So many questions, so little time.
Here's one. Actually, it's two:
Why Do People Say "Jesus H. Christ" and Where Did the "H" Come From?
Or maybe you don't say Jesus H. Christ. Maybe you say Jesus, Mary, and Jehoshaphat. My mother used to. She was Jewish.
I fear that I am rambling again.
As everyone knows, however, vhere dere's a vill, dere's an oy vey. Reading the following article should prove it once and for all. There's even a 3-minute video embedded in it. We spare no expense to entertain you.
There's A Wire Above Manhattan That You've Probably Never Noticed
An eruv, then, is either a very clever solution to what would otherwise be a most difficult problem or a way to keep the law while technically breaking the law.
But only if you're an observant Jew.
If you're not an observant Jew, or if you're not Jewish at all, you probably could or couldn't (pick one) care less.
This is not one of my more coherent posts, but enough time had elapsed since the last one that I felt another one was due.
Keep those cards and letters coming. Include money.
Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteActually I don't say it since it seems like cursing and taking the Lord's name in vain. I hadn't heard of adding the H either.
And I didn't know there were wires around Manhattan. If one was really a devout Jew, I don't think wires strung overhead would make me think it was ok to break God's laws on the Sabbath. But I'm not Jewish, and it seems silly to me, but I'm glad the wires help them anyway.
The eruv seem proof that where there is a will there is a way.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Jesus H Christ is a particularly American term - or at least I have not heard it here.
The eruvs are hard to understand and allow Jews to move around more on their Sabbath and do things considered work, such as pushing a baby stroller, etc. I read about them several years ago when they wanted to put up an eruv in the San Jose area.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteWell, you have taught me something new. I've never heard of an eruv but then I'm not Jewish either. It does seem like the eruv is stretching their rules a bit though.
ReplyDeleteI was going to jokingly say that the "H" in Jesus H Christ was a middle initial. However I looked it up and it was his middle initial! As a child the "H" stood for Holy. Thanks to your post I have learned two things today.
There are so many points on reading this and looking at the two links.
ReplyDeleteFirstly (here I go again), I've never heard of 'Jesus H Christ' so, as stated before me this may be a peculiarly American thing.
Secondly, I am atheist but I try never knowingly to blaspheme in any cultural context. It's always offensive to someone even if not someone within earshot.
Thirdly, when I was in my early 20s I had a Jewish friend and spent time with her family (she and I were not romantically involved which is a very important point). They were Orthodox. They used to employ a goy (their word not mine) to come in on The Sabbath to set and light fires in the winter and even switch the lights on and off plus anything else that was 'work'. It was worse than The Isle of Lewis when I arrived 45 years ago. That was the Free Church of Scotland though.
Fourthly, it seems to me that using obviously artificial methods to circumvent a law which was obviously thought to be stupid (otherwise the circumvention would have been irrelevant) is a blatant disregard for one's avowed beliefs and more a reflection of one's true beliefs.
That's enough. All this thinking first thing on the morning of the Sabbath is making my head hurt.