MISC section - contents: Q In my place of work, in addition to ten regular, paid general holidays, they also pay those who take off for Yom Kippur and a day of Rosh Hashana. The employment agreement states that if a general holiday falls during an employee’s vacation, he chooses between an additional vacation day and getting paid extra for not utilizing all of his vacation days. The employers feel that they do not have to give these options this Yom Kippur, even though it fell on Saturday, when the business is closed. They also say that it is forbidden for a Jew to get paid for a Jewish holiday, and that I should not have the right to extra salary or an alternative. Is it actually forbidden? [The question was shortened and does not quote verbatim the pertinent clauses from the contract.] A A Jew must not only refrain from forbidden activity on Shabbat and Yom Tov but also may not be paid directly for permitted work he performs on those days. The commercialization of permitted activities causes them to be included in the prohibition of commerce on these days (Rashi, Ketubot 64a). One cannot even receive payment for renting out utensils for Shabbat, even if no Jew uses them for any type of work (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 246:1). It is possible to avoid a prohibition in most cases. That is if the paid work isn’t limited to Shabbat or Yom Tov but includes work or rental during the week. Then the problematic payment is “swallowed up” in the permitted payment (ibid.). There is much to say about when payment is deemed directly linked to Shabbat and when not, but we will see that there is no need to elaborate further in this case. In truth, one is not really paid for vacation days. Rather one is paid for the work that he does during the period of a year (usually), with the payment dispersed throughout. The employer realizes that his workers need time off for recreation, family needs, and/or religious and civil observances. He thus pays his worker for a full year of work minus vacation days, as if he worked for a full year. Thus, in reality, you are just not being penalized for days off, whether on the civil New Year or the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur. Even if you get paid extra for Yom Kippur falling on Shabbat, that is because of an additional benefit that some employers give, that one who has less leisure time than he “deserves” is compensated for his diligence during his work time by an increased salary. You are not being paid for doing anything on Yom Kippur. There would be a serious question if a Jewish worker asked his Jewish employer to pay him overtime for work he did on Yom Kippur. That sensitive issue is not included in the question you raised. However, the following consideration is crucial to keep in mind. (Because a few things are unclear from your question, we respond provisionally.) You not only are not being docked pay for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, but you don’t even have it taken off from your general vacation time. This is a generous arrangement, which not all observant Jews are awarded. Our understanding of the agreement is that these added vacation days are meant only for Jews, who need the days off, and you are not even asked to come in on gentile or civil holidays to make up for your absence. Thus, it seems highly inappropriate to take the special privilege intended not to interfere with your religious sensitivities and turn it into an opportunity to make extra money or get extra days off that others are not entitled to. Please realize that 100 years ago, Jewish employees were forced, sometimes sadistically, to choose between keeping Shabbat and Jewish holidays and being fired. We should be thankful that many elements of society are as accommodating to us as they are, especially in your case. If our understanding of the case is correct, then it is wrong and a likely desecration of HaShem’s Name and the character of our people to try to enforce the wording of the contract (we do not intend to serve as legal counsels to analyze its language) to take advantage of your employers’ good will. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha
sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read this section or the entire
Hemdat Yamim at www.ou.org or
www.eretzhemdah.org.
And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by email weekly, by sending an email to
info@eretzhemdah.org with the
message: Subscribe/English (for the English version) or Subscribe/Hebrew
(for the hebrew version). Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe
Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel In an attempt to explain Terach’s travels, the Midrash tells of the trials and tribulations of Terach’s family in Ur, beginning with the well-known story of Avram smashing his father’s idols and continuing with King Nimrod condemning him to death (see Bereshit Rabba [BR] 38). Despite Avram’s miraculous escape from the fiery furnace into which he had been cast, Haran’s death at the hands of Nimrod was enough to convince Terach that it was time for his family to move on. The Midrash also relates that after having been commanded to continue towards the unnamed Promised Land, Avram evaluated the merits of each land through which he passed. In Aram Nahara'im and Aram Nachor, he saw the people running after pleasures and partying, and immediately prayed that this should not be his land. When he reached Eretz Yisrael, he saw that the people had a healthy work ethic and were busily engaged in agricultural work; he prayed that this should be the land chosen for him (BR 39). Even in Avram’s day, reasons for Aliya ranged from a desire
for a more meaningful and spiritual life to escape from anti-Semitism to a
sense of a call from God. After 2000 years of exile we have today yet
another reason. Omitting MHUH in its season AND not saying anything in its place (which is the common practice of Nusach Ashkenaz, outside of Eretz Yisrael), invalidates the Amida. If one is still within the second bracha, one can correct the omission. But if the next bracha has been started, one must start the Amida all over again. If one regularly says MHT during the summer season, then the omission of MHUH does not invalidate the Amida, because we may assume that MHT was said in place of MHUH, and MHT is an acknowledgment of G-d's role in nature and the weather, and this is sufficient "after the fact", not to invalidate the Amida. Although we MENTION rain in our prayer from Shmini Atzeret, we do not yet ASK for rain. The request for rain is with T&M. In Eretz Yisrael, we begin saying T&M on the eve of the 7th of Cheshvan. This year, that is Thursday night, October 21st. From then until Pesach, we ask for rain in the weekday Amida. Omitting T&M (saying just V'TEIN BRACHA) when T&M is supposed to be said, invalidates the Amida. If the omission is "caught" before one concludes the brachot of request, then T&M can be said at the asterisk of the SH'MA KOLEINU bracha. If one realizes that he forgot to say T&M in the last 3-bracha section of the Amida, then he/she returns to BAREICH ALEINU and continues the Amida from that point (remembering, of course, to say T&M). If one has concluded the Amida (separated his/her feet), and then becomes aware of the omission, then the Amida must be repeated from the beginning. Outside of Israel, T&M begins on December 4th or 5th. Details we have no room to review at this time include
situations of doubt and the cases of people from abroad visiting Israel when
we begin T&M. There are also some interesting details concerning Jews in the
southern hemisphere, and lots of other tiny details which remind us to daven
carefully. The 1 or 2 young in a litter are born in a nesting burrow...
thought to be extinct, a few almiqui were found in the 1970s. The species is
endangered, with an estimated population of less than 100. Mongoose and
feral cats are probably responsible for its near-extermination... highly
developed sense of touch and smell... can climb near-vertical surfaces, but
they spend most of the time foraging on the ground... and are among the very
few poisonous mammals (platypus and water shrew are two others)...long life
span and low reproductive rate (both very unusual in its type of animal) One
of the stanger-looking of No'ach's Teiva passengers. He calls our attention to the punishment bestowed on the serpent for enticing Adam and Chava to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. The serpent would now go on his belly and eat dust all the days of his life (Breishit 3:14). However, the Master notes, having food available on an ongoing basis could be considered a timely blessing, not a curse. With that in mind our attention now turns to the description of the Flood in Parshat No’ach, also the consequence of evil ways – in this case of man, not beast. We read of waters that lifted the Ark, mountains covered, animals that expired, and how all existence – except for Noah’s group – was blotted from the face of the earth. The Netivot Shalom notes that not one mention of G-d occurs at any point in this drawn out account (ibid 7:17-25). Evil, it seems, has a tendency to cause G-d’s presence to
disappear, if not to be forgotten altogether. The dust-eating serpent, he
explains, faced the deadly punishment of not needing G-d, of Hashem’s total
absence in his world. It is not surprising, therefore, that the righteous
Noah’s first act on leaving the Ark was to build an altar to G-d, and thus
to seek Him out. [The Parshat No'ach Homepage]
|
