electricity

[cellio]

There are halachic issues with using electricity on Shabbat, but some Conservative authorities permit it. I have sometimes wondered about the reasoning to determine what is and is not permittted; is the Conservative rabbi who turns lights on and off on Shabbat acting within that halacha? Here's another small bit to add to the data pile.

From Rabbi Simcha Roth, Rabbincal Assembly in Israel (Masorti):

"... However, those Conservative authorities that permit the making and breaking of an electric circuit on Shabbat and YomTov did not and do not intend to permit the use of electricity for any purpose which is directly prohibited by Torah. Thus, accepting that halakhah follows Tanna Kamma, while they permit the making and breaking of a circuit they would not permit the electricity thus released from being used, say, to cook food on Shabbat."

(From RMSG April 22nd 2002 / Iyyar 10th 5762 [Pesachim 82])

I'll read the discussion of this mishna more thoroughly later; I was just skimming email and saw this go by. There doesn't seem to be more discussion of this particular point, but I could have missed it. (The mishna is nomially about how to cook the Pesach lamb, but as with all talmudic discussion, tangents abound.)

Comments

circuits

[cellio]

but does using flourescent vs. incandescent negate the argument that you are creating and destroying a circuit when you flip the switch?

Further investigation -- completing the circuit isn't seen as "completing the final hammer blow" (completing a work) by these authorities. They liken the switch to your water faucet and wiring to your pipes: the flow (of water or current) is already there, and all you're doing is opening up a channel. Turning on a faucet to get water is permitted, and by analogy so is turning on a switch to get electricity.

However, as I posted before, these authorities hold that it is not permitted to use that electricity for something that would otherwise be a shabbat violation, like cooking or (I would say) turning on lights. So the non-hypothetical Conservative rabbi who turns on lights on shabbat is still a mystery to me, but I don't know how to ask him about it without appearing to challenge his observance (which I do not intend to do).

Re: circuits

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

I can ask my rabbi. I know that the minority Conservative opinion is that electricity is okay. My rabbi (to my chagrin) uses lights on Shabbat. He and his wife decided when they had kids that it was the easiest (?!) thing to do and apparently within halachic boundaries. My real problem is that by extension they've also decided that using the TV is okay and other things. But that's beside the point.

At any rate, I'm not sure that he would think I was challenging his observance. I think that I could ask him in such a way as to be asking him how to properly observe myself.

I'm actually somewhat bothered by his choice, but again, it's his choice, and he's surely found his own reasons for his family. It's possible that by talking to him, I would find that I was more comfortable with his decision. Everything I know is by talking to other congregants who know him more closely than I.

Re: circuits

[cellio]

At any rate, I'm not sure that he would think I was challenging his observance.

I don't think he would. He's your rabbi; you're supposed to ask him these kinds of questions.

The person I'm talking about is not my rabbi (just someone I know), so we both know that I should not go to him with questions about my own practice. That's why I feel awkward about asking him why he does this.

Thanks for asking yours!