Going to shul in the rain on Shabbos

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  • #616426
    Joseph
    Participant

    What do out-of-towners, who have long treks to shul, do to get to shul (Friday evening or Shabbos morning) when it is heavily raining on Shabbos? Or if a multi-hours long downpour begins once they’re in shul.

    #1192095
    takahmamash
    Participant

    They get wet.

    #1192096
    Matan1
    Participant

    Raincoats.

    #1192097
    555
    Participant

    What’s it got to do with out of town? Where do you live – On the moon?????? There it never rains.

    #1192098
    Joseph
    Participant

    In some neighborhoods you have shuls on almost every block and don’t need to do much walking.

    #1192099
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Some of those neighborhoods are “out of town”.

    #1192100
    yehudayona
    Participant

    I got to try out my new rain pants last night.

    #1192101
    GoGoGo
    Participant

    Just take a deep breath and RRRRUUUUUUNNNNN for it!!

    #1192102
    oomis
    Participant

    Rain is one thing. Even heavy rain is not a deterrent. LIGHTNING, however, that is directly overhead, is another issue altogether. And what if you are elderly or in some other way very slow-moving and can NOT run for it safely or otherwise? Should you put yourself in a sakana to get to shul which may or may not be so close at hand?

    #1192103
    GoGoGo
    Participant

    oomis i feel for you and the problem but I think even young people have problems with lightning.

    #1192104
    555
    Participant

    The torah has a solution for everybody but its not a ‘one size fits all’ solution. Everybody does as they see fit to deal with their situation.

    #1192105
    Joseph
    Participant

    What is the Torah’s solution?

    #1192106
    screwdriverdelight
    Participant

    I always wondered why walking in the rain on shabbos isn’t a problem of ????. I guess it’s ??? ????? maybe.

    #1192107
    szb1
    Member

    When I first started exploring Yiddushkeit, I used to walk to and from Chabad on Campus with a bunch of friends on Shabbos in all sorts of crazy weather including dangerously cold below -0 weather. It was about 2 mile/45 minute walk outside of the main community. Some of my friends could have easily chosen to hop a bus but they didn’t.

    I don’t like to let weather stop me from doing things including mitzvahs. You just dress accordingly, rain gear if necessary and be careful.

    I grew up conservative, walking 20 minutes to and from shul on Shabbos, though my family was not Shomer Shabbos. This is even though the conservative movement said driving to shul was ok. Turns out we also lived outside the eruv. My mother who is not frum but really growing now walks to shul in all weather including rain and snow.

    #1192108
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    Joseph, I have a waterproof raincoat and a waterproof rain hat. I’ll wear them to walk to shul.

    After we die, when we are judged, they may ask, “How important was it for you to go to shul?” I don’t want to say, “It was more important that I stay dry!” I’d like to be able to say, “Important enough that I walked in the rain to make sure I got there!”

    When it’s windy, the coat doesn’t always do the job. It only comes down to about my knees, so my pants legs can get soaked. When that happens, I’ll usually end up changing when I get home.

    #1192109
    yehudayona
    Participant

    DaMoshe, get some rain pants. You wear them over your regular pants and you stay dry.

    #1192110
    apushatayid
    Participant

    Buy a rain suit. coleman makes a good one you can get at walmart for less than $30. keeps you dry from head to feet.

    #1192111
    555
    Participant

    You mean the yellow overalls the construction workers wear who work on the train tracks?

    #1192112
    the plumber
    Member

    I dont understand the question. You either use a raincoat or you don’t go. You understand your own commitment to yiddishkeit. Thats not for any of us to judge

    #1192113
    oomis
    Participant

    oomis i feel for you and the problem but I think even young people have problems with lightning. “

    Of course they do – lightning doesn’t discriminate. But they can still run faster than I can ANY day. I am a turtle target. Fortunately, I have no chiyuv to be in Shul on a Friday night. I could literally be toast… LOL

    #1192114
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    Rain is a very indescript term, A drizzle is rain, but so is a downpour thats its impossible not to get drenched

    #1192115
    Joseph
    Participant

    Hadn’t you participated in the 1961 NYC Marathon?

    #1192116
    Joseph
    Participant

    Is shul important enough for you that you are willing to get drenched walking over 15 minutes in a downpour to go to shul on Shabbos Kodesh?

    #1192117
    apushatayid
    Participant

    A neoprene wetsuit will also keep you dry. probably not appropriate attire for tefilla though so make sure you have a change of clothes in shul.

    #1192118
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    So if there is a Blizzard, Thunderstorm, Tornado or Hurricane outside you are showing you disdain for Yiddishkeit and lack committment if you dont walk to shul

    #1192119
    555
    Participant

    Joseph: The op question differs greatly from the one you now asked. Do you really expect an answer from anybody? Who owes you a Din V’Cheshbon?

    #1192120
    Hashemisreading
    Participant

    wear a Shayna coat and put on the windshield wipers full speed

    #1192121
    Joseph
    Participant

    555: Did I miss the rule of one question per thread with no follow-up? I already got a response to the question that troubles you.

    #1192122
    DaMoshe
    Participant

    There were times I didn’t go to shul because of bad weather. One Shabbos the temperature was very low, it was very windy, and it was snowing heavily. It had snowed earlier in the week, and many of the streets were still icy. I didn’t walk to shul, because it was dangerous. There was once a bad storm on a Shabbos, and there were big branches falling in my neighborhood. I didn’t walk to shul for Mincha or Maariv, for fear of a falling branch.

    But I never missed going to shul just because of a fear of getting wet! I’ve walked to shul in downpours, in snowstorms, and temperatures in the single and triple digits.

    #1192123
    the plumber
    Member

    Obviously one has to go to shul even in the rain.

    The real question is am i allowed to wear flats?

    What abt the snood?

    #1192124
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    I have a couple of Rain Suits bought at LL Bean. I keep one in a closet in Shul, where I also have a suit bag with a Shabbos Suit, shirt, Tie, socks, underwear and a pair of dress shoes.

    If It’s pouring when I’m planning to leave for shul, I wear sweats under the rain suit and boots, when I get to shul I change. If it’s pouring when it’s time to leave shul, I take off my suit and put on the rain suit I keep there. The key thing is to remember to take the items back to shul during the week.

    Twice in the past 10 years weather has been so bad that I have had to stay in shul overnight because of rain or snow. Here in our small town there are no sidewalks and I live about 2 miles from shul.

    #1192125
    the plumber
    Member

    Wow ctlawyer!

    What abt if its too hot? Do you have a shorts suit in shul?

    #1192126
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    Plumber………………

    If it’s really hot, I walk in shirtsleeves and slacks. If going to shul, there’s a suit waiting, if coming home, a closet full of clothes awaits me.

    Both shul and home have central air conditioning…no window units on timers like in the city.

    If I know on Thursday that Shabbos is supposed to be 95 degrees plus, I invite enough Shabbos guests to have a minyan at home and lunch is served by the pool (within an enclosed fence with door from the house so carrying is not a problem). Having a dozen Shabbos sleepover guests may not be easy in a city apartment, but is no problem in a 7 bedroom 5 bath house when all the kids are grown and no longer at home. Just holding on until we fill them with grandchildren on Shabbos and Yuntif…………..

    #1192127

    Do you have a sefer Torah?

    #1192128
    charliehall
    Participant

    I have a good raincoat and rain pants. Not an issue.

    #1192129
    Joseph
    Participant

    What do you country folks do on a Shabbos blizzard?

    #1192130
    One Liner
    Member

    Stand under the awning and stick their hands out (palms up)

    #1192132
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    Daas Yochid…

    yes, we have 2. My grandparents owned a bungalow colony in Loch Sheldrake in the 50s and 60s. When they sold the land for commercial development, zaidy donated the siddurim and chumashim to his shul, but kept the sifrei torah in the family. I’m the youngest male in my generation and have had them since 1988.

    #1192133
    pcoz
    Member

    The slower you walk the dryer you stay.

    #1192134
    Joseph
    Participant

    By walking between the drops?

    #1192135
    Yaakov
    Participant

    Lefum Tzaarah Agra.

    #1192136
    Joseph
    Participant

    So what did all you unfortunate out-of-towners, who have long treks to shul, do this Shabbos morning and afternoon to get to and from shul for Shachris and Mincha/Maariv in the snow blizzard?

    #1192137
    screwdriverdelight
    Participant

    probably the same thing in-towners did.

    #1192138
    Joseph
    Participant

    C’mon, those hillbillies aren’t so sophisticated! Besides, they have to walk more than half a block to the closest shul. Some are rumored to even walk miles!

    #1192139
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    @Joseph

    We knew (via weather reports) Thursday night that the snow was expected early Shabbos morning and would continue all day.

    So the board of the shul cancelled Shabbos services then. The phone squad went to work calling the regulars (after all the snow birds are in Florida) and we had more than a dozen guests including the rabbi for Shabbos in our home.

    They carpooled Friday afternoon, so no cars were left outside to be shoveled out after Shabbos. We set up for davening in our sunroom where our sifrei torah are kept in an aron. The women guests plus my wife and youngest daughter davened in the den. It has a glass wall overlooking the sunken sun room and with the transoms open they could hear.

    My wife prepared a couple of large cholents which went into clay baking vessels buried in the hearth. There was a huge kettle of soup simmering all night hanging on a tripod near the fire, as well as an old brass samovar of hot water. The main part of our home was built more than 200 years ago and there are 5 working fireplaces (which we use all winter), two of which are set for cooking. No need to chance a power outage in a blizzard.

    It was still snowing at the end of Shabbos so we had a mini-melava malka. Some of the teens came by on snowmobiles or in 4 wheel drives. The storm tapered off about 8PM. We had about 15 inches. It took about 1/2 an hour to shovel the walks to out driveway and garage. By then out plow service had cleared the driveway and my 2nd son-in-law and I drove everyone home.

    This type of a home Shabbos occurs once or twice each winter when a storm is expected, and once each February as a planned retreat for 5 local families including wives and children.

    #1192140
    The Queen
    Participant

    One of my childhood memories is Shabbos morning after a blizzard hit, the snow was waist high for grown men. We stood by the window and watched all the men plowing there way out of their homes with their bodies, and neighbors helping to pull each other out to the road which was already plowed, the road being after an ample front yard. None of the men stayed home.

    #1192141
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    What about pikuach nefesh? You can get pneumonia from being out in the rain. That’s a life-threatening illness. Seriously no joke.

    Or catching a cold is pretty easy from someone getting to shul in wet clothes and then being in the A/C for an hour. Also fungal infections from prolonged dampness.

    #1192142
    Joseph
    Participant

    Hashem protects when on the way to, and when engaged in, a mitzvah (such as tefila).

    #1192143
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Lightbrite – being out in the rain is not life-threatening for the vast majority of the population! (with the possible exception of people who are very elderly or ill). If it were, I would be dead 1,000 times. I don’t have a car, so I have to walk everywhere or wait at busstops for 15 minutes. It doesn’t bother me.

    Even during the week, I almost never use an umbrella since I always lose or break them so I usually don’t bother.

    Although once when I was walking in the rain in Lakewood, some avreich driving by had rachmanus on me and threw me an umbrella from his car window. It was really nice of him, but a bit embarrassing!

    #1192144
    huju
    Participant

    With great reluctance, I conclude that this thread is remarkably … well, never mind, I want to be nice, or at least not judgmental and mean. The second and third posts cover the topic completely. Why do so many people have so much to say about a very simple problem?

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