 days in a row etc is not setting an exmple of that promise.

Agreed.

RationalThought110, I like your ideas.

[Dr. Dan]

I like the idea that jtf is closed on teh Jewish sabbath or on a holiday like Yom Kippur if it feel on a different day...In my opinion, it's a little intense to shut the forum down for 4 DAYS IN A ROW!  It's best to start a little bit at a time with these rules.  By doing it this way closing on the first two days of a holiday and then closing it on the 7th and 8th day of a holiday, you actually might be turning off some Jews to Judaism all together!  Quite frankly, Chaim always mentioned that if he came to power that he wouldn't force Jews to become religious but woudl little by little through education and tv shows help to changet teh point of views of non religious Jews...Suddenly closing this forum on 4 days in a row etc is not setting an exmple of that promise.

Agreed.

RationalThought110, I like your ideas.

just to correct you...I wrote that... 

I think there are some Jews here are who are really hardcore religious types...nothing wrong with it. But as in current situations in this world and in the past, the hardcore religious types had the other point of treating others with different ideas or a lack of ideas with a type of snobbery and jingoism that has continued to cause suffering and war in this world.

I think that all hardcore religious types no matter the religion..that includes us Jew...need to learn how to treat others and talk to others in a proper manner and kindness and not with snobby attitude like THEY will be the ones that will get into heaven and all the rest are screwed big time.

I know three Jewish religious types who know what they are doing when it comes down to this type of stuff: Chabad, Aish, and JEC...nobody forces you to be religious.  They love you no matter what.  And in the process they show you the beauty of their livlihood...Becoming truely religious is impossible to do over night or even in one single generation of one's life....I hope that the die hard religious Jews on this forum can get this through their head that we are humans with free will and that passing judgement on others is only goign to make things like this movement going in the opposite direction of popularity and lead to even more wars thereby slowing the process of ushering in the moshiach.

[Dr. Dan]

I know three Jewish religious types who know what they are doing when it comes down to this type of stuff: Chabad, Aish, and JEC...nobody forces you to be religious.  They love you no matter what.  And in the process they show you the beauty of their livlihood...Becoming truely religious is impossible to do over night or even in one single generation of one's life....I hope that the die hard religious Jews on this forum can get this through their head that we are humans with free will and that passing judgement on others is only goign to make things like this movement going in the opposite direction of popularity and lead to even more wars thereby slowing the process of ushering in the moshiach.

What's JEC?

Jewish Enrichment Center.

[Nic Brookes]

I am very angry about this. How can you expect Gentiles to support JTF when the forum is down for more than half a week from time to time? It feels like Gentiles are being ignored. This can only damage the forum.

It was only closed for 3 days of the week. There are 7 days in a week. This week it will also be closed down for 3 days but after that, it will only be closed once a week for Shabbat and the next time it will be closed multiple days at a time will be in April.

That, Yacov, is not the point. Gentiles will NEVER join JTF if the forum is closed for extended periods of time. Closing for the Sabbath is bad enough.

and dannycookie, i was saying RationalThought's ideas were good...

[Dr. Dan]

I am very angry about this. How can you expect Gentiles to support JTF when the forum is down for more than half a week from time to time? It feels like Gentiles are being ignored. This can only damage the forum.

It was only closed for 3 days of the week. There are 7 days in a week. This week it will also be closed down for 3 days but after that, it will only be closed once a week for Shabbat and the next time it will be closed multiple days at a time will be in April.

That, Yacov, is not the point. Gentiles will NEVER join JTF if the forum is closed for extended periods of time. Closing for the Sabbath is bad enough.

and dannycookie, i was saying RationalThought's ideas were good...

oh ok, you quoted my statement..but nevertheless, i'm in disagreement on one point...being closed on Shabbat is the right choice...something to start with... In my opinion, closing on the first two days of a holiday and the last two days of a holiday is a little too much early on..not only because we have non-Jews who need this forum, but that less observant Jews, like me, might get turned off to this movement all together.

Here's the point.  If you want this movement to only have religious people, understand that the most religious of people have firey personalities and when another religious person has a disagreement with them, it can turn into a big big big war.  -Isms should only be in the hands of rational people no matter the race, religion, or creed. 

My big worry is that irregardless of the religion, many religious people are intolerant of others with differing and contrary point of views.  Of course not all religious people are like this..I know a lot of wonderful religious people..but in the last few months, I was seeing almost the opposite on this forum..people imposing their point of view and interpretation on the rest of us...it's not good, because it gave me a bad taste in my mouth at a very critical point in my life.  And I know I can be someone who can help this movement go to where it needs to be.

[Vito]

Well it was a pain for me to wait for the forum to open up again, but it doesn't turn me off from the forum at all.. I was just getting anxious to go on again.

[Sarah]

I think its just coming as a bit of a blow because the closure has just been introduced.......as weeks pass, you won't feel it so much and i'm sure JTF will be unaffected. It gives JTF a better a better status.

[Daniel]

I am very angry about this. How can you expect Gentiles to support JTF when the forum is down for more than half a week from time to time? It feels like Gentiles are being ignored. This can only damage the forum.

This is not an issue of gentiles being ignored. It's an issue of gentiles and secular Jews respecting the wishes of religious Jews. I am a secular Jew and don't observe the sabbath. But I certainly understand, respect, and agree with this decision.