 Hey guys, welcome back to my YouTube channel. This is Daniel Rosal here bringing another video from my home office in Jerusalem I usually don't mention these things for my non tech videos I do post a real mixture videos on this YouTube channel some of them are about camcorder stuff Some of them are about audio stuff, then I've got stuff about living in Israel So usually I keep the technical notes in a section of the video I'm just gonna make an exception quick one for this video because I'm doing something slightly different with the audio I'm using my Shure PJ48 XLR microphone, which I've mostly used today for my camcorder in the field work And I'm recording it directly into my computer into OBS studio using the Beringer Euphoria UM2 audio interface that there you go If it sounds any different or better than the usual little lab mic I wear let me know in the comments what I want to talk about the actual subject matter of today's video is going to be The work week in Israel do Israelis truly work on a Sunday? The answer is sadly. Yes Recording this video on a Saturday night in Israel. And that's what is known as Motsash Motsash is a Conjunction, there's a word that I'm forgetting for when you put two words together a Port Mano. Maybe anyway It's a con it's a it's a it's two words must into one Motsay and Shabbat and it means when Shabbat goes out. So this was one of the latest Shabbat tot Which is a plural of Shabbat. This is one of the later latest Shabbat in the year. It finished at 2027 27 minutes past eight and as we get to the solstice on the 21st, we're gonna get the latest Shabbat in the year 2031 So this is the end so the way the Jewish and there's a reason I'm including this in a video about This religious concept in a video about working hours And that's because that's kind of the reason why Israel's on this unusual work week in Judaism The day is considered to start at when three stars come out after sundown really and the week if you think about it That concept the week the Jewish week is a six-day week That ends in Shabbat the day of rest Shabbat ends at Motsay Shabbat, which is when Saturday, you know some time between here in Israel as I said, it's about as late as it gets now at 8 30 And in the winter a lot earlier And then we're into the next week. So actually the start of the week is Motsay Shabbat So the week starts on Saturday night and the day starts on In the evening, it's a bit of a weird concept to wrap your head around But that explains really a lot to do with Israel's working week So the working week in Israel is Sunday to Thursday And that's you know something I've been working with clients from around the world for a number of years I mentioned that a few times about my freelancing business and you know, people will there's a lot of often a lot of Small talk about where are you based and I'm you know, I'm in Israel and how did you get to Israel? But you know, then when we get to the brass talks about work with Israel I tell people two things about the country. Firstly is our time zone. We're on GMT plus two It's around the same time zone as Eastern Europe. So if you're an if you're a European company based in let's say Britain or Central Europe, it can be a two or one hour very workable time zone difference The hardest one is West Coast US. It's a big time difference and it's very hard for people who work with the West Coast companies And then I tell people by the way FYI Israel's on a Sunday to Thursday work week So I typically don't work on Fridays, but I do work on Sunday. So there's a fact about life in Israel So that's the second little tidbit that I wanted to drop in so let me show you guys actually some info Before you say it's totally wacky. Firstly, how long do Israelis work? So I got this data up from Wikipedia They're working time Graphic they have here and according to their Figures from an OECD ranking for 2019 Israel actually wound up in seventh place working an average of 1,898 hours per year per worker with Mexico actually coming in number one place Now that wasn't actually that the main thing I wanted to show This was the main thing that I wanted to show and I'm gonna just move myself out of the way This is a graph here showing world map showing the days of the week by country And you can see Monday to Friday is shaded in this This kind of green tint Monday to Saturday, which is an interesting permutation is India And a couple of countries here in the Americas and then we have Sunday to Thursday And so again when I tell people it's actually not just Israel There even some people in Israel who think it's just Israel that works Monday to Thursday and it's not it's actually quite a common thing In the Middle East and the Muslim world. So if I zoom in zoom in a little bit you can see Which of those countries are on Sunday to Thursday So Israel is a tiny tiny speck in the geographical area right here and you can see Egypt and Libya and Algeria and Sudan and Saudi Arabia Saudi and Yemen and Oman and Iraq and Syrian our Republic aka Syria most people call it and what do we have here and I'm Belaying how bad my my geographical knowledge has become recently and this is Afghanistan So there you go. So it's not just Israel that works this week and this works this weird permutation Now, why do these countries in the Middle East work Sunday to Thursday? Well, it's got to do with their dominant religion, which is Islam and don't forget that Israel actually has a very sizable Arabic population as well So Israel is kind of in this weird position that it has to strike the best balance for Jews Muslims and also kind of to a lesser extent Christians So these Muslim majority countries are working on Sunday to Thursday as well because in Islam Yomal Juma, which is Friday is the kind of traditional concept of a day off And I'm not going to say too much about it because I hate when people who are not that that religion try to explain that religion The little bit I understand about Yomal Juma is that it's the it's a day of rest. It's a day of Reverence it's a day of going to the mosque. So it's kind of analogous to the Jewish Shabbat So if you're working in one of these countries and makes sense that you have Friday off So you'd work Sunday through Thursday Friday off Saturday's kind of a half day. So the way it works in Israel It's it's a little bit strange So there's information online about what's the working week like in Israel and I can tell you a little bit more from personal experience so you'll find resources online saying Israel has a Six-day working week Sunday through Friday and that's not really correct for most people working in let's say white-collar or Professional jobs for most people working white-collar professional jobs. It's just a Sunday to Thursday Work week whatever we could whatever Wikipedia says about people working on Friday And that's because again the Jewish Shabbat Israel being a country that isn't governed by Jewish law for the most part, but which state drives its laws from Judaism That day of Shabbat, which starts again Friday sundown Saturday sundown Really just Jews are not allowed to do work. There's no way you could work in an office on such a day so therefore that day is off Friday is off which satisfies the needs of the Muslim population and And That's the so that's actually how the weekend audience of works Friday being off Saturday being Shabbat And then Sunday being back on now It does mean that you if you are Shabbat observant show my Shabbat like I am for the most part, right? And I work in a kind of typical Work week more or less that means that your my weekend starts on a Thursday So Thursday night is like the equivalent of probably Saturday night in For most Monday to Friday Western workers So if you want to put a crudely for teenage for teenagers looking to get drunk on the weekend their best bet is Thursday night For religiously observing people and Israel really shuts down About halfway through Friday and that's actually if you think about it If you are Shabbat observant the only part of the weekend or the biggest chunk of the weekend You can actually use it to go out to restaurants go to bars because in a city like Jerusalem For the most part most institutions like that are completely shut down from Friday through that Friday through Saturday And then what people will do is actually go out on most say Shabbat So visitors to Israel are often confused. They see these bars You know in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem full of people on a Saturday night after Shabbat and people like don't they have work in The morning isn't isn't like Israel a Sunday to Thursday work week and the answer is Probably most people do have work in the morning But there's kind of a push and take and that's kind of a reflection of it that you know in a in a country where you have these unusual sort of Long working hours during the day people are a little bit lax I would say about Sunday work a lot of people, you know, it depends really on the company culture But the places I've worked is kind of being an environment where you can come a little bit early late on Sunday Leave a little bit early For the Israeli high tech sector the tech sector that's working with the rest of the world I wouldn't say Sunday is a wasted day But it's far less busy day because your clients your customers are on a Monday to Friday work week So they're not there for contact. So Sunday is kind of a sloppy ish day and a lot of Israeli tech companies Now I mentioned that Monday to the this whole idea of the work week. So There are definitely people who work a six-day week in the fields of like essential services And they'll begin their work week on Saturday night and end it on Friday afternoon That would be let's say maybe bus drivers. We could say municipal workers But for most office workers your work week begins on a Sunday Your work week ends on a Thursday. And that's it. There are a few cases. I've heard of people working for Like let's say as a salesperson working at a tech company in Israel and all their clients are on Monday to Friday Sorry are in the West and they're also Shabbat observant. So how would that person? Work typically it's Sunday to Thursday like anyone else in the Israeli economy But I've heard of some companies who've begun to have give people Monday to Friday working weeks That's they have Sunday off. They start on Monday and because in my hypothetical example here They're Shabbat observant. They'll stop working and kind of Friday afternoon and some people like this because on Sunday You don't really have if you are a Jewish and Shabbat observant You've got that little kind of few hours on Friday to actually sort of have a normal weekend with stuff open And then a few more residual hours on Saturday night So people a lot of people actually who can do this actually appreciate it because it gives them an entire day a weekend on Sunday When stuff is open when public transports running, etc I know a lot of countries are embracing a four-day work week currently Israel did consider at some point adding The equivalent of bank holidays for those who grew up in For me in Ireland. I know in the UK. They have them to and probably other countries There's these things called bank holidays that gives you a three-day weekend a few times a year There was a push to introduce those in Israel and unfortunately and I really resent this to be honest the Israeli trade union Haistadrut, which is a Major major political force in the country Stymied that legislation to the best of my understanding and never advanced It's been a few years since I worked as a full-time employee in an Israeli office But it's definitely given that you start on it I don't end this video on a winch, but I just would say I Support the move towards less working hours because in Israel in particular you've got one of the longest working weeks One of the longest working per capita working times that are out there It's a you know working till six coming in at 8 30 in the morning for some people The National Vacation Day minimum starts at 12 so they've kind of modeled themselves after the US in that respect and Public holidays for the most part everyone except for Yomah's ma'out Israel's independence day is a Jewish holiday So if you are Jewish and religiously observant every single national holiday on the calendar is actually a time Where religiously you can't drive you can't use electricity etc. So there's been a push for Bank holidays so the people who do choose to keep Jewish religious law who are religiously observant And have some days off that they can actually go and travel or you know Use their phones or just you know have a little bit more Flexibility than the traditional restrictions on Shabbat and the hageem. I Think that's about enough for working hours in Israel in summary Yes, it's true Israelis do work from Sunday to Thursday. It's a reflection of the fact that Israel is in the Middle East It's also a reflection of the fact that Israel is a Jewish majority country But also has a strong Muslim minority. So it kind of works for both face groups There are some people who do work six days a week as the internet says But for the most part for your average office worker, I would say are working in a professional or knowledge-based job They're gonna be working only Sunday through Thursday and their weekend is therefore gonna consist of Friday Saturday Which for religious use is a day of rest and a little chunk of time after the Shabbat, which is called Mosaic Shabbat And they might go out on Mosaic Shabbat even though they work in the morning And then the whole week starts again, and that's pretty much what it's like to work in Israel Hope this video was informative interesting If you're curious about what it's like to live in Israel and the culture and the working culture We have here and if you'd like to get more videos from me, please subscribe to this YouTube channel. Thank you so much for watching