By: Rabbi Dovid Heber
Published Summer 2007
Refer to attached map
For a further discussion on this topic see Sefer Shaarei Zmanim – Siman 11 here.
There was a time not long ago when kosher food was available only in major Jewish metropolitan areas. Finding kosher certified products on the road was a daunting task. “Kosher Tours” were limited to a few select areas. Today, the Star-K and other kosher symbols appear on thousands of food products. Kosher food is available from Fairbanks to Fiji, and from New Zealand to Norway. Kosher tours are now available to Alaska and Antarctica. With so many north and south destinations easily accessible to kosher consumers, the observant Jew now faces an array of fascinating questions. In parts of Alaska, and other locations north of the Arctic Circle, there are periods of time during the summer when the sun never sets and during the winter when the sun never rises. When does Shabbos begin in the land of the midnight sun? Can one daven Shachris if the sun doesn’t rise? When does Shabbos start and end in Anchorage on a day that does not get dark? A similar question is, when does an astronaut daven and begin and end Shabbos in outer space? A description of the Arctic Circle is necessary to understand the halachos that relate to these unique circumstances.
The Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle (located at 66.56° N Latitude, see map) is an imaginary line that runs through Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, and Alaska1. From this general area and northward, there are days in the summer when the sun does not set and days in the winter when the sun does not rise.2 For example, in Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world located on the Svalbard Islands north of Norway,3 the sun remains above the horizon from April 20 through August 25. During this time the midnight sun is visible for over four months. Between October 27 and February 15, the sun never peaks above the horizon.4 In Alert, Nunavut in Canada,5 the sun does not set for almost five months of the year. At the North Pole, the sun rises in March and stays up for six months until it sets in September, when it remains below the horizon for six months. At the South Pole6, the sun also stays up for six months (September through March) and stays below the horizon for six months (March through September).
