Shabbat Elevators Listed in Survey on ‘Bizarre’ Customs in Foreign Countries
by Shiryn Ghermezian

A set of elevators. Some tourists might find Shabbat elevators bizarre, according to a Reddit survey. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Shabbat elevators in Israeli hotels are among features of foreign countries that tourists consider odd, according to a survey conducted by Reddit, a news and entertainment website that functions like a social-media bulletin board.
The survey question posed was, “What is totally normal in your country that would be really bizarre to foreigners?”
Among the many people from around the world who answered was a user named Zodikosis, who highlighted the use of elevators in the Jewish state catering to those whose religious observance prevents them from operating electrical devices from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.
“So, if you want to get to your floor on time,” Zodikosis wrote, “just take the stairs.”
Other users noted that it is illegal to chew gum in Singapore, and that in Sweden the “entire country shuts down” on Christmas to watch a specific Donald Duck rerun from 1958.
Within 24 hours of its posting, the Reddit survey had garnered close to 4,000 responses, according to the UK’s Daily Mail, which first reported on it.
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