Q&A: The Hebrew Date Line
The Hebrew Date Line
Question
What is the accepted Jewish law ruling regarding the location of the Hebrew date line? Practically speaking, what does the Jewish community in Japan do, for example?
When I ask rabbis, they answer me, “It’s a dispute.” That’s all well and good, but this is a very relevant halakhic issue—what do people actually do in practice?
Answer
I have no idea what they actually do in practice. I also don’t understand why this is different from any other halakhic dispute that also has practical implications. Everyone acts according to his own understanding or according to his rabbi’s ruling.
Discussion on Answer
There are Jews in Japan, and anyone who arrives there should follow their custom. If the Jewish law is uncertain in your hands, follow the local custom.
Seemingly, the idea that if the Jewish law is uncertain you should follow the custom means that the custom reveals the truth of the matter. But here, since we know that from the very beginning this practice was itself disputed, the dispute still remains exactly where it was.
A. That itself is not clear to me. Why assume that this is only a revelation of the factual truth?
B. Even if that is correct, you are assuming that the truth is the historical truth and that the custom preserves it. But it may be that the assumption here is that “if they are not prophets, they are the children of prophets.” Or that there is providence over the community.
But it is different—why is there currently no rabbi who issues a ruling on what to do? It seems as though people simply ignore this dispute entirely, even though it’s really important and very practical.