Q. Can I watch or read the news happening in Israel on Friday night when it is only Friday afternoon here in Toronto?
A. Horav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach Zt"l in Shulchan Shlomo (22: 2) addresses this question and prohibits listening to the news broadcasted from Eretz Yisroel when it is Shabbos there, even though the listener is in a location were it is not Shabbos. The reason is that the listener derives benefit from a prohibited melocho done by Shabbos desecration, since most likely at least some of the people involved in creating the transmission are Jewish. (Shulchan Aruch O.H. 318:1). If the broadcast is done on Shabbos totally by Gentiles, Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit"a opinion is that it is permitted to listen to before or after Shabbos.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit"a
Important Numbers
