Re: Shabbat Weddings?

[Moshe Hochenberg <gcz23...>]

The  desecration  of  Shabat  -  in  public  -  was  definitely  NOT  a
"common  practice".  What  people  did  in  the  privacy  of  their  own
homes,  we  wouldn't/ couldn't  know.  However,  "private"  practice  hardly
differed  from  the  public  one.

A  marriage  would  certainly  be  considered  to  be  a  public  event.

Hiring  a  gentile  musician  -  the  concept  of  a  Shabbes  Goy  -  does
not  in  any  way  solve  the  problem  of  not  desecrating  the  Shabat.
The  Jewish  hirer  of  that  non - Jewish  person  is  still  considered
to  be  "guilty"  of  desecration.

We  must  conclude  that  this  was  not  only  not  "common  practice",
but  that  it  would  have  been  most  unusual  to  have  encountered  such
a  situation  in  19th  Century  and  earlier  Europe.

Moshe  Hochenberg

-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Winkler <winklerh (at) hotmail(dot)com>
8 May 2000 5:49



>We just finished translating a bit from Rivkind's book that talks about
>hiring non-Jewish musicians when Jewish families in Europe wanted to begin
>wedding celebrations before sundown on Shabbat (festivities not the actual
>ceremony).  The author isn't clear on the location, but says he's talking
>about a time period between the middle ages and the 19th century.
>Was this a common practice?  Is it acceptable to do this according to
Jewish
>law?
>Helen


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