Editorial: Who's really standing up for Shabbos?

We mention this not to comment on the legislation itself, which we consider excessive, but to point out that a day earlier, Lieberman, who is shomer Shabbos, was present to cast the deciding vote to end the threat of a Republican filibuster that might have doomed the spending bill.

Lieberman, who, after his election, discussed with his rabbi the proper way to handle such eventualities, got to work on foot that freezing day, walking more than three miles; nearly five miles by some accounts.

It’s not the first time the Senator has walked to work on Shabbos for a matter of national importance. By his own count it’s happened 25-30 times. This time, however, he drew national attention.

“Lieberman Walks to Senate to Overcome GOP Filibuster on $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill,” read the headline on abcnews.com.

“The last “aye” came from Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Independent, who is Jewish and does not use automobiles on Saturday for religious reasons. Lieberman could be seen on the Senate floor in his long coat and scarf, after walking to work. The senator lives nearly five miles from the Senate and temperatures were near freezing in Washington this morning,” the story concluded.

Rumors had circulated on Friday that Lieberman might miss the crucial votes because of his Sabbath observance. Not so.

“Lieberman will walk to work for Sabbath stimulus vote,” the headline on huffingtonpost.com read.

On theHill.com a story posted in advance of Lieberman’s cold walk said, “It will be a long and chilly trek for Lieberman, who estimates the journey from Kesher Israel, the Georgetown Synagogue, will take him about 1 hour and 45 minutes.”

How Lieberman voted is important for other reasons, of course, but the kiddush Hashem he made in getting there to vote at all is the real story.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about standing up for Shabbos.

Demonstrations in Israel have highlighted, in our opinion, the wrong way to go about highlighting the sanctity of the day. In a number of unfortunately well-publicized cases it seems that people who claim to care about Shabbos actually went out of their way to present Shabbos, and Torah and mitzvos in general, in the worst, least flattering light possible. It’s almost as if they are determined to ensure that anyone who did not grow up with Shabbos wouldn’t ever want to know more about it.

And then there’s Senator Lieberman. His politics are not important here. Love him or hate him as an elected official, he had an opportunity to honor Shabbos on a national stage and he took it, and he did us proud.

Kol Hakavod, Senator.