What do the Olympic games have to do with the Australian
chareidi community? Although chareidi Jewry certainly takes
no real interest in these sport competitions, some curious
ramifications have arisen from these games being held "down
under."
For a start, this year Australia inaugurated Daylight Savings
Time two months earlier than usual because of the Olympics.
At first, this involved only minor inconvenience for most
chareidi Jews, since the earliest time for hanochas
tefillin was 7 a.m., making things difficult for working
men. A far greater inconvenience will be felt on Yom Kippur,
which will end at 8.35 p.m. instead of the usual 7.35 p.m. An
extra daylight hour of fasting!
There has been a question about when to begin the first night
of Selichos, because chatzos this year falls at
1 a.m. The rabbonim have ruled that in many synagogues it is
better to begin at the usual 12 midnight rather than risk
losing a part of the kehilla which might find it
difficult to come at such a late hour. Other places will
begin Selichos in the early morning.
The Olympics have left educators with the dilemma of
retaining a pre-Rosh Hashanah atmosphere while the whole
world is focused on the Olympics. During a recent visit to
Melbourne, Rav Noach Orlowek of Jerusalem advised educators
to explain the Olympics' Greek-pagan origins as a way of
curtailing admiration for its competitors. He added that
mockery of the games can also help dispel admiration for the
athletes: explaining that the gemora says all mockery
is evil except for mockery of idol worship.
Last week's edition of Yated did not make it to our
Australian readers because the plane had to carry
athletes.
Shopping for yom tov is also going to be an Olympian
feat this year in Sydney. Parking on the main Jewish shopping
street has been prohibited for the duration because of the
some nearby games. Kosher shops will be open from 10 p.m. to
2a.m.(!), at which time parking restrictions will be
lifted.
There has been a steady call from Israel to stop Israeli
athletes from attending the closing ceremony on the second
day of Rosh Hashanah. Yossel Gutnick, President of the
Melbourne Football club, recently made front page news for
most of the week -- and a tremendous kiddush Hashem --
when he announced that he won't be attending the Grand Final
along with his team because of his Shabbos observance. The
public as well as the media seemed to respect his decision,
going out of their way to understand the holiness of Shabbos
and its corresponding restrictions. But what will people say
if/when Hatikva is played on yom tov?
