Tag: this is so cool

Arctic circle Jewish day ask anon: I was actually being serious. From a traditional/orthodox perspective how is it done for religious observance since the movement of the sun is vital to traditional Judaism? Also, if a clock is used how is it used? Is a specific time chosen for “sundown” since sundown varies throughout the world?

returnofthejudai:

I wasn’t being facetious.  

Rabbi Israel Lipschutz, in his commentary Tiferet Yisrael, writes that in polar regions there is a 24-hour day, as evidenced by the fact that the sun rotates in the sky from a high point at noon to a low point near the horizon at midnight. He does not offer a means of measuring the passage of a 24-hour day during the polar winter when the sun is invisible. He advises that a Jewish traveler observe the beginning and end of the Sabbath based on the clock of the location whence he came. It is unclear whether this refers to his residence or his port of embarkation.

A result of this view is that two Jews who leave from different cities will always observe Shabbat on Saturday, but at different times. A Jew who leaves from America will observe the Sabbath according to the clock of his hometown, while a Jew from Europe will use the clock of his European hometown, which begins and ends Sabbath about five hours earlier than in America. Thus, there is no uniquely identifiable beginning and end of the day in the polar regions.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_law_in_the_polar_regions