Whether the Tel Aviv light rail system can be used right away, has become a hot topic in recent days.
Although the light rail is closed on Shabbat, the tunneling and train construction happened on Shabbat as well, therefore using the system to your advantage can be considered Maaseh Shabbat, which is forbidden.
Manche Poskim advised that, even if one is permitted to use the train (because labor done by Jews is instantly permitted for others after Shabbos), it would be appropriate to refrain from using the light rail for the first few days, as a sign of protest against the construction taking place on Shabbat.
When Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein was first questioned about the issue a year ago, he gave a response based on Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, who discussed a bridge built on Shabbos and ruled that the usage of such things should be permitted because one cannot forbid the use of land designated for the general public.
Rabbi Karelitz stated that people should not use the bridge because there may be a problem with violation of Hashem’s name, if there was blatant desecration of shabbos in its construction.
Rav Yitzchok responded that the system can be used right away, stating that „it is a Kiddush Hashem, since the government said that it would not be working on Shabbos, and in this the government demonstrated honor to the Torah, closing all of the stations and trains on Shabbos. Rabbi Zilberstein’s grandson asked the same question, adding that the light rail could ease the commute of many wives of Avrajim, who work in the greater Tel Aviv Region.
Since there is a Kiddush Hashem in the way the train is not stopped, the original judgement by Rabbi Karelitz that a person cannot forbid the use of a public resource like land stands, and the problem of desecration of Hashem’s name is not relevant.
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