To quote my friend and colleague Sarit Kattan-Gribetz:
"[T]he purpose of the Roman calendar is essentially economic and, to a lesser extent, political and religious. That is to say, the two main parts of the calendar (the list of market days and list of festivals) are actually directed at commercial things. The calendar was instituted for business interaction primarily - to publicize market days, but also to denote days on which business is prohibited (e.g. festivals), when one can lend money and by when one must repay loans (e.g. the Kalends of each month), when rents are due (also the Kalends). So it is no wonder that the rabbis, in their own legal works, prohibit commercial interactions with pagans: part of what it meant to celebrate these Roman festivals was to be a part of the economic system and rhythm."
It's just the same in today's America. One of the important parts of Thanksgiving, perhaps the most important part, is the foodshopping in the days beforehand, and the goodshopping in the days afterwards. (On Thanksgiving itself, the shops are closed.) Then the process starts up again, immediately (in fact, overlapping), for Christmas. The first days of official shopping for Christmas are the same as the post-Thanksgiving shopping days.
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"[T]he purpose of the Roman calendar is essentially economic and, to a lesser extent, political and religious. That is to say, the two main parts of the calendar (the list of market days and list of festivals) are actually directed at commercial things. The calendar was instituted for business interaction primarily - to publicize market days, but also to denote days on which business is prohibited (e.g. festivals), when one can lend money and by when one must repay loans (e.g. the Kalends of each month), when rents are due (also the Kalends). So it is no wonder that the rabbis, in their own legal works, prohibit commercial interactions with pagans: part of what it meant to celebrate these Roman festivals was to be a part of the economic system and rhythm."
It's just the same in today's America. One of the important parts of Thanksgiving, perhaps the most important part, is the foodshopping in the days beforehand, and the goodshopping in the days afterwards. (On Thanksgiving itself, the shops are closed.) Then the process starts up again, immediately (in fact, overlapping), for Christmas. The first days of official shopping for Christmas are the same as the post-Thanksgiving shopping days.