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Why does shabbat start at different times at different places? Crossing a time zone does not conjure up a time warp, so how can it be Friday in one place, and Shabbat in another? It just doesn't seem possible. The answer is because the world is round. Why is it that Hashem wanted to make the world in the shape of a globe?

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I don't understand the question. Are you asking about the halachic dateline? It doesn't seem like it. Suppose we consider just the USA. Shabbat starts at the sunset of wherever you are. For two people right across a time zone line from each other, Shabbat will start at approximately the same time, except that for one person it will be say ~6pm, while it is ~7pm for the other. – jake May 11 '12 at 21:03
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Closing because the question is now "Why did God make the world the way He did?" which seems impossible for someone other than Him to answer. In addition, the question seems to contain a progression of separate questions now. – Isaac Moses May 11 '12 at 21:20
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@IsaacMoses Although I would be surprised if they exist (because none of the classics believed this), it's possible for different 'reasons' to be given even bederech drash from chassidish (maybe?) or other sources. I agree though the Q would have to be reworded. – Double AA♦ May 11 '12 at 21:26
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@ShmuelBrin, Similarly, I've heard the possibility that it is a proof against the claim that "ה' ינום וישן", since there is never any universal night when God would be able to "sleep". – jake May 11 '12 at 21:38
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@IsaacMoses, Jewish Life and Learning on a boat. – jake May 11 '12 at 21:42
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closed as not constructive by Isaac Moses May 11 '12 at 21:19

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2 Answers

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Shabbat starts no later than sunset (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 293:2).

Sunset is a subjective phenomenon describing the apparent descent of the Sun below the horizon. It happens because the Earth is round and rotates about its own axis much more quickly than it revolves around the Sun, so observers on its surface observe, once per rotation, their part of the Earth rotating away from the Sun to the point that the rest of the Earth blocks them from seeing the Sun. That point is sunset.

Because the timing of this phenomenon depends on the observer's location on the Earth, so does the timing of the latest time to start Shabbat. This timing varies continuously with the observer's location on Earth, meaning that two people who are almost in the same place will observe almost the same time for sunset and would therefore be subject to almost the same limit for starting Shabbat, so there's no discontinuous "time warp" except at the Halachic International Date Line (wherever that is).

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See updates to the question... – Double AA♦ May 11 '12 at 21:17
@DoubleAA See my closure comment. – Isaac Moses May 11 '12 at 21:22
up vote 4 down vote

It's because the world is Round!

After I posted this correct anwer, the OP decided to change his question

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Based on my comment above. – Double AA♦ May 11 '12 at 21:14
.... But why ??? (i changed the question) – Adam Mosheh May 11 '12 at 21:15
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@AdamMosheh Why is the world round? – Double AA♦ May 11 '12 at 21:16

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