Just a few minutes before Shuvuot, as I was walking to a friend’s home for dinner, I passed two Mexicans in an alley with a beat-up old truck. A middle-aged man and woman were straining and failing to put a refrigerator in the back.
A couple of young Orthodox Jewish men had already passed them by.
I asked if they needed help. They said please. I jumped in there, got set, and with my assistance, they got the fridge on top of their truck.
Then I walked on and thought about what I would do if it were already a holy day. I decided I would pitch in and help anyway because these guys were putting their health at serious risk struggling with a load they weren’t strong enough to lift.
On other occasions, I’ve helped push a car on Shabbos and done similar things. I notice that almost all religious Jews avoid such activities. I don’t know what the laws are, but working on a holy day is certainly forbidden.
