I thought the problem with toothpaste is that brushing teeth could cause the gums to bleed, another of the 39 melachos. Flossing is also prohibited because of the possiblity of drawing blood.
Actually, shabbos can sometimes be violated for health reasons, even if it’s not actually an emergency. I have periodontal disease and have permission to brush and floss on Shabbos even though it could result in blood being drawn. I also have asthma and have permission to carry my inhaler even though there is no eruv where I live and carrying would otherwise be prohibited. Once I left my inhaler in the car before Shabbos and was given permission to open the car door to retrieve it, even though I wasn’t wheezing at the time, only worried about wheezing later. Fortunately a non-Jewish neighbor came outside before I got to the door, so all I had to do was say “I left something in the car…” he knows I’m Shomer Shabbos and figured it out from there. Of course, a competent rabbinic authority should be consulted before violating Shabbos.
Actually, the problem with toothpaste is “Memareach” smoothing. If you want to brush without toothpaste you can, PROVIDED you will not cause your gums to bleed (this, I suppose, to determined on a person by person basis). In addition, the toothbrush would have to be different than the one used during the week. It should be softer.
Batgirl–silly question here:
You said that you were given permission once to go get your inhaler out of the car. How did you gain permission? If I understand correctly, you couldn’t use the phone. Just curious.
I walked over to my Rabbi’s house and asked him - since we can’t drive on Shabbos, everyone lives within walking distance of the synagogue and within walking distance of each other. People walk to his house to ask him questions all the time on Shabbos - I suppose it’s an occupational hazard of being an Orthodox rabbi.
Re not using the telephone on the Sabbath.
Obviously, telephoning was not one of the kinds of work used in constructing the Sanctuary. So what form of directly (i.e.: in the Torah) prohibited work is the basis for the prohibition of using the telephone? Telephones use electricity and sparks may be generated, thus triggering the ban on making fire?
Off-topic aside: I’ve heard that when the original answering machines (reel-to-reel machines so big that the telephone sat on top of them as on a table) came out in the 1950s, the main and intended market for them was Orthodox Jews.
In regards to phone use on Shabbos,if one has to make a call on Shabbos (chas v’shalom), is it ok to hang up the phone afterwards, or should one leave it off the hook as hanging it up would break the electrical circuit and be another violation of Shabbos?
IIRC (not being a Posek [decisor of Jewish law] and not having any Halachic texts in front of me) certain things can be done even though they are not life saving acts, if they are part of the normal routine of them. For example, in the example I gave earlier, after I called the car service, I hung up the phone. Likewise, after my wife took my daughter to see the doctor, they took a car ride back home, even though this was not necessary medically. I would advise, however, that you consult your LOR (Local Orthodox Rabbi) rather than take my word as law.
The rule used to be (like 20-30 years ago) that you had to hang up the phone, or else the doctor would not be able to use his phone, and his need to use it justifies your act. But nowadays the phone circuits are handled differently, so he can use it even if you don’t hang up. However, if there is a chance that the doctor will need to call you for some reason, that again justifies hanging up. I don’t know what the law would be about hanging up after calling the car service though.
Regarding Zev’s example, I understand it a bit differently. I was not taught that the logic is based on “normal routine”, but as an extension of the life-saving ideas we’ve already discussed. Specifically, the rabbis feared that if people are not allowed to drive home from the doctor (actually, the Talmud’s example concerns crossing a river on the way home from the doctor) then people will not go to the doctor to begin with, and that is unacceptable. Therefore, even though in this particular case it would seem that the emergency has passed and there is no justification for violating Shabbos, in actual fact, one can and should drive home, so that next time, you won’t avoid going.
At least, that’s what my rabbis taught me. Your mileage may differ.
I usually unplug the phone before Shabbos (so I don’t have to hear it ringing on Shabbos and wonder who it is) but sometimes I forget. One time my husband answered the phone by mistake on Shavuos - he’d been up all night learning and had only been asleep a couple of hours when the phone rang. Another time, my son answered the phone and told whoever it was that they shouldn’t be calling on Shabbos (he was three and just starting to learn the laws). Both times we left the phone off the hook, but I wasn’t sure what the law was.