A SpaceX rocket that delivered an Israeli satellite on Saturday led to a rare situation in which a religious Israeli engineer got permission to violate Shabbat so that the mission could go ahead.
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The engineer, who had to be present on site and deal with various technical matters because the launch window was restricted to Saturday, faced the question of how to get to the site on time. The closest location where he could reside within a reasonable distance to the launching pad was a military base that was many miles away, which meant that he had to ride a vehicle on Shabbat if he were to get to take part in the launch.
The senior engineer turned to Rabbi Manchem Pearl, the head of the Tzomet Institute – an Israeli high-tech non-profit organization specializing in IT equipment and electronic appliances designed to meet Halachah – and asked him what he could do to reconcile his job requirements and his Jewish faith on that important day, which would see the satellite launch into space in order to expand cellular coverage on earth using Israeli technology.
Pearl's response was that he could work on Shabbat even if that meant physically being present at the launch site and that he could also join the rest of the workers on the bus that would bring them there, so long as the rise was not just for him.
"Having the launch go as planned is of the highest public interest," Pearl wrote to the engineer. "Improving cellular coverage [through the launching of the satellite] could prevent life-threatening situations because of instances where people would be able to call for help in areas that were previously without reception," he continued. "On top of that, under Jewish law, having an Israeli engineer take part in such a project is of great value as it pertains to technology and the State of Israel," he noted.
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