Modern Talmudic Question

If a rabbi comes to make a shiva call and there are no available parking spaces outside so he parks "illegally" in the parking-lot of the next-door supermarket, is he required to buy something from the store or is it considered stealing?

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20 Responses to Modern Talmudic Question

  1. Nancy French says:

    I think God overlooks such things….

  2. Pearl says:

    You always seem to find humor in everyday simple matters — just like Jerry Seinfeld.

    Pose the question to the askmoses.com, a Chabad web site that answers good and obscure questions like this.

    Maybe the rabbi doesn’t have to buy anything; maybe he can just go into the store and bless the fruit or the store owners!

  3. MA says:

    You put illegally in quotes, my dear. It means that it wasn’t illegal in your eyes. And I think that Talmudic law agrees with you in this case. But what do I know? I’m catholic.

  4. Bad Maria says:

    It seems to me that any parking spot in NY is illegal for one reason or another! I think the rabbi should have bought a nice fruit basket to go with all of the food that everyone else brought – after all, it’s tax deductible for him and the temple!

  5. amanda says:

    haha, my dad always says of parking in NY, “paying for parking is like paying for sex, it’s just something i’ll never do”…i think that a rabbi should be let off the hook for this one.

  6. miss marisol says:

    Only if they have a kosher aisle?

  7. Richard says:

    He is required to buy something, but if he stops by the kosher food aisle and says a prayer for the store’s customers who keep kosher, it’s considered a business call and the purchase is deductible.

  8. Rachel says:

    He ought to pray that he doesn’t get towed.

  9. ms. sizzle says:

    doesn’t everyone, including a rabbi, need a breath mint? he could pop on over and appease the parking gods with a purchase of breath mints.

  10. Michael says:

    Not for a Rabbi… but remember at USC? I always parked in the shopping center across the street. That was illegal. And I have the jaywalking ticket to prove it.

  11. Leese says:

    Parking on the lot of a store you’re not buying anything from is stealing?

    Really?

    Would this apply to windowshopping? You leave your car in the parking garage of a mall and you have no intention whatsoever to buy anything. You just want to walk around there for the a/c and to people-watch.

    I’m guilty of grand-theft…

  12. I was going to say the samething Miss Marisol. :-)
    Don’t they give Rabbis the little “I’m a man of G-d” type stickers out there in NY for their cars?

    On the topic of rabbis, I’ll throw in the joke I heard in The Aristocrates movie…
    A Rabbi with a frog on his shoulder walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Where’s you get that?”
    The frong says, “Brooklyn, they’er all over the place.”

    Thank you! Good Night Flushing!

  13. Megarita says:

    I knew a priest who had “religious leader” tags or something similar. Free parking everywhere!!

  14. modigli says:

    Hey, yeah, that’s right! Those “religious leader” tags are even more sacred (pardon the pun!) than a handicapped sticker. You could park in the middle of traffic, and won’t get a ticket! :)

    I say the Rabbi is in the clear. :)

  15. He should buy a Three Musketeers, and a ball point pen, a pocket comb, a pint of Old Harper, couple of flashlight
    batteries…

  16. Sandra says:

    Hmm. Tough one, but I’m thinking that it’s legal. Mostly because there’s a street near my house where people are – because there’s a church nearby and no parking, ever – allowed to park in the suicide lane (see: middle of the street). I’d think a shiva call would count as some sort of religious emergency? (maybe?)

  17. he can always say a prayer for the cart boy who has to dodge speeding customers, so he did do something

  18. Pingback: Words For My Enjoyment » Blog Archive » The Treasure Hunt Solution

  19. chuck says:

    God expects you to pay for what you take.

  20. steven sawczuk says:

    one night i visited a debate about a bishop spong and had no idea what to expect.as soon as i posted a comment i was immediately labeled by my writing style to write in the ancient oral tradition of the talmud.i was at a catholic debate the first i ever heard of an ancient oral tradition or the talamud. i called me the obvious! again i thought i was in a christian debate on faith.it turned into agroup of intellectuals and myself being shocked !well i looked up the talmud and noticed a simlarity in my writing style. you could probably guess the rest of the story but i developed a respect for the ancient oral traditions and developed my own theories that vocalization was a necessity to prove a persons understanding. in other words being belittled or abuse and disrespected turned into a learning experience that has grown can you finish the story through suffering and the mercy of god.and it all started in a catholic debate on faith i’m sure every talmud can understand the meaning and reason this event occurred. god works in mysterious ways some can be learned others cannot!

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