Articles / Media

THE GAZETTE/John Kenney

Barbara Kay: A quick fix for Montreal's Jewish parking exemption issue — 'parking goys'

Observant Jews could use "parking goys" to move their cars to the opposite side of the street when necessary on Shabbat. There — problem solved.

PQ minister takes aim at Jewish parking exemption in apparent attempt to inflame voters

Since 1984, Montreal has practised a policy of “parking tolerance” on Jewish high holidays, waiving restrictions on street parking for a few blocks around synagogues. The gesture allows orthodox Jews who do not drive on holidays, and who often live close to their synagogues, to avoid tickets if they are unable to move their cars when a holiday coincides with a day designated for street-sweeping.

“The idea of meeting requests from major ethnic and religious organizations on our territory, when it causes no prejudice to other citizens or to the city, is something that is natural for us and has been for nearly 30 years, without incident,” said Marvin Rotrand, councillor for the district of Snowdon.

Or it was without incident until Wednesday, when a Parti Québécois minister learned of the policy from a TV report showing a few No Parking signs that city workers had covered over for the holiday of Shavuot, which began Tuesday night. He went ballistic.

Observant Jews don’t drive on Shabbat or “yom tovim,” holidays that – unlike Hannukkah, say, — spring directly from Torah commandments. These include the well-known Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, but also lesser-known holidays like Shavuot, which was celebrated yesterday and today, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Add them all up and you have quite a number of days of the year when practising Jews are not permitted to drive.

In Montreal, to accommodate the needs of Jews with street parking, who are not allowed to move them to the other side of the street on designated street-sweeping days if it conflicts with a Jewish holiday, the city has for the last 30 years waived restrictions on street parking for a few blocks around Orthodox synagogues. The parking signs are covered up on those days to ensure the cars are not ticketed.

Up until Wednesday, the first day of Shavuot, the accommodation was practised without incident. Then Bernard Drainville, Parti Québécois Minister of Democratic Institutions, learned of the policy and erupted in dudgeon. “We cannot start saying we are going to change the highway code and the parking signs according to different religions. It will never end,” Drainville complained. “We will have parking signs for Jewish holidays, then we will have parking signs for Catholic holidays, and after that parking signs for Muslim holidays. It makes no sense. We cannot manage a society like that.”

Related

Simmer down, M. Drainville. You are over-reacting and you look foolish. This situation has been stable for 30 years, and so far no Catholics or Muslims have demanded the same right.

That’s because Jewish law is singular in this respect: Jews are not permitted to “work” on Shabbat or Torah-based holidays. Lighting a fire 2000 years ago was, without matches or lighters, literally “work.” So the creation of fire is prohibited on these days. Even though turning the ignition of a car – or turning ovens and lights on and off – is not work as we understand it in literal terms, lighting a fire is an act of “creation” and therefore work for ritual purposes.

No other religion I know of embraces this odd prohibition. So M. Drainville need not fear an explosion of parking accommodation demands from Catholics or Muslims, not to mention Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Raëlians or Wiccans, any time soon.

On the other hand, it is no crime to be a purist about municipal codes and the principle of equality under the law. M. Drainville may be a bit of a curmudgeon, but his irritation is defensible on narrow grounds, and to those narrow grounds may be added the fact that other people in the neighbourhood who trudge out to their cars and dutifully move them to accommodate the street sweepers as the law demands may understandably feel resentful of their Jewish neighbours who get a pass on those days.

Surely there is a compromise solution? I’m glad you asked, because I have one.

I suggest the synagogues in the relevant areas hire what used to be known as a “shabbas goy.” The Shabbas goy was – perhaps still is? – a gentile, obviously not bound by restrictions against work, who would come to the observant family’s home on Shabbat and holidays to turn lights on and off, start ovens and perform whatever other tasks were forbidden to family members. In this case the “parking goy” could move all the cars to the other side of the street whenever necessary at a nugatory cost to each individual.

Wasn’t that a simple and elegant solution? Thank you, but please no bouquets or standing ovations: Finding elegant solutions to social and cultural problems is what I do.

National Post

bkay@videotron.ca

Find National Post on Facebook

Topics: , , , , , ,

Full Comment Videos

Post Picks

Paul Anka confirms that he will not be performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration

(--image--)

'I have a respect for the office of the presidency and an American, and I was doing it in terms of what’s good for our country and respecting the presidency'

Tipping’s racist origins still impact restaurant workers today

(--image--)

"Tipping is actually one of the biggest hoaxes ever pulled on an entire culture," restaurateur Danny Meyer told Dan Pashman on WNYC's The Sporkful podcast

Barefoot Contessa likes it easy, but tasty with pan-roasted chicken

(--image--)

Lemons and garlic flavour a simple roast chicken dinner in this easy-going dish by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa

Couple must cut debt — and cut off their adult kids — to hit their retirement goals

(--image--)

B.C. couple in their late 50s spend 17 per cent of their take-home monthly income on debt — that's a lot for folks headed into retirement

Network cancels episode featuring Joseph Fiennes as Michael Jackson after Jackson family protests

(--image--)

In January, Fiennes said he too had been 'shocked' by his casting, but felt it was appropriate as Jackson was 'probably closer to my colour than his original colour'

Recent Tweets

(--image--) FP Comment

Our Partners

Classifieds

Services

Legal

Connect with Us

© 2017 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.

Powered by WordPress.com VIP

Sign Up / Sign In

With your existing account from:

{* loginWidget *}

or with your account:

{* #signInForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* currentPassword *} Forgot your password? Create Account {* /signInForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Sign in to your account

Welcome back, {* welcomeName *}!

{* loginWidget *} Not {* welcomeName *}? Switch Account is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Sign in to your account

Welcome Back, {* welcomeName *}!

{* #signInForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* currentPassword *} {* /signInForm *} Not {* welcomeName *}? Switch Account is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Account Deactivated

Your account has been deactivated.

is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Account Reactivation Failed

Sorry, we could not verify that email address.

is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Account Activated

Your account has been reactivated. Sign in

is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Email Verification Required

You must verify your email address before signing in. Check your email for your verification email, or enter your email address in the form below to resend the email.

{* #resendVerificationForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* /resendVerificationForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Almost Done!

Please confirm your details below.

{* #socialRegistrationForm *} {* firstName *} {* lastName *} {* emailAddress *} {* displayName *}

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

Birthdate{* birthdate *} Gender{* gender *}

Attention Print Newspaper Subscribers
For verification of Print Subscriber offers (e.g. epaper, Digital Access, Subscriber Rewards), please input your Print Newspaper subscription phone number and postal code.

{* phone *} {* addressPostalCode *}

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

{* backButton *} {* /socialRegistrationForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Almost Done!

Please confirm your details below.
Already have an account? Sign In.

{* #registrationForm *} {* firstName *} {* lastName *} {* emailAddress *} {* displayName *} {* newPassword *} {* newPasswordConfirm *}

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

Birthdate{* birthdate *} Gender{* gender *}

Attention Print Newspaper Subscribers
For verification of Print Subscriber offers (e.g. epaper, Digital Access, Subscriber Rewards), please input your Print Newspaper subscription phone number and postal code.

{* phone *} {* addressPostalCode *}

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

{* backButton *} {* /registrationForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Verfiy your email

We have sent you a confirmation email to {* emailAddressData *}. Please check your inbox and follow the instructions to confirm your email address.

Close is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Create a new password

Follow these simple steps to create a new password:

1. Enter your email address below
2. Wait for the instructions to arrive in your inbox
3. Follow the instructions to update your password

{* #forgotPasswordForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* backButton *} {* /forgotPasswordForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Create a new password

We've sent an email with instructions to create a new password. Your existing password has not been changed.

Close is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ {* mergeAccounts {"custom": true} *}

Merge Your Accounts

{| rendered_current_photo |} {| current_displayName |}
{| current_emailAddress |} {| foundExistingAccountText |} {| current_emailAddress |}. {| moreInfoHoverText |}
{| existing_displayName |} - {| existing_provider |} : {| existing_siteName |} {| existing_createdDate |} {| moreInfoText |} {| existing_displayName |}
{| existing_provider_emailAddress |} Created {| existing_createdDate |} at {| existing_siteName |} Validating {| connect_button |} {| create_button |} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Sign in to complete account merge

{* #signInForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* currentPassword *} {* backButton *} {* /signInForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Resend Verification Email

Sorry, we could not verify your email address. Please enter your email below, and we'll resend the instructions for email verification.

{* #resendVerificationForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* /resendVerificationForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Verification Email Sent

Check your email for a link to verify your email address.

Close is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Email Verified

Thank you for verifiying your email address. Close is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Change Password

{* #changePasswordFormNoAuth *} {* newPassword *} {* newPasswordConfirm *} {* /changePasswordFormNoAuth *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Password Changed

Your password has been successfully updated.

Close is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Create New Password

We didn't recognize that password reset code. Please enter your email below, and we'll send you a new code to reset your password.

{* #resetPasswordForm *} {* signInEmailAddress *} {* /resetPasswordForm *} is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ

Create New Password

We've sent you an email with instructions to create a new password. Your existing password has not been changed.

Close is a division of Postmedia Inc. Privacy FAQ