Commitment.

After a yummy brunch at Norma's Friday mid-day {our first meal out, alone, in a few months}, Mike & I made the trek across town to B&G Photo, the photographers mecca. It has been tricky to make it there, as B&H is owned & operated by Hasidic Jews who are observant of Shabbos. Unfortunately, Mormons & Jews observe on different days, which has made it impossible for me to go on a weekend, & my working hours basically prevent me from getting there during the week. Finally - thanks to Good Friday - we had our window of opportunity. Naive as we were, we forgot that Shabbos {or Shabbat} calls not only for rest on the Sabbath, but also for the time necessary to adequately prepare. Note the Friday hours above {adjust for EDT & EST}.

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I have to say... I was humbled {& only slightly irritated that I went an hour out of my way, only to arrive at their doors at approximately 2:30pm}.

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A bit more on B&H Photo:

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The business is owned by Herman Schreiber - his wife is named Blimie and together their initials make up B&H's name. Schreiber and many of the store's employees are Satmar Hasidic Jews who close the store on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays. Surpassed only by the Diamond District in terms of Orthodox Jewish employment, the company is a vital part of the Hasidic community's life, with hundreds of Orthodox Jews on staff. An Orthodox Jewish bus company provides daily service to and from Kiryas Joel, a Satmar village in Orange County, New York. As I write this, on Friday afternoon on Dec. 21, we are looking at the most hectic weekend of retail shopping in the year. Christmas weekend. But B&H Photo is closed, as it's web site says... even its web site is closed to processing internet sales. B&H really doesn't care if it is losing a few multi-million dollars in sales this weekend. It is Shabbos. Jews do not do business on Shabbos. The Queen is here. That is more important. And that is a lesson that should be noted by anyone who thinks Jews are only about business...

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The Satmars are known as one of the more insular sects of Hasidism. When not running the world's largest retailer of digital modernism, their private customs reflect life in 19th century Jewish Hungary. That world ended with the Holocaust, but the Satmar survivors who followed Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum to Brooklyn have an interesting take on that - there are now far more Satmar Hasidim than there ever were. Satmar has simply out-bred the holocaust. As always... Satmar wins. You simply can not beat the Torah fearing Jews of Satmar. You wouldn't want to even try.