My aunt, who converted her family to very frum Orthodox Jewish a few years ago, sent us an e-mail recently about a virus that automatically installed a component in your hard drive and how you had to delete it. Sadly, my father was the first person to see this e-mail and he deleted the component without bothering to check it out, and sure enough it was a hoax. Now we’ve deleted an important part of IE and I’m having a tough time getting it back. Performance is noticeably down.
We sent an e-mail to my aunt about the hoax and she explained that she had figured out it was a hoax on Friday night before it was officially Shabbat, but her AOL mail was down Friday night, and she didn’t bother sending an e-mail to warn us the next day because it would go against Shabbat.
So, should she have sent us the e-mail, saving our computer from performing poorly, on Shabbat? Am I the putz or is she?
Sure. Those Rabbis were very forward looking. You’ll find it in the same section that prohibits transporters and star cruisers.
Seriously, however, the prohibition involves the use of fire. Electricity has been ruled by later Rabbinic authorities to be akin to fire. Since sending emails involves a computer and using electricity, it is forbidden on Shabbos.
That section is always misunderstood. Transporters are not prohibited per se; instead humans (for fear of the soul being lost) and foodstuffs (for fear of becoming treiff in the rematerialization process) cannot be transported. Everything else is fair game.
Yeah, I guess I am being inconsiderate being angry at her. Our family doesn’t get along with her due to a custody dispute she has with my uncle so I almost never give her the benefit of the doubt. I realize I should respect her and her new belief system, but due to the way she has acted in the past I’m not inclined to let her get away with anything.
Out of curiosity, where would you draw the line of breaking Shabbos? This isn’t necessarily computer-related. What do you think would be the least exigent emergency requiring breaking of sabbath rules?
There would have to be at least the possibility (any possibility) that a life is in danger. You can take a doctor’s (or fireman’s, or policeman’s, etc.) word for it; you don’t need to wait for a Rabbi to hear hear the circumstances and approve it.
I think the lesson in all this is that your aunt ought not to be considered a very reliable source of information, particularly on things that she sends out a little before Shabbos! Another lesson is to never, ever do something that an e-mail tells you to do to your computer without first veifying that it is legit even if it comes from TheLord@God.org! [Or, as the libertarians would probably believe TheMarket@God.com !!]
Ignorant Gentile question; just what the hell do you do on Saturday, then? You can’t use any of the lights in your house or drive anywhere in the car if you don’t use electricity. I guess you could barbeque, but it sure would get dark in winter, wouldn’t it?
We sit in the dark and contemplate the lint in our belly buttons.
:giggle:
Sorry. I just think the implication of this question is pretty funny. It is possible to enjoy oneself without using electrical appliances, you know. ;j
What do Observant Jews do on Shabbos? We:
[ul]
[li]Read, either for pleasure or for study[/li][li]Talk to people… like our family.[/li][li]Pray.[/li][li]Rest (sleep, nap)[/li][li]Take walks.[/li][li]Etc.[/li][/ul]
Here’s an interesting insight: The kind of activity prohibited on Shabbos is categorized as melocho, which is usually mistranslated as “work” which sparks a lot of needless debate. A more correct translation would be “creative activity.”
The term has the same root word as “Malach,” the hebrew word for angel. An angel is (in Jewish philosophy" an agent of God, one who does God’s bidding.
So, the kind of activity prohibited on Shabbos is the kind of work which in which we (in a sense) send an agent out into the world to affect a change. In other words, on Shabbos, a Jew is prohibited from doing things which will then remain, independent of him. He can’t build a wall, tie a permanent know, or complete an electrical circuit. All of these examples (and coutless others) are activities which involve a kind of permanence.
Permitted activites are focused inward; Jews use the Shabbos to rest, as God rested (on the Seventh Day), from all creative activity.
We’re allowed to leave lights on, but not allowed to turn them on or off. And indeed we don’t drive.
What do we do. Well, the first half of the day is generaly spent in Synagogue; the morning prayers are considerably longer on Saturday than on an ordinary weekday. Following that is lunchtime, which is a long, festive meal. And after that…? Sleep. Learn Torah. Take the children to the playground. Take a walk through the neighborhood. Any old thing we want to do…as long as it does not violate the laws of Shabbat.
Wait a sec, isn’t this instance a little exceptional. The aunt sent an e-mail that caused injury to property. She could have sent another e-mail that would have saved the property were it not Shabbos. Surely, there has to be some appeal to allow charitable work on Shabbos? Mind, I’m an ignorant Gentile whose knowledge of Talmud comes from Faye Kellerman’s Rina Lazurus detective novels and Harry Kemelman’s “The Rabbi who” mysteries.
It was a girl, about 6 1/2 years ago, but thanks for the mazel tov!
No, unless it does not break the Shabbos rules. For example, many youth groups walk Shabbos afternoons to nursing homes/hospitals to visit residents and patients. I have a group of friends that goes on Shabbos afternoon to visit a friend who has cancer.
