We spent last Shabbos in Las Vegas. There is a La Quinta Inn that is right next door to the Young Israel shul with all sorts of conveniences for the frum traveler. There are kitchenettes in each room and the automatic door cards are replaced for Shabbos with plain room keys. In addition, as you check in they remind you that breakfast is served free every morning to hotel guests, and that everything is kosher with the exception of the cake.
But the best line of the entire trip was uttered by the reservations clerk who was checking us in. As he was giving us the keys we requested for Shabbos, he asked, in all seriousness, "Are you Sabbath preservers?"
Yup, that's us all right--Sabbath preservers.
6 comments:
Actually, that might be a better translation of Shomer Shabbat than Sabbath Observer is...
Although that is NOT the standard English phrase.
La Quinta also has a loyal clientele because virtually all of their hotels (I think there are only 2 or 3 exceptions) allow dogs at no charge.
Given the fear of dogs in parts of the Orthodox Community, the intersection of these customer groups could be quite interesting.
Dave,
Your comment brings up the second best line of the trip. Shabbos afternoon I was sitting outside the Inn--they have a covered shady portico and a nice breeze was blowing. There were three dogs as "guests" in the hotel, one of which was a beautiful sheltie (looks like a small collie). As the owner was walking towards the entrance the dog came over to investigate my skirt. A few of the frummie little kids who were staying in the Inn and playing nearby me saw me petting the dog and came over to investigate. Just as one of the little boys was extending his hand to pet the dog, his mother sharply called him to come back to her. I thought she was nervous about her child petting a strange animal, something I could have understood. But no, after the owner and dog moved on she explained "kindly" to me that there are some who hold that a pet should not be touched on Shabbos since it has no obvious or possible use in being m'kadesh Shabbos and is, therefore, a type of muktsah object.
Right, a dog is muktsah. And I thought I had heard it all.
These days it seems like you have never heard it all!
ProfK,
Yeah, the general consensus here is that your dog is not Muktsah, since you are responsible for it's well being, but other dogs are.
Interestingly, I remember finding a neighbors dog in the park on Shabbat, and I brought it back home to them (just a few blocks away). While I fulfilled the Torah commandment of returning lost property, plenty of people told me that I was wrong to move the dog on Shabbat...
To each their own, I think I did the right thing.
Yes, I've always heard that a dog is muksah. However, I have a hard time believing this since once can touch a tree on shabbos, for example, as long as one doesn't lean on it for support. Personally, I think it's the canine phobia in the chareidi community, nothing more.
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