A recent talk I gave made me think about my adventures in Antarctica. I did not write about all of them when I was down there. I just did not have enough time! OK, so here is one more. Read and enjoy.
One day sitting in my office in the Chapel at McMurdo Station last October, a lady came in and asked me, "Are you the chaplain here?" I told her that I was. She asked, "I am Jewish, when am I supposed to do Shabbat? The sun never sets here!"
Well, that was a stumper. I had never been asked that one before! And they don't write about these things in the textbooks. Of course, I had never been to Antarctica before either. She was right, it was the Antarctic Springtime, the austral spring - summer and the sun went round and round in the sky, 24 hour sunlight!
I told her I would get back with her right away.
I emailed a colleague I know who is a rabbi and a chaplain in the New Zealand Navy. I asked her, when should she do Shabbat? The sun doesn't set here!
She wrote back, "Have her do Shabbat when the sun sets at the closest land mass to Antarctica".
And that would be New Zealand.
So I told the lady to practice Shabbat by following the sun set times for Christchurch, New Zealand!
And all were happy.
All I can think of is the line from "If I Were A Rich Man" where Tevye sings "...asking questions that would cross a Rebbe's eyes..." Oye vay!
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