Q&A: The Second Festival Day of the Diaspora
The Second Festival Day of the Diaspora
Question
Hello,
I would like to ask a question of Jewish law.
I was thinking of attending a professional conference in Orlando, Florida. If I go, I would need to travel on the night after Simchat Torah so that I would land on Isru Chag (= the second festival day) in the afternoon.
From searching and reading, I understood that one may not travel to a “Jewish settlement” on the second festival day. Is that the correct definition? What counts as a “Jewish settlement”?
The conference site is about 8 kilometers from the nearest synagogue (that Google knows about) and from Orlando’s eruv boundary. Does that make a difference?
Thank you,
Answer
I understand that you would be arriving there on the second festival day. Indeed, it is commonly accepted that when one arrives in a Jewish place, there is no permission to publicly desecrate the Sabbath, and according to many halakhic decisors, not even in private.
A Jewish place is defined according to the Sabbath boundary (see Mishnah Berurah, sec. 496, s.k. 10, and Magen Avraham there). Eight kilometers from the eruv seems to me far enough. For a summary of the laws, see here:
https://ph.yhb.org.il/12-09-06/