Argh....Closing Early on Fridays

i think this answers part of your question:
To quote Helen Oster:

At Adorama we do appreciate that our closing times can be inconvenient to some of our potential customers.
Adorama's owner is an observant orthodox Jewish gentleman, whose beliefs prohibit him - his family and his business - from operating on the Sabbath and on many of the religious holidays (which all begin an hour prior to sunset the evening before the day of the holiday, which is why we close early on Fridays).

We can't employ non-Jews here during those days, because to do so would involve the company conducting business - which is forbidden in Jewish Law.

In this era of 24-hour commerce, I guess it's unusual to find that there really are still people who consider their spiritual duty to be more important than squeezing the last cent out of our customers at every opportunity.

MichaelBernard wrote in post #10181938
For what we pay and for the amount of business we give them, we have the right to be impatient I'm pretty religious about using Adorama though, I love those guys. Hell I only like to be helped by Cliff. He's an awesome rep. I say rep because he doesn't try to "push" a sale on me.

I notice a good amount of the folks saying, "No big deal" aren't New Yorkers It's a fast paced give it to me now kind of town. This is how it is.

Your right us New Yorkers arent very patient at all. We are the city that never sleeps!

On a side note.. On a recent trip to Amish country in Lancaster PA, my wide and I were both amused by a group of Hasidic Jews in Lancaster gathering around some of the Amish locals for horse and buggy rides. Don't get me wrong, I have enormous respect for both groups who place a high priority on thier faith and the demanding observation required.. but it was a sight.

I did not photograph it though, because the Amish prefer not to be photographed; and I respect that.
(The postcards from Lancaster are all of actors in Amish garb.).

B&H and Adorama, as private companies, certainly have the right to set their business hours to anything they wish for any reason desired. Whether they garner less profits because of that is also entirely their business. I wouldn't go into a man's business and tell him what hours he needs to keep so it's convenient for me in the event I might have an emergency.

In any case, POTN is never a place for politics or religion, so lets keep the discussion clear of subjects.

They seem to be doing ok to me even though they lose a day a business. "Seek ye first..."

Mark_Cohran wrote in post #10182137
B&H and Adorama, as private companies, certainly have the right to set their business hours to anything they wish for any reason desired. Whether they garner less profits because of that is also entirely their business. I wouldn't go into a man's business and tell him what hours he needs to keep so it's convenient for me in the event I might have an emergency.

In any case, POTN is never a place for politics or religion, so lets keep the discussion clear of subjects.

Wise words! 'nuf said.

Mark_Cohran wrote in post #10182137
B&H and Adorama, as private companies, certainly have the right to set their business hours to anything they wish for any reason desired. Whether they garner less profits because of that is also entirely their business. I wouldn't go into a man's business and tell him what hours he needs to keep so it's convenient for me in the event I might have an emergency.

In any case, POTN is never a place for politics or religion, so lets keep the discussion clear of subjects.

leave it to POTN to take a simple joking gripe to the next level and make something political. you know what, it is a private business and it can
set whatever hours management wish. that was never a point of contention, all i said was simply "why not? what can it hurt?" it really was no deeper than that nor was it political.

thanks for your input.

jjackflash wrote in post #10181946
i think this answers part of your question:
To quote Helen Oster:


We can't employ non-Jews here during those days, because to do so would involve the company conducting business - which is forbidden in Jewish Law.

didn't know this part! thanks it makes sense now. question answered.

/thread.

ur welcome!

MichaelBernard wrote in post #10182488
leave it to POTN to take a simple joking gripe to the next level and make something political. you know what, it is a private business and it can
set whatever hours management wish. that was never a point of contention, all i said was simply "why not? what can it hurt?" it really was no deeper than that nor was it political.

thanks for your input.

Fair enough...After a long week of work, my sarcasm detector must have been on the fritz....

Now off to "rest" for the sabbath...

B'Shalom (in peace),
Evan

egordon99 wrote in post #10182904
Fair enough...After a long week of work, my sarcasm detector must have been on the fritz....

Now off to "rest" for the sabbath...

B'Shalom (in peace),
Evan

Brother Evan, no worries man. You can't pick up tone over the net. I literally meant no harm. Have a great weekend

MichaelBernard wrote in post #10180637
Why can't Adorama and B&H hire some Gentiles to keep the store open the extra 5-6hrs on Friday and maybe just maybe have the store open on Saturday?

I'm not particularly observant but it's been explained to me the rule is that neither our owner (a Sabbath-observant orthodox Hasidic Jewish gentleman) nor his business may engage in commerce on Sabbath. He may not employ non-Jews to do business on Sabbath and other days of equal observation.

MichaelBernard wrote in post #10181459
p.s. The Sabbath is only practiced to this level by the Hasidim from what I understand.

You are mistaken. While there are numerous interpretations of almost every Jewish rule and edict, almost all orthodox Sabbath-observant "shomer Shabbos" Jews adhere to this rule.
For more, see jewfaq and Activities prohibited on Shabbat.

MichaelBernard wrote in post #10180637
What are they scared of? The place isn't going to burn down

Funny you should say that. On the morning of Saturday, Sept 13, 2003, a fire broke out in our offices which were then directly above the retail store. A Manhattan police officer who knew our store manager's name and the general neighborhood where he lives drove from Manhattan to that section of Brooklyn and stopped Hasidic men on the sidewalk until he was able to locate "Eli from B&H." Eli walked to our COO's home and the two walked from there back to the store location and watched while the NYFD battled the blaze. Neither was able to lift a finger to help. They could not unlock a door or disable a burglar alarm. I am sure that had loss of life been imminent, they'd have been released to act, but loss of property did not give them license to assist.

I know the damage would have been less had they broken the Sabbath, but like any Sabbath-observant Jew, they chose fealty to their Deity above materiel property. The NYFD and NYPD performed above-and-beyond and subsequently received our most profound and sincere expressions of gratitude and respect.

Hopefully nobody was put in more danger than necessary in that situation.

However, I'm sure it is a nice place to work...I can't remember the last time I was actually guaranteed a weekend off.

I realise the "tone" of the OP was difficult to pick up on the interweb but I respect people who have beliefs and are willing to stick by them (whether I agree with them or not).

It is only by making a commitment and sticking to it that the commitment actually holds any weight at all.

Hopefully I will be able to shop at B&H or Adoramma sometime soon (may have a trip over later in the year if finances are adequate).

Also as Mike notes, it also makes them a very very good employer to work for - actually guaranteeing a "weekend" and holidays off is a very rare trait these days.

henryp wrote in post #10195655
I'm not particularly observant but it's been explained to me the rule is that neither our owner (a Sabbath-observant orthodox Hasidic Jewish gentleman) nor his business may engage in commerce on Sabbath. He may not employ non-Jews to do business on Sabbath and other days of equal observation.

You are mistaken. While there are numerous interpretations of almost every Jewish rule and edict, almost all orthodox Sabbath-observant "shomer Shabbos" Jews adhere to this rule.
For more, see jewfaq and Activities prohibited on Shabbat.

Funny you should say that. On the morning of Saturday, Sept 13, 2003, a fire broke out in our offices which were then directly above the retail store. A Manhattan police officer who knew our store manager's name and the general neighborhood where he lives drove from Manhattan to that section of Brooklyn and stopped Hasidic men on the sidewalk until he was able to locate "Eli from B&H." Eli walked to our COO's home and the two walked from there back to the store location and watched while the NYFD battled the blaze. Neither was able to lift a finger to help. They could not unlock a door or disable a burglar alarm. I am sure that had loss of life been imminent, they'd have been released to act, but loss or property did not give them license to assist.

I know the damage would have been less had they broken the Sabbath, but like any Sabbath-observant Jew, they chose fealty to their Deity above materiel property. The NYFD and NYPD performed above-and-beyond and subsequently received our most profound and sincere expressions of gratitude and respect.

Well I appreciate the corrections Henry, but I have another question. If you aren't allowed to do commerce 'as a business' on the Sabbath, does this not include web commerce? I know the site has a warning about the order not going out right away, but I've never seen it prevent someone from placing it. Sorry, just trying to learn for myself here

neilwood32 wrote in post #10195786
- actually guaranteeing a "weekend" and holidays off is a very rare trait these days.

Especially in retail