Religious Observance: That's Life!

More opinions on this week's episode of The Apprentice:

In Lessons From The Apprentice (5.3), Stoney deGeyter writes:

On one hand you want to respect the religious beliefs of others, but at the same time, they are not contributing to a task and if there is a loss I might try to make an argument that they were instrumental to that loss by not being there. I might have been tempted to take them into the boardroom with one other person. I would try to balance the argument that I respect their decision to observe their religious holiday but at the same time they did not contribute to this particular task.

I probably would have gotten fired just for doing that as Trump was obviously not concerned about this decision by Dan and Lee whatsoever. Lenny later tried to make the case that he too is Jewish but chose to work, but again, Trump was unfazed. Trump noted that George was also not working due to the Jewish New Year as well. But George already has the job!

.....Religious beliefs in the workplace are not to be messed with. It may not seem fair, but get over it and respect it. Making a fuss can only get you in hot water, or worse make you look like an intolerant fool.

Mara, in confessions of a reality tv addict, blogs:

The problem I have is the timing of the task. Why was a task scheduled on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish holiday that Lee and Dan were off celebrating)? Rosh Hashanah is one of the most sacred holidays of the year. Observant Jews do not work – they spend the day in synagogue. It would be like planning a task for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Why place Lee and Dan in that awkward situation instead of postponing the task two days? It makes no sense to me. Trump was clearly aware of the situation (George was off for the holiday as well), yet didn’t change the scheduling. And for Lenny to question why they would put their faith above a television show is absurd. He should have been fired just for that.

On Acharit HaYamim, Dash Riprock says:

Modern Orthodoxy has been noticed and respected on television! By the goy min hagoyim, no less!

There. Wasn't that fulfilling? Because this episode was really what everybody was chalishing for - Our Boys doing the stuff that makes us different than everybody else, without starting a pogrom. But kind of like the obviously gay guy who ultimately comes out to his friends, I think it's ultimately going to be something of an anticlimax when we realize that, to everybody else, it's just not that big a deal. So whether this is the ultimate realization of the Torah U'Maddah ideal for the Jewish People or not, I can't imagine that religion will play anything more than a very minor role in future episodes. They are religious and so they took off for the religious holiday. When they have a nice dinner, maybe they'll get the fruit plate. As Trump said "that's life".

If you have more time to waste, the Television Without Pity forum has a very lengthy thread, full of varying opinions on Episode 3 and the issue of religious observance.