Went for a walk/coffee/reading/book shopping this afternoon and I was stopped on St-Viateur street by, I believe, an hasidic jew who said “do you have a moment to come inside and turn off a light? I can’t do it, it’s saturday”. So I went in the apartment where all the lights were on (since the previous night I suppose), all the way to the fridge which he couldn’t open because it switches on the light and he can’t use electricity on saturdays, un-screwed the bulb so it would stay off, closed the door and was back out with thanks from him and his wife. Interesting that he can’t turn it off or on but can use it if it’s already on…
4 Comments
Fascinating. It’s a logic that is very very hard to grasp… Religion makes people do strange things.
What you did is called being a “Shabbes goy”. It all boils down to how you cannot work on the sabbath, and turning on a light = lighting a fire = work.
Right! It’s not electricity, it’s work, makes more sense that way. Shabbes goy
Congratulations for not commenting how religion is stupid or that he is stupid for being incapable of turning off his own lights lest he damn his own soul but he can ask you to come in and damn yours.
I personally would have had trouble resisting the urge to tell him the fore mentioned things. Whew—-I almost did!
Oh wait…