cellio | Pennsic logistics and Shabbat

The final Shabbat of Pennsic poses a challenge. The event used to end informally on Sunday or Monday, but now people have to be out by mid-day Sunday so a lot of people spend Saturday packing up. (Remember, we bring and set up a lot of stuff.) This year a lot of people were packing up and leaving on Friday, which is kind of depressing. Last year I stayed through the end of Shabbat, noting the increased desolation around me, and thought about spending the final Shabbat in Pittsburgh this year (inviting some observant friends along) and then coming back Sunday to pack. It turned out that said observant friends were leaving on Friday this year to beat Shabbat, and there was some stuff on Friday night that I wanted to be able to attend, so I decided to stay against my better judgement.

But, last year my staying in the house that long impeded camp tear-down. And they were predicting rain for Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday. And, I found out on Saturday, Johan was highly motivated to leave on Saturday. (He had to be somewhere on Sunday.) So when all was said and done, I had decided to violate Shabbat to the extent of driving and tearing down camp. This ended up making me much more unhappy than I had anticipated, and I will not do it again.

But it seems likely that our camp will always have to do a bunch of its tear-down on Saturday. I'm trying to figure out how I can keep Shabbat without slacking off and not doing my share of the work. I really don't like driving home in the dark, which is what I did last year. Staying over to Sunday makes the camp situation worse, not better. Leaving Friday and returning Sunday means I don't do much of the tear-down work. Leaving Saturday during the day after helping with tear-down was this year's unacceptable-for-the-future implementation.

Now granted, I did do a lot of the setup work, because I was one of the early arrivals. But so did the other early arrivals, and they also stick around until the end. A few people, in particular, ended up doing much more than their fair share of the work. (I think I did approximately my fair share. There was one person who did much much less than the rest of us from what I saw, but knowing that I did more than her doesn't really make me feel better.)

One idea I'm toying with is to spend the first Shabbat there next year, acting as the camp's representative instead of Johan, and then go home on Sunday and return mid-week. I'd have to take Friday off from work to do that (and would probably end up sleeping in my car Friday night), but I could work Monday to balance that extra vacation day and then go up Tuesday or Wednesday. Maybe if I did that I would be justified in skipping out at the end. We have a post-mortem camp discussion next Sunday; I'll bring up the idea there.

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Wow! Another car sleeper!? I used to do that each week so I could attend services at the Chabad House. However, sleeping in a sports car even when you're short gets a little cramped, so I eventually moved into my tent in my Rabbi's backyard, which made great entertainment for his 9 kids who thought I was hilariously weird. (grin)

Why did you have to pitch a tent in the rabbi's back yard instead of sleeping in the rabbi's house? A stretch of floor has to be at least as comfortable as a stretch of lawn, doesn't it?

Even if the kids thought you were weird, I would assert that your behavior helped reinforce in them a lesson about the importance of Shabbat: look, this person is willing to go to this much trouble just to be here and not drive, so it must be important, right? We all know that kids often don't listen to their parents, so having others reinforce the message is handy.

Actually! The backyard was more comfortable than the floor! Plus, it was dark, where inside the house the lights were on. Eventually I had to give into the hot southern nights and moved into the house, which really spoiled it for the kids because they loved my tent and so did I. The comical part of my adventures there, was one day when I was in CH a kid I'd never met before from a yeshiva in Chicago, came up to me and said, "Avromie said you used to sleep in a tent in his backyard to come to shul. Did you really do that?" After I stopped laughing I finally got the "yes" out. So, yes the kids were affected in a positive way by it. And everyone who passes through the doors even now hears the stories.

There was one person who did much much less than the rest of us from what I saw, but knowing that I did more than her doesn't really make me feel better.

Just to clarify, lest my friends who know the people involved draw the wrong conclusion, I was not refering to the person who was medically forbidden to do much of this work. And besides, that person did a bunch of light work around the camp that made a big difference.

I was pretty sure you didn't mean me, but I'm very grateful for all of the help and tolerance I received anyway.

Pennsic logistics and Shabbat

Wow!

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clarification

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