In my childhood neighborhood there was one bicycle shop, and every year before Yom Kippur it was customary to warn the children of the neighborhood against riding their bicycles wildly, because according to the rumors - the owner of the shop would scatter nails and studs in the municipal gardens in order to puncture the wheels, thus essentially dragging everyone to the shop for final treatments before Kippur
Sometimes he would continue to repair punctures even after the fast began.
Adherence to the goal and sticky substance in the wheels.
It goes without saying that the line at his store in the hours before was almost as long as the line that prevailed at those hours at the neighborhood video store.
Because in the nostalgic 1980s, which I relish, video tapes for rent were the Israelis' VOD, and those who didn't go ahead and reserve good movies - had to make do with third-rate horror movies.
Along with the shofar and the forgiveness, plastic chairs in the square and stones on moving cars, there is another long-standing tradition of watching TV in Kippur.
Perhaps it is less talked about in the mainstream media, but viewing recommendations are a sought-after commodity before the break-even meal, and as in the days of video tapes - you still have to prepare in advance for a Kippur binge.
Beside the shofar - there is also a binge, photo: Yonatan Zindel
The media rules from 1987 state that "on Yom Kippur no self-directed broadcasts will be broadcast, and no non-self-directed broadcasts will be translated into Hebrew."
This means - the local channels are forbidden to broadcast, while foreign channels with subtitles remove the translation (say, National Geographic), while the other foreign channels broadcast as usual.
A few years later, the Cable and Satellite Council applied these regulations to the VOD services as well.
In the meantime, the law has become obsolete, and those who are mainly subject to it are the content providers that broadcast on cable and satellite (yes and HOT).
This creates a situation where VOD received via the Internet (for example, Yes Plus, Sting or Next apps installed on smart TVs) is open freely throughout Yom Kippur, and there are no restrictions on it.
Moreover, the regulation rules do not apply to Cellcom TV and Partner either, because they broadcast through the network, and they are allowed to decide for themselves whether to close or open VOD on the holy day.
So apparently everything is closed, but in fact the broadcast channels' apps also work as usual (Rainbow, Kaan, Reshet), and of course - Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and Apple TV as well.
To be honest, even the traditional blocking of VOD is no longer absolute, and yesterday it was possible to order specific content on certain platforms through the search bar on the server.
The possibility today to combine technology with individual freedom requires us to plan a new course.
The loopholes already exist on the ground en masse, and therefore the status quo state will surely be happy to continue to conduct itself like this for years to come in complete blindness.
Mainly because the only victims of the annual blocking of VOD among cable and satellite customers are only adults who are less skilled in technology.
In our reality, the state should not restrict something legal that a person does in his private home and that does not disturb anyone else.
Instead of people continuing to look for links to pirated viewing of the Champions League games, they plan what content they want to watch in advance to pre-order so that it will be available on VOD after the ban, or search for series and movies illegally on the Internet - legislation needs to be updated.
So sorry, just as they still don't lock everyone's internet on Yom Kippur, the state also shouldn't block people's ability to legally consume television without restrictions all year round.
The VOD broadcasts on Yom Kippur
were we wrong
We will fix it!
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