Far more than a day – holidays and non-business days

 

Translators not only translate words but also cultures. To demonstrate, I recently translated a purchase agreement of a flat (an apartment to Americans) from Hebrew to English in which it was explicitly stated that payments cannot be executed on the "holiday and chol hamoed”. Of course, translating this clause involved not only some understanding and thought but also discussion with the translation agency and a short translator’s explanation of the second term in square brackets. It was clear that a non-Jew or even many non-religious Jews would not understand this supplement to the holiday. However, to be fair, Americans also enjoy some implied extended holidays as do Europeans and even many Asians. When it comes to vacation time, the more, the merrier.

First, to explain to the perplexed (to borrow from Maimonides), among the numerous holidays in Judaism, two holidays add several  “good days” during which a person doesn’t have to work and may travel (as compared to the holiday itself when observant Jews do not travel). Specifically, after Sukkot, which occurs in less than two weeks, there is a “chol hamoed” of six days during which families can travel. Likewise, Pesach (Passover in English), generally in April, has a “chol hamoed” of five days in Israel and four days abroad during which many businesses are closed. As you can imagine, during this period, hotel prices are as high as Ben Gurion Airport is crowded. As for doing business with banks, the government or just about anybody, the answer is “after the holiday”. In other words, if you can’t beat it, join it. Getting annoyed won’t help. It seems that almost nobody is working. Thus, the contract specifically exempted these days from the payment schedule. If you are wondering, my solution was to transcribe the Hebrew word and add a brief explanation.

The Americans are not immune to this vacation inflation. Most foreigners are aware that Thanksgiving is a holiday, on the last Thursday of November by law, but foreigners may not be aware that is actually a four-day vacation. The additional off-Friday and weekend provide sufficient time for people to order their Christmas gifts online, creating “Black Friday”, but at the price of traffic jams, crowded airports and high prices, just as in Israel. Speaking of Noel, Christmas is far longer than 24 hours, magically extending to three days or more, depending on which day of the week the holiday falls. In any case, if you require any service provided by an office, wait until after the holiday.

The Europeans are not exactly sluggards in this department. For example, in France, August vacation is not a few days or even a week; it is the whole month, at least those that receive a salary. The government even has to take steps to ensure there are open bakeries that month. If that is not enough, Christmas vacation begins around December 20 and ends January 4 or later. Apparently, Jesus’ birth was a very long process. Easter is not much better, lasting a full week. Once again, the business world hibernates during the holidays.

Even the Chinese Communist government, usually quite demanding, has given in. The Chinese New Year official period is seven whole days, with some taking another week for the pleasure. Japan has the week-long “Golden Holiday”. By contrast and not surprisingly, North Koreans never celebrate more than two days. Yet another example, grantedly quite minor, of the oppression they suffer.

As you can see, although the word “day” appears in the word “holiday”, it does not limit the actual length of the event. This is important not only for tourists but also for locals, requiring a certain willingness to flow with the occasion. As for translators, it is their job to transmit, in the clearest possible way, the local texture of the generic word as it affects business relations. By the way, next week, there will be no post as I am going on vacation for a few days of course, for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  Shana Tova to everyone.