Black Friday is regarded as the official beginning of the Holiday Shopping Season. This year, 74.2 million people went shopping on Black Friday and spent a total of $10.4 billion!
Because Black Friday is SO big and SO important to the bottom line of many businesses, lots of retailers have started offering their discounts on Thanksgiving Day in order to better cash in on the action. What started out as a big shopping DAY on Black Friday has now morphed into a HUGE extended shopping weekend.
Some retailers are starting to push back.
Costco, Nordstrom, Staples – along with many others – refuse to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day. Analysts expect other stores to follow as retailers attempt to stop “Black Friday creep” in which stores open earlier and earlier. (Read about it in Money by clicking here.)
What do you think?
• Should a day be kept sacred even if it means losing money?
• To what extend do economic considerations become the criteria by which we base our decisions?
• Are we inclined to "do the right thing" if it is going to cost us financially?
Here's the classic story in the Jerusalem Talmud, Baba Metzia 2:5 that addresses this issue head-on:
"Shimon ben Shetach once purchased a donkey. The original owner had neglected to check the saddlebag before he made the sale, and inadvertently left diamonds in the bag.
When they discovered the treasure, Shimon ben Shetach’s students were exuberant. They were certain, their teacher would be able to teach Torah without the constant financial worries that had been plaguing him.
Shimon ben Shetach did not join in their excitement though. “Do you think I am a barbarian?” he exclaimed “I bought a donkey, not diamonds!”
He promptly returned the diamonds. When the owner received them he cried out, “Blessed is the God of Shimon ben Shetach.”
Don't you love being Jewish?!
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