(RNS) — Making daylight saving time permanent moved a step closer to reality this week, when the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass a measure to eliminate the annual clock-changing ritual.But some Orthodox Jewish organizations are fighting to prevent the bill from becoming law.The measure, called the Sunshine Protection Act, passed in a 308-117 vote in the House on Tuesday (July 14).It now heads to the Senate, where its passage is uncertain.
President Donald Trump has championed the effort, describing on his Truth Social account moving the clocks forward and back as a "ridiculous, twice yearly production."If passed, the bill would give Americans an extra hour of sunshine in the evenings during the winter.But it would also push winter sunrises one hour later.
That's of concern to Orthodox Jews, who pray three times a day, beginning with the Shacharit morning prayer service, which by tradition cannot begin in the dark."The bottom line is, if prayers have to start an hour later that will have a direct effect on people getting to work and on when schools can start," said Rabbi A.D.Motzen, national director of government affairs for Agudath Israel of America, an organization representing U.S.
Orthodox Jews.A constellation of other Orthodox Jewish groups also opposes the measure, including the Orthodox Union and the Coalition for Jewish Values.In Jewish law, some prayers, such as those in the morning service, can only be said communally, in a quorum of 10 Jewish adults, called a minyan.That requirement means going to synagogue every morning before heading out for work or school and saying prayers, such as the Shema, the central prayer of Jewish life, collectively.
The morning service typically lasts 35 minutes but on some occasions can last close to an hour."It becomes a communal issue when, for example, a synagogue that has had a morning prayer service for 100 years suddenly does not have a quorum of 10 men who can show up at the prayer time clos...