The holiday of this weekend
Well, of course, Monday is Presidents' Day. (Remember to put the apostrophe after the s because the day commemorates 2 presidents.) My girls are off from school that day, even though the same school makes a point of making parents drive these girls in on Thanksgiving and on Veteran's Day, not to mention Martin Luther King Day, and January first (which is after all not the Jewish New Year). But there is another day that is celebrated by bestowing bouquets of red roses or boxes of chocolates. That holiday is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Valentines Day. Actually, it is St. Valentine's Day (note the apostrophe placement here). Like St. Patrick's Day, it is named for a saint in the Catholic tradition. In other words, this is not just an American holiday like the ones I named above while ticking off which days my girls get off and which they don't (my son, BTW, gets none of these days off).
Therefore, I find it very unseemly for a kosher restaurant (under the local Vaad, no less) advertises in a paper that bills itself as Orthodox that the readers should book their reservations and come in for a special Valentines [sic!] Day menu. I wouldn't go so far as to shout "avoda zara!" over this (even though a case can be made to regard a celebration of a Catholic saint as such), but it seems not so very far off from offering a "holiday party" on Dec. 25th. Now, based on my glance at the calendar, this holiday of Catholic origin actually falls out on Shabbos. So I assume (but who knows?) that this restaurant is offering this special Motzai Shabbos. But there is no mention of anything so smacking of Jewishness as the term "motzai Shabbos" or the suggestion of the meal that would actually constitute melave malka. Eating for the sake of melave malka is, indeed, a mitzvah. But going out leshem the date set to honor a Catholic saint is certainly not.
I know, I know, you can say that people do not think of the religious origins. But that is the same rationale used by Jews who set up trees and enjoy caroling.
Therefore, I find it very unseemly for a kosher restaurant (under the local Vaad, no less) advertises in a paper that bills itself as Orthodox that the readers should book their reservations and come in for a special Valentines [sic!] Day menu. I wouldn't go so far as to shout "avoda zara!" over this (even though a case can be made to regard a celebration of a Catholic saint as such), but it seems not so very far off from offering a "holiday party" on Dec. 25th. Now, based on my glance at the calendar, this holiday of Catholic origin actually falls out on Shabbos. So I assume (but who knows?) that this restaurant is offering this special Motzai Shabbos. But there is no mention of anything so smacking of Jewishness as the term "motzai Shabbos" or the suggestion of the meal that would actually constitute melave malka. Eating for the sake of melave malka is, indeed, a mitzvah. But going out leshem the date set to honor a Catholic saint is certainly not.
I know, I know, you can say that people do not think of the religious origins. But that is the same rationale used by Jews who set up trees and enjoy caroling.
Comments
Observed by United States
Type Federal (and most U.S. states)
Significance Honors the 24.9 million military veterans in the United States
Date November 11 (or nearest weekday)
Observances Parades, ceremonies honoring local veterans
Veterans Day 2008 poster
Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11. However, if it occurs on a Sunday then the following Monday is designated for holiday leave, and if it occurs Saturday then either Saturday or Friday may be so designated.[1] It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)
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The holiday is commonly printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day in calendars and advertisements. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.[2]************