r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • Jul 31 '24

AAJ "Ask A Jew" Wednesday

It's everyone's favorite day of the week, "Ask A (Anti-Zionist) Jew" Wednesday! Ask whatever you want to know, within the sub rules, notably that this is not a debate sub and do not import drama from other subreddits. That aside, have fun! We love to dialogue with our non-Jewish siblings.

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u/Slow-Dragonfruit-932 Non-denominational Jul 31 '24

How come people who dont use tech on shabbat can still use electronics on timers? It's still technology being turned on and used.

I'm deep in the Google network and have most of my electronics automated, even my ac adjusts when I come home.

I feel like that's me using technology

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u/lilleff512 Jewish Jul 31 '24

Oooh I love this one. You see this subject come up in some of the huge subreddits sometimes and the replies are always filled with casually antisemitic remarks about how Jews are trying to "trick God."

The answer to your question is that there is no rule against using or benefiting from technology on Shabbat. There is a rule against building a fire (because that is work) on Shabbat, and the modern interpretation of this rule is that when you flip a switch to complete an electrical circuit, the spark that is created constitutes building a fire.

So just like you can build a fire before Shabbat and use that fire to keep you warm on Shabbat, you can set a timer on an electrical device before Shabbat and then use that electrical device on Shabbat.

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u/Saul_al-Rakoun Conservadox & Marxist Jul 31 '24 edited Jul 31 '24

When having discussions like these I always avoid the word work because it is a bad translation of the word melacha. I don't even need to tell you what the inevitable sophistical response is to a statement that we don't do X on Shabbat because we don't do work on Shabbat.

It's longer, but prohibited activity gets the meaning across better. Building a fire on Shabbat is a prohibited activity, and things such as turning on a light are similar enough to that prohibited activity that they are prohibited by extension.