As my pastor told me, we have to be careful going into Scripture looking for justification for something we want to do anyway.
Your pastor is a wise man. If you want to know if something is allowed or not, you have to have an open mind and not look for something that looks like it might work and grab onto it.
If you decide on Pittsburgh, let me know. Wife did one of her degrees at Duquesne
Will do, Duquesne is one of the schools I am considering at the Ph.D. level (the masters is a bit less likely that I'd do it there). As for the city, I know where I'd live if I move there (the Orthodox community is in Squirrel Hill) and I do know the city fairly well. My dad is from the Pittsburgh area (anyone here know Greene County?, Waynesburg?) and growing up we'd visit Pittsburgh periodically (sometimes generally to go to the city, other times just for a Pirates game).
Dumb question: If you are not allowed to carry keys, how do you secure your residence while at Temple?
In an area without an eruv there are a couple options. In addition to what The Rabbi said, I know people who have bought Realtor style lock boxes (combination lock boxes that fit on your door knob and securely hold your house keys). Some people leave a door unlocked (a bad idea). It is preferable, not a requirement (at least in many situations), to pray in a group so one spouse may stay home and pray alone in order to be able to let the other in (or with older children a kid may stay home to let the parents in). Most people though who live without an eruv use the solutions The Rabbi pointed out and either hide the key or get special belts (or tie clips) where their key is an intergral part of it.
Chaim, it's going to come down to: is there any way to avoid the situation to begin with that would minimize change to what you're doing now...
The Rabbi, I am leaning towards one of two solutions (week long, not only on shabbos). Either quit carrying anything since the knife and pepper spray would be useful against BGs without guns, but if facing BGs with guns who decide to search me (again, searching being something I had never considered before this) it could easily make my situation worse (pepper spray and knives are certainly no match for a gun). The other option I'm considering just as strongly (since I don't like the idea of surrender) is to carry illegally. Needless to say, I will probably not announce publicly, on this board or elsewhere, which of the two I decide (I might PM you if you want me to though since that would be relatively private).
I have a legitimate and non-hostile question.
Entropy, I don't think you needed that introduction to your question. Your post clearly was non-hostile. Sometimes you can tell, even written, when someone is being hostile, and you were not.
As for the questions, The Rabbi did a pretty good job explaining it. When life is at stake there are quite a few exceptions that are allowed.
Certainly in the wartime military many normal sabbath restrictions are eased. Even in peacetime training, life in the military is different than out of the military. You do your best. For routine non-essential tasks you hope you have an understanding CO who won't require that you break the tenents of your religion. When your CO won't be accomodating you simply do your best (your actions while in the military aren't completely yours to choose).
For self-defense considerations, it varies. Some cities' crime rates are bad enough to break sabbath restrictions to carry self-defense impliments, some aren't. As The Rabbi states, in these situations you check with an expert (a rabbi who is knowlegable in both the Jewish Law pertaining to this area, guns, and crime rates).
