$11,000 spent to make sure the Sabbath is observed…
Aug-31-2007 By Kevin Bussey
The day of rest is causing some unrest at Century Village East in Deerfield Beach. Most of the 56 owners in Berkshire E are Orthodox Jews barred for religious reasons from pushing the buttons on their elevator during the Sabbath, which runs from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
They persuaded their board to spend $11,000 to convert the elevator so it automatically stops on each of the four floors during the Sabbath.
Read about it here.
[From me]
The Pharisees are alive and well! 
While it breaks my heart to see this slavish devotion to a Talmudic observance of the Sabbath instead of the Biblical command to honor the day and focus on God, I would caution you against condemning them for their actions. They don’t know (often because no Christian has bothered to tell them) about the liberation from the burden of the law that comes through Messiah Jesus. Instead of laughing at their Pharasaical behavior, perhaps we should tell them about the liberty and grace found in the Gospel.
Yes, this subject is close to my heart. Touched a nerve.
Amy,
Point taken. But I’m one too.
Does wiping your butt count as work? If so then, do they have to abstain from using the restroom all weekend. I’m just wondering.
First, there is no “burden of the law.” Please, ask an Orthodox Jew if he feels burdened. Go to a synagogue and find out whether the Jews are focusing on God or not. I’m willing to bet they are more focused on God than the Christians you find in a lot of churches on Sunday. By behaving in ways that we think are strange, the Jews are able to focus on God. How many of you come home from church on Sunday and turn on the TV, maybe watch a football game?
Second, law is not an accurate translation of Torah. It is more accurately translated as instruction, instruction for righteous living. Being Torah observant has nothing to do with being righteous, but with doing righteousness. Jews don’t believe they “saved” by “keeping the Law.”
Now, given that, the Jews have put up many fences around the Torah. That is something that goes way back. By building fences, you can be assured that you will break through one of them before you violate the Torah. Working with electricity is one of the fences. Not mixing meat and dairy is another.
They’re Jews, let them be Jews. If you want to witness to them, by all means do so. But remember, forcing Jews to not be Jews was done in the past. You know, forced conversions, forced baptisms, preventing these new Christians from associating with Jews or maintaining a Jewish identity. That created a lot of animosity. It’s one reason Jews, especially the more orthodox Jews, are not open to the Gospel. They are afraid that becoming a follower of Jesus will mean they are no longer Jews. Unfortunately, their fears are well grounded.
Would you tell a Jew that he doesn’t have to observe the Sabbath anymore? Are you going to try and convince him that it’s now Sunday instead of Saturday? Are you going to tell him he doesn’t need to keep a kosher diet? Are you going to tell him he doesn’t need to have his son circumcised? Tell that to Paul. Tell it to James. Tell it to Peter. Tell it to Jesus.
Kevin, why the hypocrisy and funny tags? There’s nothing hypocritical or funny about what they’re doing.
Steve,
Sorry your comment got stuck in the anti-spam. Point taken on tags and I took them off.
I think it would be burdensome to not do anything on the Sabbath. Pushing a button is work? I don’t get it.
Yes, Kevin, it’s “work”. Non-observance of the Sabbath restrictions was punished with death. Picking up sticks to light a fire enraged God no end, and the unlucky wood-gatherer had to die. It’s in the OT.
The reasoning seems to be that lighting sticks for a fire is similar to flicking on a light switch, or turning on the ignition of your car. From that, its a logical progression to switching on the button of an elevator. God won’t stand for it!
It does seem rather detailed, and nit-picky, to those of us in a Christian culture who have an understanding of the grace of God revealed in Jesus. However, I think Christians have a lot of the same tendencies, related to the “sabbath” (which is Saturday and not Sunday) and the prohibitions that many people apply to what can and can’t be done on Sunday. I recall, here in Houston, that stores either closed on Sunday or those that remained open had to restrict the sale of certain items. I recall driving to a KMart store on the opposite side of town that chose to open on Sunday but was closed on Saturday because it was located in the heavily Jewish Meyerland neighborhood, and as long as it complied with the law on one day of the weekend, it could remain open on the other.
It might be a gesture of good will for the board to refund the cost of the elevator adjustments to those few homeowners who did not agree to the change.
Add A Comment