3. Tradition teaches us that on the holy days of rest we must not only
abstain from actual work, but also from ordering anything to be done by
those who refuse to recognise the Sabbath-laws as binding on
them.—Circumstances force us to deviate at times from this rule. There
were Jews who would not allow any work to be undertaken on Friday which
would continue of its own accord after the Sabbath had set in. Thus
they would not have light in their homes on Friday evening or warm food
on the Sabbath-day, although all necessary precautions had been taken
before Sabbath came in to keep the light burning and the food warm for
twenty-four hours. But the more these Jews insisted on excluding light
and fire from their homes, the more did our Sages demand light and warm
food as essential comforts of the Sabbath, and to them the
Sabbath-candles and the warm food were a mitsvah of great importance.
Much work is done on Sabbath for the public by non-Jews; e.g., in
connection with railway-trains, steamboats, and other public
conveyances. May the Jew avail himself of the work thus done for all
alike without his bidding? He may in some cases—e.g., for a long
sea-voyage—in others not. But he must always bear in mind that Judaism
depends on the adherence of the Jews to the noble principle, כל ישראל
ערבים זה בזה “All Israelites are sureties responsible for each other.”
The meaning of this principle is this: If a certain act appears to one
of us allowable, but at the same time our action might mislead others
and cause them to break the Law, we must not do it. Thus if Jews were
to avail themselves of the public conveyances, the whole aspect of the
Sabbath would change, and the day would ultimately be forgotten.
4. When dire necessity compels a Jew to break the Sabbath, let him not
think that the Sabbath is lost to him, or he to Judaism. So long as
Jewish conscientiousness is alive within him, let him endeavour to keep
as much of the Sabbath as he is able. He must not say, “I have broken
the Sabbath. How can I join my brethren in the Sabbath Service!”
Whatever he does conscientiously will be acceptable before God, and he
will thus find himself exhorted to watch carefully, and to seize the
first opportunity of returning to the full observance of Sabbath. The
same principle applies to all the Divine Precepts.
THE JEWISH CALENDAR.
The Jewish Calendar [76] reckons the day from evening to evening, in
accordance with the order observed in the verse, “And it was evening
and it was morning, one day” (Gen. i. 5). The evening begins after
sunset, at the moment when stars become visible under normal conditions
of the atmosphere: at צאת הכוכבים “the coming forth of the stars,”
scil., of at least three stars of middle size.
The day is divided into evening, morning, and afternoon. With each of
these periods is connected an appropriate prayer or service, viz.,
Maarib or Evening-prayer, Shacharith or Morning-prayer, and Minchah or
Afternoon-prayer.
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