Orthodox Brother

You don't see too many Orthodox Jews on reality TV, so it is always noteworthy when it happens. A few years ago two Ortho Jews participated, and one even made it to the final round if I remember correctly, in The Apprentice and had the honor of being fired by The Donald.

Now, an Ortho Jew, a podiatrist, is going to be a contestant on a reality tv show called Big brother. I dont know much about the show, but it is basically a bunch of people stuck together in a house and they have to be the last one standing and not be eliminated through whatever process is used to kick people out of the house.

Dr. Andrew Gordon will supposedly be keeping shabbos in the house. The Miami News article gets it a bit wrong saying he won't use electricity the whole shabbos, but he won't be turning anything on or off, along with dealing with muktze and all that.

So an Orthodox Jew foot doctor walks into a houseful of cameras... Uh, yeah, Andrew Gordon of Miami Beach will be a contestant in CBS's long-running Big Brother summer series. He's so dedicated to his religion that he'll be observing Shabbat while in the house. That means he somehow won't use electricity from Friday night through Saturday night while, of course, being surrounded by tons of electric filming equipment.

"It's already going to be tough in that house, so it's going to be even tougher dealing with these extra little things," Gordon tells the Associated Press. "People are probably going to look at me as an outsider and wonder what I'm doing and why I'm not eating their food. It's something I've had to explain my whole life as a practicing Jew. Whatever happens, I'll deal with it."
Gordon will also bring his own cooking utensils into the house. Apparently, one of those utensils will be a big ol' stirring spoon. He calls himself a "tall, cute, Jewish, single, doctor, father that's very competitive and ready to stir the pot in the Big Brother house," according to his CBS.com profile.