The IDF has just announced that it is reinstating the "Quiet Channel" broadcasts, that were used during the 1991 Gulf War to make emergency messages available to religious Jews.
The channel broadcasts "dead air" throughout the Sabbath and holidays, when listening to radio is religiously proscribed.
One is to turn on the radio to the proper wavelength (see list below), and set it at a moderate volume before the onset of the Sabbath or holiday. The station will remain silent in order not to cause a disturbance, only coming on-air when an emergency announcement is necessary.
Senior rabbinic leaders throughout Israel (and abroad), including the Chief Rabbinate accept the need for the network, due to its lifesaving aspect ("Pikuach Nefesh doche' Shabbat" - "Saving a life precludes the Sabbath"), and have given it their official Halachic (Jewish Law) seal-of-approval.
That hard-headed, hard-learned, commonsense practicality is the difference between Judaism and, well, those trying to kill us. On the other hand, it's also been said that:
"Jews have the accumulated wisdom of the ages, enabling them to get out of difficult situations no sensible gentile would have allowed himself to get into in the first place." (anon)The bandwidths are:
Haifa area: 98.5 FM
Tzfat and surrounding areas: 95.7 FM
Carmiel: 95.2 FM
Tiberias: 100.2 FM
May it remain silent.
(Apologies for the typos - I was too-sharply reminded of the Gulf War)
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