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Rolling Stones Push Back Concert for Shavuot

Wednesday’s Tel Aviv show will start later to accommodate observant fans

by
Stephanie Butnick
May 30, 2014
Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger performs in Lisbon on May 29, 2014. (PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty Images)
Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger performs in Lisbon on May 29, 2014. (PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP/Getty Images)

The Rolling Stones are performing in Israel next week, and they’re going out of their way to accommodate fans in the Holy Land. The band is playing in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, June 4 (tickets are still available), which tour organizers probably didn’t realize was the second night of Shavuot. To help make it possible for observant fans—who are unable to drive or spend money during holidays—they’ve pushed back the concert’s start time from 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., Religion News Service reports.

“Following many requests from the public, particularly the observant public, to delay the starting hour for the performance, the City of Tel Aviv, together with the production team, decided to change the starting time,” the promoter said in a press release.



The municipality had to agree due to after-hours noise pollution laws.

The Stones playing Israeli is a pretty big deal, considering the pressure put on artists and bands these days by BDS supporters to cancel shows in Israel (plus, they’re getting a reported $4.5 million for the gig, which isn’t too shabby).

Earlier this spring, when the concert was announced, The Scroll had a few suggestions for what the Stones could play in Tel Aviv. The real question, though, is whether they’ll pull a JT and go straight to the Western Wall when they arrive.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.