A boring three-day weekend???!
Independence Day is the only federal holiday (a holiday mandated by the national government) in the United States the occurrence of which has not been changed in order to create a three-day weekend--it always takes place on July 4, no matter on which day of the week July 4 falls, rather than having been moved to the nearest Monday. So you can imagine my initial elation when I realized that July 4 falls on a Friday this year. Yay!
Actually, not quite "yay."
One thing no one mentions about being (even some remote semblance of) an observant Jew is that there's no such thing as a three-day weekend--one day is always taken by Shabbat/Sabbath, with its travel (and other) restrictions. This means that, when a three-day weekend begins on a Friday, one must be home in time to avoid riding on, and to prepare for, Shabbat. In the case of Independence Day, it means that, since we don't live within walking distance of a fireworks display and no longer watch television on Shabbat, we'll have to miss the fireworks this year. Major bummer. :(
It would be really nice if we could arrange to visit some friends over the July 4th weekend, so as to have someone with whom to enjoy Shabbat and not be so conscious of being among the handful of people in the neighborhood with eyes not glued to the tube (television), watching the festivities. (Given the number of Orthodox and observant Conservative Jews left in our neighborhood, I would be surprised if there were even 100 individuals there who refrain from watching TV on Friday nights, etc., because of Shabbat.) But we can count on one hand the number of friends who 1) have apartments or houses large enough to accommodate us overnight, 2) keep kosher, and 3) are likely to attend synagogue on Shabbat morning, at least. :(
As I said, it'll probably be a pretty boring three-day weekend. :(
Actually, not quite "yay."
One thing no one mentions about being (even some remote semblance of) an observant Jew is that there's no such thing as a three-day weekend--one day is always taken by Shabbat/Sabbath, with its travel (and other) restrictions. This means that, when a three-day weekend begins on a Friday, one must be home in time to avoid riding on, and to prepare for, Shabbat. In the case of Independence Day, it means that, since we don't live within walking distance of a fireworks display and no longer watch television on Shabbat, we'll have to miss the fireworks this year. Major bummer. :(
It would be really nice if we could arrange to visit some friends over the July 4th weekend, so as to have someone with whom to enjoy Shabbat and not be so conscious of being among the handful of people in the neighborhood with eyes not glued to the tube (television), watching the festivities. (Given the number of Orthodox and observant Conservative Jews left in our neighborhood, I would be surprised if there were even 100 individuals there who refrain from watching TV on Friday nights, etc., because of Shabbat.) But we can count on one hand the number of friends who 1) have apartments or houses large enough to accommodate us overnight, 2) keep kosher, and 3) are likely to attend synagogue on Shabbat morning, at least. :(
As I said, it'll probably be a pretty boring three-day weekend. :(
posted by Shira Salamone at 11:41 AM
6 Comments:
If you're willing to fly out to Oregon, we'd be happy to have you! :)
You can walk from our house to a few points where you can see the display.
Tzipporah, thanks, but alas, the budget doth not allow for weekend travel requiring the purchase of airline tickets.
Yeah, I get you, Shira. My parents try to schedule three-day weekends to relaxing places where we can bring our own food. Then we all just chill on Saturday, and I don't have to worry about not participating in grand activities. I don't insist on shul, though it's a bonus. Maybe if you relaxed that requirement (you can always daven by yourself), you will have more options?--Katrina
We're savings our pennies for a longer indulgence later this summer, so, for the July 4th weekend, we'll probably just be stuck in our usual role as the neighborhood oddballs. :(
If I'd read your post I would have invited you too- but I live in airplane-land too (unless you are up for about a 20 hour train ride to N. Fla.).
But here's a tip: if you live in a moderate density suburb like mine (4/5 houses per acre) there's a chance people will be setting off their own fireworks. They were in my neighborhood; I spent about an hour after dinner Friday night watching them.
Lewyn, private fireworks are not only illegal (in NY State, at least), they're also extremely dangerous--too many people are injured shooting off private fireworks! I'm scared to death of them. Fortunately, I remembered, at the last minute, that we have a good, albeit partial, view of some officially-sanctioned and professionally-staged fireworks from the sidewalk of a nearby highway. So that's where we went after davvening Kabbabat Shabbat (praying the Sabbath Evening Service).
Post a Comment
<< Home