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Electricity on Shabbat: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Light_Bulb.JPG|right|200px]] | [[Image:Light_Bulb.JPG|right|200px]] | ||
==Using Electric Appliances== | ==Using Electric Appliances== | ||
# It is forbidden to turn on any electric device whether it is plugged into the wall or runs on batteries. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:2 holds that the prohibition involved is that by completing the circuit one creates an electric current in the wire like there is a prohibition to create a fire (Molid) on [[Shabbat]]. </ref> | # It is forbidden to turn on any electric device whether it is plugged into the wall or runs on batteries. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:2 holds that the prohibition involved is that by completing the circuit one creates an electric current in the wire like there is a prohibition to create a fire (Molid) on [[Shabbat]]. | ||
* There's is a lengthy discussion about which melacha is involved when using electricity. One suggestion is that it is a violation of [[Mavir]] ([[Lighting a fire]]). See a very interesting comparison of Rav Henkin (Edut LeYisrael p. 151) who seems to compare an electric current to movement of electrons when a person starts to walk or hits a piece of metal and says that’s not called a fire unless the fire is visible.</ref> | |||
# According to many poskim it is Biblically forbidden to turn on an incandescent and fluorescent light bulb. However, if one needs to turn on a light for someone who is mortally sick (see [[Medicine on Shabbat]]) one should turn on a fluorescent instead of an incandescent light bulb. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:3-4 </ref> | # According to many poskim it is Biblically forbidden to turn on an incandescent and fluorescent light bulb. However, if one needs to turn on a light for someone who is mortally sick (see [[Medicine on Shabbat]]) one should turn on a fluorescent instead of an incandescent light bulb. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:3-4 </ref> | ||
# According to many poskim it is Biblically forbidden to turn on oven or warming plate. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:3 </ref> | # According to many poskim it is Biblically forbidden to turn on oven or warming plate. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:3 </ref> | ||
# In Israel, the widespread minhag is to leave electric appliances running on [[Shabbat]] even though the electric companies are run by Jews who violate [[Shabbat]]. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:1 </ref> | # In Israel, the widespread minhag is to leave electric appliances running on [[Shabbat]] even though the electric companies are run by Jews who violate [[Shabbat]]. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:1 </ref> | ||
# It is forbidden to turn off or dim an electric light. <ref> While Melamed Lehoil OC 49, Kuntres Gorem HaMalot 185, Maharsham 2:146, Minchat Shlomo pages 85-88 and pages 107-109, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah 13:1 all say this prohibition is rabbinic and this is the conclusion by [http://www.daat.ac.il/DAAT/english/journal/broyde_1.htm | # It is forbidden to turn off or dim an electric light. <ref> While Melamed Lehoil OC 49, Kuntres Gorem HaMalot 185, Maharsham 2:146, Minchat Shlomo pages 85-88 and pages 107-109, Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchatah 13:1 all say this prohibition is rabbinic and this is the conclusion by [http://www.daat.ac.il/DAAT/english/journal/broyde_1.htm Rabbi Jachter and Rabbi Broyde]. Machaze Avarham OC 41 and Beit Yitzchak YD 2:31:8 say it is a violation from the torah. </ref> | ||
# It is forbidden to turn off any electric appliance. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:5 </ref> | # It is forbidden to turn off any electric appliance. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:5 </ref> | ||
# It is forbidden to pick up a phone off the receiver, speak on a phone, or return the phone to the receiver on [[Shabbat]]. <ref> Menuchat Ahava 24:6,8,9 </ref> | # It is forbidden to pick up a phone off the receiver, speak on a phone, or return the phone to the receiver on [[Shabbat]]. <ref> Menuchat Ahava 24:6,8,9 </ref> | ||
# Some say it | # Some say it is a good practice to unplug the phone before [[Shabbat]] so that if someone calls on [[Shabbat]] one won't hear it ring. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:10 </ref> | ||
# Someone who's hard of hearing may use a hearing aid which was turned off before [[Shabbat]]. It's proper to attached a piece of scotch tape on the button so one doesn't come to turn it off on [[Shabbat]]. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:11, Sh"t Yabea Omer 1:19(19), Minchat Yitzchak 2:17-8, 3:41, Minchat Shlomo 1:9, Tzitz Eliezer 6:6</ref> | # Someone who's hard of hearing may use a hearing aid which was turned off before [[Shabbat]]. It's proper to attached a piece of scotch tape on the button so one doesn't come to turn it off on [[Shabbat]]. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:11, Sh"t Yabea Omer 1:19(19), Minchat Yitzchak 2:17-8, 3:41, Minchat Shlomo 1:9, Tzitz Eliezer 6:6</ref> | ||
# It is forbidden to speak into a tape recorder even if the recorder was turned on before [[Shabbat]]. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:13 </ref> | # It is forbidden to speak into a tape recorder even if the recorder was turned on before [[Shabbat]]. <ref>Menuchat Ahava 24:13 </ref> | ||
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# It is forbidden to use a regular elevator on [[Shabbat]]. Some allow using a '[[Shabbat]] elevator' which stops at every floor, while others forbid, and some say one may go up in the [[Shabbat]] elevator but not down. It is forbidden to touch the elevator doors when they are closing. <ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 23:29 permits uses a [[Shabbat]] elevator on [[Shabbat]]. Sefer Maliyot BeShabbat (chapters 1 and 7) holds that one may go up in the elevator but not down. Menuchat Ahava 24:15-6 concludes that one shouldn't use the [[Shabbat]] elevator to go up or down unless there is a great need in which case he is lenient to allow going up in the [[Shabbat]] elevator. Rav Yosef Henkin (Edut LeYisrael p. 121) rules that for someone who's weak to do a mitzvah such as daven with a minyan, one can be lenient to use an elevator on Shabbat as long as the non-jew is the one who presses the button and not a Jew. He then says one doesn't need to protest someone who is lenient if the non-Jew is pressing the button, but a pious person (baal nefesh) would be strict. </ref> | # It is forbidden to use a regular elevator on [[Shabbat]]. Some allow using a '[[Shabbat]] elevator' which stops at every floor, while others forbid, and some say one may go up in the [[Shabbat]] elevator but not down. It is forbidden to touch the elevator doors when they are closing. <ref>Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata 23:29 permits uses a [[Shabbat]] elevator on [[Shabbat]]. Sefer Maliyot BeShabbat (chapters 1 and 7) holds that one may go up in the elevator but not down. Menuchat Ahava 24:15-6 concludes that one shouldn't use the [[Shabbat]] elevator to go up or down unless there is a great need in which case he is lenient to allow going up in the [[Shabbat]] elevator. Rav Yosef Henkin (Edut LeYisrael p. 121) rules that for someone who's weak to do a mitzvah such as daven with a minyan, one can be lenient to use an elevator on Shabbat as long as the non-jew is the one who presses the button and not a Jew. He then says one doesn't need to protest someone who is lenient if the non-Jew is pressing the button, but a pious person (baal nefesh) would be strict. </ref> | ||
# Some poskim permit opening a refrigerator door only when the motor already is running, while many poskim hold that one may open the door even if the motor is off. <Ref> | # Some poskim permit opening a refrigerator door only when the motor already is running, while many poskim hold that one may open the door even if the motor is off. <Ref> | ||
* Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Minchat Shlomo 1:10) permits opening the refrigerator at any time because completing the circuit to run a motor may not involve any melacha at all, and even if it is, it is permitted because it is grama. He says that he’s not sure that it should be considered a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei as one doesn’t want the hot air to cause the motor to run sooner, because one also does want the motor to run so that the food doesn’t spoil. Tzitz Eliezer 8:12:4, 12:92, Rav Moshe Feinstein (quoted by The Shabbos Home vol 2, p. 482; see, however, Igrot Moshe 2:68), Rabbi Mordechai Willig (“Halacha Engages Modernity Part 8,” min 18-22), Rav Benzion Meir Chai Uziel in Piskei Uziel 15, and Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik quoted by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein (http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/journal/broyde_1.htm) agree. Rav Willig commented that the minhag in America is to be lenient. | * Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Minchat Shlomo 1:10) permits opening the refrigerator at any time because completing the circuit to run a motor may not involve any melacha at all, and even if it is, it is permitted because it is grama. He says that he’s not sure that it should be considered a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei as one doesn’t want the hot air to cause the motor to run sooner, because one also does want the motor to run so that the food doesn’t spoil. Tzitz Eliezer 8:12:4, 12:92, Rav Moshe Feinstein (quoted by The Shabbos Home vol 2, p. 482; see, however, Igrot Moshe 2:68), Rabbi Mordechai Willig ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/742317/Rabbi_Mordechai_I_Willig/Halacha_Engages_Modernity_-_Part_8_-_Electrical_Appliances_(Part_1) “Halacha Engages Modernity Part 8,”] min 18-22), Rav Benzion Meir Chai Uziel in Piskei Uziel 15, and Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik quoted by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein (http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/journal/broyde_1.htm) agree. Rav Willig commented that the minhag in America is to be lenient. | ||
* In defining grama, Rav Hershel Schachter (“Electricity on Shabbos,” min 73-6) explains that according to many achronim who understand grama as a delay in time, it isn’t even a psik reisha to open a refrigerator if the motor will turn on at a later time, while according to Rav Soloveitchik, who defined grama as a total disconnect in action, if it was certain that opening the door would cause the motor to go on any earlier, perhaps it would be forbidden to open the door when the motor wasn’t running based on koach achar m’urev bo. (See B’Ikvei HaTzon siman 7). | * In defining grama, Rav Hershel Schachter ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/764993/Rabbi_Hershel_Schachter/Electricity_on_Shabbos “Electricity on Shabbos,”] min 73-6) explains that according to many achronim who understand grama as a delay in time, it isn’t even a psik reisha to open a refrigerator if the motor will turn on at a later time, while according to Rav Soloveitchik, who defined grama as a total disconnect in action, if it was certain that opening the door would cause the motor to go on any earlier, perhaps it would be forbidden to open the door when the motor wasn’t running based on koach achar m’urev bo. (See B’Ikvei HaTzon siman 7). | ||
* On the other hand, Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer 1:21) assumes like Rav Shlomo Zalman that it is grama, but thinks that completing a circuit may involve an issur deoritta of hav’ara. He also is uncertain if this should be considered a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei and concludes that it is permitted, but it nevertheless is proper not to open the door unless the motor is running. Har Tzvi 1:151, Menuchat Ahava 24:19, and Rav Henkin (Edut LeYisrael p. 122) agree that although it is permitted, it’s proper to be strict. | * On the other hand, Rav Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer 1:21) assumes like Rav Shlomo Zalman that it is grama, but thinks that completing a circuit may involve an issur deoritta of hav’ara. He also is uncertain if this should be considered a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei and concludes that it is permitted, but it nevertheless is proper not to open the door unless the motor is running. Har Tzvi 1:151, Menuchat Ahava 24:19, and Rav Henkin (Edut LeYisrael p. 122) agree that although it is permitted, it’s proper to be strict. | ||
* Lastly, Chelkat Yaakov O”C 76 argues that while it may be a psik reisha, perhaps it is not considered grama since this is the intended normal way it is used. Therefore, he rules that one may only open the door when the motor already is running. Minchat Yitzchak 2:16 and 3:24, Az Nidberu 2:36, Sh"t Igrot Moshe 2:68, 4:74, and Mishnat Rabbi Aharon 1:4 agree. | * Lastly, Chelkat Yaakov O”C 76 argues that while it may be a psik reisha, perhaps it is not considered grama since this is the intended normal way it is used. Therefore, he rules that one may only open the door when the motor already is running. Minchat Yitzchak 2:16 and 3:24, Az Nidberu 2:36, Sh"t Igrot Moshe 2:68, 4:74, and Mishnat Rabbi Aharon 1:4 agree. | ||
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# Some poskim permit walking in an area where a motion sensor will turn on a light provided that one does not intend to turn on the light if there’s no other way to walk. <Ref> | # Some poskim permit walking in an area where a motion sensor will turn on a light provided that one does not intend to turn on the light if there’s no other way to walk. <Ref> | ||
* Sheivet HaLevi 9:69 permits walking in an area where there is a motion sensor that will activate a light, such as those attached to the outside of buildings. He explains that davar she’eino mitkaven refers only to when one does an action that may cause an unintended melacha. If, however, one is walking normally and makes no motion in order for a melacha to occur, it is not even a psik reisha as long as one’s intent isn’t to turn on the light. Orchot Shabbat (p. 79) quotes Rav Elyashiv and Rav Nissim Karlitz who say that since one doesn’t have a direct connection to the melacha and doesn’t care about the light, it’s not called melechet machshevet. The Shabbos Home (p. 489) agrees. | * Sheivet HaLevi 9:69 permits walking in an area where there is a motion sensor that will activate a light, such as those attached to the outside of buildings. He explains that davar she’eino mitkaven refers only to when one does an action that may cause an unintended melacha. If, however, one is walking normally and makes no motion in order for a melacha to occur, it is not even a psik reisha as long as one’s intent isn’t to turn on the light. Orchot Shabbat (p. 79) quotes Rav Elyashiv and Rav Nissim Karlitz who say that since one doesn’t have a direct connection to the melacha and doesn’t care about the light, it’s not called melechet machshevet. The Shabbos Home (p. 489) agrees. | ||
* Rabbi Mordechai Willig ( | * Rabbi Mordechai Willig ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/742317/Rabbi_Mordechai_I_Willig/Halacha_Engages_Modernity_-_Part_8_-_Electrical_Appliances_(Part_1) “Halacha Engages Modernity Part 8,”] min 50-60) challenges this line of reasoning because it should be considered a psik reisha d’nicha lei and turning on a light might be deoritta. Furthermore, The 39 Melachos (p. 1215) says that if one can’t avoid walking in a place that will turn on a light because of a motion sensor and the streets are dark so that one will benefit from the light turning on, one shouldn’t leave his house! He does permit one to walk past such a motion sensor if he closes his eyes at the time when the light will turn on because in such a case then it is not considered niche lei, even if one will open one's eyes right afterwards. | ||
* On the other hand, Rabbi Hershel Schachter ( | * On the other hand, Rabbi Hershel Schachter ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/764993/Rabbi_Hershel_Schachter/Electricity_on_Shabbos “Electricity on Shabbos,”] min 62-8) explains that if one is doing an action that is physically disconnected from where the melacha is occurring, it isn’t considered a psik reisha. Thus, Rav Schachter says that there’s what to rely on to permit walking in an area where there is a surveillance camera or a motion sensor which will turn on a light as long as one doesn’t have intent to be videoed or turn on the light. </ref> | ||
# Many poskim permit walking in an area where there surveillance cameras will capture a person’s image as long as he does not intend to be recorded. <Ref> | # Many poskim permit walking in an area where there surveillance cameras will capture a person’s image as long as he does not intend to be recorded. <Ref> | ||
* Rabbi Mordechai Willig ( | * Rabbi Mordechai Willig ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/742317/Rabbi_Mordechai_I_Willig/Halacha_Engages_Modernity_-_Part_8_-_Electrical_Appliances_(Part_1) “Halacha Engages Modernity Part 8,”] min 48-49) agrees that it is permitted to walk in an area where there is a surveillance camera because unlike the light motion sensors, a person doesn’t benefit from the being videoed by the surveillance camera and thus qualifies as a psik reisha d’lo nicha lei which is permitted for a d’rabanan prohibition. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, (cited by Rav Zalman Nechemya Goldberg in Ateret Shlomo vol 6, p. 57), Yabia Omer 9:35, and The Shabbos Home (p. 489) agree. | ||
* Rabbi Hershel Schachter ( | * Rabbi Hershel Schachter ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/764993/Rabbi_Hershel_Schachter/Electricity_on_Shabbos “Electricity on Shabbos,”] min 62-8) explains that if one is doing an action that is physically disconnected from where the melacha is occurring, it isn’t considered a psik reisha. Thus, Rav Schachter says that there’s what to rely on to permit walking in an area where there is a surveillance camera or a motion sensor which will turn on a light as long as one doesn’t have intent to be videoed or turn on the light. </ref> | ||
# Many poskim permit using an electrical automatic toilet if no other toilet is available. <Ref> | # Many poskim permit using an electrical automatic toilet if no other toilet is available. <Ref> | ||
* Rabbi Josh Flug (Sukkot To Go 5770, p. 27) writes that it is certainly permissible to use a toilet with an automatic flusher if no other restroom is available because most assume that using electricity is prohibited only d’rabanan and therefore is permitted for kavod habriyot. He says that perhaps it is even permitted if going to the non-automated toilets is inconvenient, since it may be a psik reisha d’o nicha lei on a issur d’rabanan. Practical Laws of Shabbat (Rabbi Rafael Soae, p. 335) | * Rabbi Josh Flug ([http://www.yutorah.org/togo/sukkot/articles/Sukkot_To-Go_-_5770_Rabbi_Flug.pdf Sukkot To Go 5770], p. 27) writes that it is certainly permissible to use a toilet with an automatic flusher if no other restroom is available because most assume that using electricity is prohibited only d’rabanan and therefore is permitted for kavod habriyot. He says that perhaps it is even permitted if going to the non-automated toilets is inconvenient, since it may be a psik reisha d’o nicha lei on a issur d’rabanan. | ||
* Rabbi Yisrael Belsky in Shulchan HaLevi 7:7 permits using this type of bathroom if there is no other bathroom available, but if there’s another option, he forbids using the electrical toilet. Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz (“Using Automatic Bathrooms on Shabbos”) quotes Rav Belsky as saying that kavod habriyot would not be a leniency in order to wash one’s hands with an automatic sink. </ref> | * Practical Laws of Shabbat (Rabbi Rafael Soae, p. 335) quotes Kedushat HaShabbat (Rabbi Moshe Harari p. 79) who says that if there’s no other bathroom available other than one which has toilets that automatically flush when one moves away, one may use the toilet because of Kavod HaBriyot. | ||
* Rabbi Yisrael Belsky in Shulchan HaLevi 7:7 permits using this type of bathroom if there is no other bathroom available, but if there’s another option, he forbids using the electrical toilet. Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz ([http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/761805/Rabbi_Aryeh_Lebowitz/Ten_Minute_Halacha_-_Using_Automatic_Bathrooms_on_Shabbos “Using Automatic Bathrooms on Shabbos”]) quotes Rav Belsky as saying that kavod habriyot would not be a leniency in order to wash one’s hands with an automatic sink. </ref> | |||
==Setting timers before Shabbat== | ==Setting timers before Shabbat== | ||
