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No discount for observant Jews

By adamg on Sun, 08/14/2005 - 8:50am

Last year's tax-free day fell on a Saturday, which meant observant Jews couldn't take advantage of it. This year, the state extended the no-sales-tax zone to Sunday. And religious Jews still can't take advantage of it because, as David notes, today is Tisha B'Av, a solemn holiday for remembering the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem - a day on which many activities, including touching money, are forbidden:

... You spend the day in shul studying Torah, so until the mall opens up a Study, Daven 'n' Beyond store, there's not going to be a lot of temptation to shop anyway. ...

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Comments

By mabfan on Sun, 08/14/2005 - 9:37am.

I don't think David is quite right on the concept that Orthodox Jews can't touch money on Tisha B'Av. In fact, in his original post, he has a link to the description of Tisha B'Av at the Judaism 101 webpage. I've put the link here as well, but to quote from the page itself:

The restrictions on Tisha B'Av are similar to those on Yom Kippur: to refrain from eating and drinking (even water); washing, bathing, shaving or wearing cosmetics; wearing leather shoes; engaging in sexual relations; and studying Torah.

In point of fact, my wife and I have seen many people go shopping for break-fast necessities at the Butcherie on Tisha B'Av.

On the other hand, on a day like today, when Orthodox Jews are mostly in shul and mourning (as David rightly notes), there's very little incentive to go shopping, in the same way that one wouldn't think of going shopping the day after losing a parent. So the state legislature did drop the ball on this one, and I certainly hope that the next time they extend the tax-free day they do it on a weekend that we can actually take advantage of it.

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By David Weinberger on Sun, 08/14/2005 - 11:20am.

Thanks for the correction.

But what the heck are Jews doing shopping for breakfast on a fast day???

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By mabfan on Sun, 08/14/2005 - 3:52pm.

Well, sometimes it's easiest to buy your break-fast food on Tisha B'Av because you're not working anyway, and it's easier to schedule your shopping then.

But usually it's because people have forgotten to buy the food they need to break the fast in the evening, so they have to buy their break-fast food during the day. (Just in case you misunderstood -- they're not buying a morning breakfast, they are buying food during the day with which to break the fast in the evening. That's why I referred to it as "break-fast" and not "breakfast" in my first reply.)

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