Rabbi Ari Shvat
Question
Hi, so basically I am not Jewish and earlier today I was walking to class and a gentleman was out front asking for some assistance. It was to turn on his oven in the house and put the food in for a Jewish holiday. He also asked if I was Jewish and I replied “no” and it seemed like that was the answer he was hoping for. I however, didn’t do it because I was hesitant to go inside someone’s house and doing so. I’m just curious on what the holiday might be because I haven’t heard of such a thing? I tried doing some research but got varying answers.
Answer
Hi, I don't know when exactly the story happened, but both on Jewish festivals, and every week on Saturday, Jews have a Sabbath, and as it says in the Bible from 3,300 years ago, Jews do not cook or do constructive/creative work. Apparently they forgot to set the electric timer or made some kind of mistake in the kitchen, so they were looking for a non-Jew to either place the food, or arrange the electricity or the like. So next time, even if it may have sounded a little strange, you now understand that it's doing them a big favor and enabling them to eat hot food, so why not do that kindness?.
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