Josh Blackman » So how should the three Jews in Somaoa celebrate Shabbat now that the island nation jumped to the other side of the international date line?

So how should the three Jews in Somaoa celebrate Shabbat now that the island nation jumped to the other side of the international date line?

January 5th, 2012

Apparently there is only one permanent Jewish resident in Samoa, and two Jewish Peace Corps volunteers. Nevertheless, a Baltimore rabbi, Dovid Herber, who is an expert on Jewish law and astronomy, has written a two-pagehalachic (Jewish legal) opinion on the issue. He concludes that it has always been questionable when to observe the Sabbath on Samoa, so Jews should keep the Sabbath for 49 hours to make sure they have the correct day.