As of this past week, my community's JCC decided to open on Yom Tov (they've been open on Shabbat for years). I am wondering how having a Jewish religious intuition (there is legal precedent<http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1103549723229&slreturn=1> for JCCs to be considered religious institutions, not secular institutions) that operates on Shabbat and Yom Tov despite the fact that they are holy days (as opposed to synagogues that operate on those days because of the fact that they are holy days) could negatively impact a Shomer Shabbat individual's claim that Shabbat is a religious obligation. An employer could easily site the JCC-which is the most visible Jewish organization in most communities-as an example of how Shabbat observance is not a key element of Jewish religious life and therefore not be willing to give dispensation to not work on Saturday. I doubt that such a claim would hold any water, but it represents another hurdle for the Shomer Shabbat individual to surmount.
Steven From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Levine, Joyce Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:46 AM To: Basya Karp Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] Shomer Shabbat and Working in a Public Library My experience at the Great Neck Public Library went like this: For 10 years I was kept at 24 1/2 hrs so a not to be full time (another half hour would have compelled me to contend with the mandatory Saturday schedule). I never pushed too hard since the schedule suited me at the time, and subsequently I left to work in a Jewish high school. But there definitely would have been problems with management over that issue. Many years earlier I had applied to work at the Queensboro Public LIbrary and immediately bumped up against the Shabbat issue. I appealed to a prominent Conservative rabbi who was on the library board, who asked when I called to follow up, "Oh, are you that Saturday gal?" Needless to say, he was no help at all. Is this an issue that people feel AJL as an organization should take up? If indeed it's discrimination, we may have an obligation to do so -- at least to make a statement. Offhand I can't think of an appropriate venue for a statement since public library boards are local entities. Joyce On Fri, May 11, 2012 at 10:40 AM, Basya Karp <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Almost six years ago, I applied for a position (at the urging of one of my adult children) in the Brooklyn Public Library system. I was invited for an interview, at which time I informed the panel of librarians conducting it that I am shomer Shabbos. They assured me it was not a problem, and I was offered a job (which I did not accept for reasons that seemed good at the time, even though I am since semi-regretting the decision). Now that my position is being cut (and I might be kept on for one day a week at a very tiny salary) I wouldn't mind another chance. Mrs. Basya Karp, AMLS, Librarian Shulamith High School and Shulamith School For Girls of Brooklyn http://bookandagarden.com http://booklovinggrandma.wordpress.com __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran -- Joyce Levine Director of Library and Media Services North Shore Hebrew Academy High School 400 North Service Road Great Neck, NY 11020 President, Synagogues, Schools and Centers Division Association of Jewish Libraries <mailto:[email protected]>
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected] To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list [email protected] https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
