Harry Potter Not Kosher
Harry Potter has angered more religous people. For years there have been attempts to ban the children’s fantasy books because of the fear they promote witchcraft.
Harry has angered Orthodox Jews for a different reason. The world-wide, simultaneous release of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, runs smack-dab into the Sabbath.
The synchronized worldwide launch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and last installment in the wildly popular series, falls at 2:01 a.m. local time this Saturday — on the Jewish Sabbath, when Israeli law requires most businesses to close.
With Israelis already clamoring for Deathly Hallows, many bookstores are planning to launch the book on time anyway. That has drawn fire from Orthodox Jewish lawmakers, including Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai, who threatened to fine any store that opens Saturday.
“Israeli law forbids businesses to force their employees to work on the Sabbath, and that applies in this case as well. The minister will fine and prosecute any businesses which violate the law,” said Roei Lachmanovich, a spokesman for Yishai, of the ultra-0rthodox Jewish Shas party.
Avraham Ravitz of the United Torah Judaism Party slammed the Potter books for their “defective messages.”
“We don’t have to be dragged like monkeys after the world with this subculture, and certainly not while violating our holy Sabbath,” Ravitz said in a statement.
The complaints won’t stop Israeli bookstores from selling the book at the set time.
“Potter Book Launch on Sabbath Angers Israeli Lawmakers”
So if the book stores ask their employees to work voluntarily, rather than forcing them to work, it would be okay?