I met a guy today who said he couldn’t use electronic devices since it was the Sabbath. That led me to wonder if they’re not gonna be able to use electric cars when/if they become more prevalent?
I didn’t want to say “all” Jews, since I know there are subgroups, so to speak.
Observant Jews are not allowed to do work or light a fire on the Sabbath. The ruling on electronic devices is a logical extension of the “light a fire” rule. Observant Jews can’t drive on the Sabbath in an internal combustion vehicle anyway (see “light a fire”), so yes, they wouldn’t be able to use an electric vehicle either.
I am not a Jew (if I were, I would not be posting now), but I know certain Orthodox Jews do not drive on the Sabbath.
I don’t know of any reason why they couldn’t drive a hybrid car the other six days of the week.
How is it a logical extension? Even an incandescent light isn’t a ‘fire’.
I know that there are some self-starting electric ovens that can be used when an observant Jew can’t ‘light a fire’. Only it’s not a fire. It’s like an observant vegan saying he can’t wear clothes because they’re analogous to wearing animal skins.
How did the scholars decide on the rule?
piggy-back (um… not sure if that’s appropriate) question: Some cars can be converted to run on waste oil. Would an ultra-orthodox Jew have issues if the oil came from pork fat?
If that is correct, I believe the key there would be the “self-starting” aspect. It’s OK to set a timer beforehand that starts or shuts off an electrical device on the Sabbath, as long as you take no direct action yourself.
I note that this question adheres to the longstanding tradition of starting threads about the practices of observant Jews only on the Sabbath, when they won’t answer. We may get some more authoritative answers after sundown. 
Oh, there are subgroups (and subsubgroups (and subsubsubgroups (and subsubsubsubgroups))).
One or another of them, at one time or another, has probably forbidden almost anything you could imagine, and a lot you couldn’t. It’s part of the payback of a faith so intertwined with learning, logic, and law.
There’s a consensus of Orthodox religious authorities that turning an incandescent bulb on counts as “lighting a fire”. The reason for this is that a “fire” is treated as basically something that produces light and heat. Powering an incandescent bulb produces light and heat, since the filament is white-hot; if the bulb was not sealed and evacuated of oxygen, the filament would quickly burn out. Yes, this means there’s discussion as to whether lighting an LED counts as lighting a fire prima facia. You’re allowed to keep a bulb on from before Shabbat starts, just not turn it on or off during Shabbat. But some consider it allowable to set timers to do the work for you, because the prohibition is on personal actions. So, flipping the switch - no go. Walking through an infrared detector that turns on a light - no go. Setting a timer on Friday that will turn the light on on Saturday - go, because the work was done on Friday, and no personal action was taken on Saturday.
Electrical switches are capable of sparking; creating a spark counts as “lighting a fire”. This means that activating or deactivating an electrical device by bridging a circuit counts as potentially creating a fire. Also the act of bridging a circuit can be considered a creative act, separately banned during the Sabbath.
There’s some discussion here.
…
So with the coming of the electric light, someone changed the meaning of ‘fire’ from what it is to what it does?
B&H Photo has an automated order system, but they turn it off for the Sabbath. Apparently they feel that the prohibition extends beyond personal actions.
Thanks for the link. I’ll read it later. (Working on a headache at the moment.)
It seems to me (a non-Jew) that it is an admirable case of following the spirit of the law, not the letter. The law says not to light a fire for light or cooking; when other non-fire based methods of light-production and cooking are developed, it is thought that the spirit of the law would forbid them, too. I mean, you can’t really expect the Israelites to have said, “Oh, yeah, and when you guys finally invent the convection oven, you can’t use that either!”
Of course, the OP was posted on the Sabbath. The Rule still holds! Huzzah! 
Don’t get me wrong. I too think it’s admirable that they are so devoted to their faith. It’s just that religious choices often mystify me.
Delete – duplicate.
This has been asked and answered many times on the Straight Dope, and if you want a definitive answer, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow, when the Orthodox Jews will be able to use computers.
But in short, this has nothing to do with hybrids. Orthodox Jews (and I know many) do not drive any kind of car on the Sabbath.
Ed
Did we ever give that Rule a name?
A friend of mine bought a range/oven that has Sabbath mode. He told me it has different settings for different observances. One of which turns on the oven on Friday afternoon at low temperature. The LED lights and the digital clock turn completely off. Then when you’re ready to use the oven, you just increase the temperature, therefore not lighting a fire, just increasing its intensity.
BTW, he’s Catholic with some Jewish heritage (as I am), but the novelty of the Sabbath mode feature was what sold him on the oven.
“Oy vey iz mir, I’m so meshugenah I could plotz.”
It has been explained to me (when asking about pig organ transplants) that the prohibition on pork is only dietary, so a pig-oil burning car should be OK.
I hereby christen it Zev’s rule for our Zev Steinhart who always shares his hamantaschen with us.
Except you can’t christen something Jewish.
Whatever.
Mikvah it, maybe?