Word Prompt – DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME – Moish Warsawsky

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November 6, 2025, 1 AM ET

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Daylight saving time, in addition to a few other items on our calendar and schedule, is a relic of a once-agrarian society. While the school calendar starting with Rosh Hashana and ending after Shavuos nicely complements a frum household, recent talks of making DST permanent would likely be a disaster. If DST were maintained year-round, the latest sunrise in NYC would be 8:25! This would be problematic for many who head to work early and would be hard-pressed to find an appropriate davening time (or need to rely on strong leniencies for a major part of the year).

Another big problem is how much this would disrupt everyone’s sleep. Our bodies naturally wake up when they sense sunlight, so having most people get up while it’s still dark is not ideal, according to health experts. Teens already struggle to wake up on time, and a later sunrise would make mornings even harder for millions of Americans.

On a personal note, those of us with young children know that their bodies don’t respond to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s manipulation of time. No matter what, I know that my normal 6 a.m. wake-up this Sunday morning with my 2-year-old is getting moved to 5 a.m., and he simply won’t comply, no matter how many times I show him the clock. I guess I can at least be thankful for the extra one hour of daylight!