Laws of Shabbat - Electricity on Shabbat in Jewish Law, Activities Prohibited on Shabbat, Eruv, Driving on Shabbat in Jewish Law (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 27. Chapters: Electricity on Shabbat in Jewish law, Activities prohibited on Shabbat, Eruv, Driving on Shabbat in Jewish law, Cooking on Shabbat, Shabbat elevator, Shabbos goy, Yad soledet bo, Blech, Shabbat lamp, Muktzah, Shabbat candles, Rabbinically prohibited activities of Shabbat, Eruv techumin. Excerpt: Many Jews who observe Shabbat (the Sabbath), especially within Orthodox Judaism, have the practice of refraining from turning electricity on or off during Shabbat. In most cases they also abstain from making adjustments to the intensity of an electrical appliance as well. Authorities of Jewish law have disagreed about the basis of this prohibition since the early 20th century. Turning on an incandescent light bulb violates the Biblical prohibition against igniting a fire (Hebrew:, hav'arah) according to a nearly unanimous consensus of authorities. However, the reasons for prohibiting the operation of an electrical appliance that does not produce light or heat, such as a fan, are not agreed upon. At least six substantive reasons have been suggested, and a minority believe that turning on an electrical fan is prohibited only because of common Jewish practice and tradition (minhag) but not for any substantive technical reason. Although directly operating electrical appliances is prohibited, several indirect methods are permitted according to some or all authorities. For example, Jews may program a Shabbat clock on a timer before Shabbat to operate a light or appliance on Shabbat, and in some cases they may adjust the timer on Shabbat. Unintentional activation of an electrical appliance may be permitted if the activation is not certain to occur or if the person does not benefit from the automatic operation of the appliance. For example, most authorities permit Jews to open a refrigerator door even though it will eventually...