For many orthodox Jews, the biggest drag is not being able to go out on Friday night like normal people. Lots of folks are seen as anti-social and weird for not going out with their non-Jewish or non-religious friends, it’s not work to have a couple of drinks and let loose, is it? I myself don’t have these issues, because my ideas of going out are vastly removed from regular society, I do find it unnerving that I can’t use my weekends to be in the woods, but I really love shabbos, I love sitting around with friends and family and doing the shabbos thing.
I can’t say the same for the folks on the Upper West Side, I know they love shabbos. Ohab Tzedek is filled to the brim on Friday night and revelers spill out onto the sidewalk for the most interesting and famous Jewish social scenes in the world. If there were a list of places the orthodox Jewish single must see before they die or get married, Friday night at Ohab Tzedek would be at the top, one may argue that shabbos afternoon at the Great Lawn is better, but OZ is more contained and easier to watch.
Obviously there are a lot of folks who live on the Upper West Side that are a little bored with the whole oneg hopping thing and this is why Bars are beginning to offer orthodox Jews the deal of a lifetime. Two bars have recently come up with the idea of pre-paid Friday night oneg passes. You pay a flat rate sometime before Friday night and you are able to join society and go out on Friday night. This stinks of Morris Ayin, but growing up on the UWS I can tell you that is not on anyone’s mind.
I don’t know halacha, but I am pretty sure that it must be kosher, since one of the bars is New York Cities first fully kosher bar, which means they are under hashgacha, which means their hashgacha would have been pulled already if this sort of thing wasn’t kosher. Like many frummies, I can’t help wonder how far along the slippery slope we will go, until actual halacha is broken. Going out to bar on Friday night just doesn’t sound right, no matter how far in advance you paid for it. However, since this is another strange Jewish thing, I would love to check it out.
What do you think about orthodox Jews going out on Friday night?
Read the article about this with more information on the locations on Bang It Out
rambam, sefer kedushah, hilchot ma’achlot assurot, chapter 17, halachah 10 – you have to drink outside the bar
http://mechon-mamre.org/i/5217.htm
…and when was the last time you were “so’ed etzel” a bar owner?
Are you covering your spiritual lachayim vekeva by not publicizing which bars are doing this? At some point, like the restaurants that have shabbos meals, someone will figure out a way to make this “more” “kosher” than it might be right now [and flip the slope in the other direction].
So, nu, where can I try these alterna-kiddush clubs? At least I wont hafat miss the haftara [if ever actaully got to shul on shabbos morning in the first place]….
There are already plenty of halachic loopholes to make Orthodox observance easier, from the eruvs to Shabbos toothbrushes to the good old-fashioned Sabbath goy. Some stick-in-the-mud types might even say the sheitel is a kind of halachic loophole. So I don’t see why anyone would complain about this one any more than those others.
This is in no way to knock Judaism, because just about any observant religious practice out there has come up with a number of loophole leniencies, whether they’re marketed as loopholes or no. I say go for it!
But the leniences, mostly are FOR Judaism. Going to a bar has nothing to do with it.
In my neighborhood, some Bukharian restaurants have simchas on Shabbos that are pre-paid and pre-cooked. Some have signs on the door saying so, to prevent Morris Ayin.
Sergey, I may be in NYC soon. What are some good Bukharian restaurants? I’ve been making some of the dishes for a while and would like to taste it done right for a change.
Try Taam Tov on W.47 Street.
Cheap, varied and really good.
Sergey, you are not SERIOUSLY using Bukharians as an example? You do realize no Ashkenaz rabbis recognize the BRC as valid?
It’s gotten to the point where the Ashkenazim don’t treat anyone else, even most other Ashkenazim, as Jews. The Bukharans were a thriving Jewish culture for a very long time. They have their own customs and traditions which are as Jewish as anyone else’s. So do Jews from Ethiopia, the Poland, the France and India.
From my limited understanding of Jewish law (I’m a new learner), I believe that this might be seen as breaking the spirit of Shabbat but not the law. Just like it’s OK to leave the TV on over Shabbat as long as you don’t push any buttons or change anything.
Is not. Hashmoas kol on something which is normally turned on right before use.
Love it…..mybe this will put and end to the Shidduch Crisis….lmao
Gostevero,
Um… that’s why no one gets married, because the party would end.
couldn’t this be considered something like
uvdin d’chol same as watching a tv left on?…
Its exactly like leaving a Television on, not within the spirit of Shabbos, however, there is no violation here other than that.
Wow. Reinforcing my opinion about mainstream Manhattan Orthodoz Jewry…and I freaking hate when my negative opinions get reinforced.
I just checked the website of the KosherBar. They are not open on Friday nights
My G-d, and I used to think reading the YU Beacon was the only thing making me resent my Judaism. Here’s an unpopular opinion: if you feel like you’re missing out, drop Shabbos. If not, don’t. Everyone needs to stop futzing around and just call it like it is. Be observant, or don’t. But these sorts of “is this halakhic? Against the spirit of shabbos?” questions are absolutely, mind-numbingly inane. Though I will point out – the people who care this deeply about going to bars on Friday nights probably dropped the whole shabbos shtick ages ago.
How about this scenario: you live in a neighborhood with a few shady bars, in a car-centric city with poor public transportation. Downtown/Fashionable areas are eight miles away by car, and bike lanes don’t exist except in a few select spots. Religious jewish community is small, with 97% of kids going out-of-city to college or yeshiva. Partly because of that your friends are secular or non-Jewish, while you are not. What would you do?
You answered your own question — “partly because of that your friends are secular or non-Jewish, while you are not.” If you are really not secular/non-Jewish, you’ll stay in, because its Shabbos. And not because you were trained to, but because you believe in Halakha, and you find value in G-d’s commandments. I think this idea — actually making halakha mean someone in-and-of-itself, rather than just as an authoritative doctrine — has been really lost by a huge swath of the American Jewish community. Particularly the UWS one.
If your FOMO (“fear of missing out”) is stronger than your love of Halakha; if your desire to please your friends is more important than your desire to please G-d, well…that’s the problem, not the fact that your secular friends led you to realize halakha was no longer sufficient for you (it is for some people; I am not insinuating it is a poor system). And certainly, having bars give you “oneg passes” when you can’t reach them without violating Shabbos in the first place doesn’t solve the issue — it’s still an aveira.
Halakha is not supposed to be something to love and believe in, it’s a way/means to get close to God and the ideal of Jewishness. Following Halakha to the absolute strictest makes you somewhat insane, as has been seen in a huge swath of the American Jewish community.
Humans are social animals. There is no fear of missing out here, only a wish for human contact. If I desired to please my friends I would drop Judaism the second they hinted at it. Instead I delight in figuring out how to accomodate them while still remaining Jewish and following Halacha.
I am certain it is possible to please God while still being social.
“Downtown/Fashionable areas are eight miles away by car, and bike lanes don’t exist except in a few select spots. ”
So what is the question? Are you asking if I would drive to where my friends are on Shabbos? Well, no. I would hang out with my friends during the week and tell them that I can’t join them on Shabbos because I can’t drive.
I don’t really see this as an issue.
Greetings from California! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the info you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when
I get home. I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G ..
Anyhow, wonderful site!