Staten Island, NY – The Jewish Community Center’s decision to open its new exercise facility in Sea View on Shabbas is causing controversy among Staten Island’s Orthodox Jews.
They say, Saturday is the Jewish Shabbas, when many things are prohibited, including starting and stopping electrical equipment like treadmills, elliptical trainers and other exercise equipment found in the JCC’s fitness center. Jews do not work on that day, nor can they handle money. They cannot carry things — like gym bags — outside of a symbolic enclosure known as an eruv, and the new JCC is not covered by the eruv.
“It’s pretty cut and dried,” said Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss of Agudath Israel of America. “A Jewish center that is carrying the name of the Jewish community should not be desecrating the Shabbas.”
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But Lewis Stolzenberg, executive director of the JCC, said he and other leaders have worked closely with the Orthodox community to accommodate their needs as much as possible, and because men and women may not swim together, separate hours will be set in the pool, and a system will be in place to ensure that no money need change hands on Saturdays. “We feel it’s the right thing to do,” Stolzenberg said. “We want to make this place very welcoming for everybody. And most Jewish people on Staten Island will recreate on Saturday.”
To Anon 1:06, (the first post here)
NO! That’s not what recreate means!
The word is the verb form of recreation!!!! When will we learn English? (and when will those who are ignorant, be embarrassed of that fact?)
S’YUG L’CHOCHMO, SH’TIKAH!!
Anonymous said…
hey chevreman, how can you rely on someone who you already know let the standards down. He lowered the standards on the foods he himself gives a hecsher on, what does that say about him? Idiocy to say that we are talking about things after the fact like in mixed marriages. The whole point is that he already has lower standards so we do not expect him to stick up for higher ones.
2:36 PM
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The Cholov Stam issue is a smoke screen. He is very up front about which products have it and which do not.
For Litvisher Yidden there is no problem using cholov stam so for them cholov stam is not a lower standard.
OTOH, there might be some other reasons to avoid Baltimore Rabbonim in general……
hey chevreman, how can you rely on someone who you already know let the standards down. He lowered the standards on the foods he himself gives a hecsher on, what does that say about him? Idiocy to say that we are talking about things after the fact like in mixed marriages. The whole point is that he already has lower standards so we do not expect him to stick up for higher ones.
You guys remind me of the people who think moxed marraiges are asur because it might lead to mixed dancing.
I agree, if you are ready to let down your standards in hecsharim you are ready to let down your standards else where and then……
Actually it is very relevant. Keeping cholov yisroel is one of the very ways designed to prevent outside influences from creeping into our society.
Once a ruv approves cholov stam, he is letting in influences. Once influences are let in, there is no end in sight to how far the influences will seep.
If you are going to claim that cholov stam is ok as per shulchan aruch, well here too, they are going to make it work according to the shulchan aruch ie: no money exchanged and separate hours for men/women.
So as you can see it’s related.
I agree with anon 319.
The earlier post seems to be off the wall. Rav Heinemann was cited not because of kashrus, but because as a leading rov in Baltimore, no doubt he was involved in the JCC controversy.
What in the world anon 201 is talking about is totally irrelevant.
To 2:01pm – I fail to see the connection between cholov stam, seperate swimming and chillul Shabbos. Am I missing something?
what would it help to contact Rabbi Heinerman, he was a great hechscher once, but then he decided to give hescherim on cholov stam. So a jcc is a jewish place and why spearhead some outcry when they will have seperate swimming hours for men and women.
WHat I seriously suggest is that the frum community in Staten Island contact the Yeshivas Ner Yisroel and Rav Heinemann in Baltimore, as well as, other Rabbonim in Baltimore.
Many years ago, the JCC in Baltimore tried to do the same thing,i.e. operate on Shabbos, and the frum community spearheaded by the late Rabbi Neuberger were able to get the JCC to revise its plans for shabbos.
What they mean is that they will recreate the shabbos to something that they would like it to be to them not what Shabbos really is.