How can you drive it without pressing the gas peddle?
Opening and closing the car door will result in the light going on and off.
The Rabbis instituted rules against moving items that were prohibited for use on Shabbos. Such items are called muktzeh. Examples of muktzeh include pencils (forbidden to write), needle and thread (fobidden to sew) and electronic items (since they cannot be used). A car falls into this category, and, as such, cannot be moved at all.
There may yet be other reasons, but that’s all I could think of off the top of my head.
I wanted to say thank you to everyone who responded - rape is a difficult topic, and I’m glad to understand the sources better.
I’m not sure about the post count. My computer does not always cooperate when I come to (or post to) the SDMB. I don’t know why the computer (or site) does what it does.
I have another silly question: if you’re in a rocket ship traveling near the speed of light, do you calculate the arrival of sabbath according to Earth time, or subjective time?
One might laugh, but that isn’t a silly question at all. Something not entirely dissimilar recently came up with regards to the crew of the Space Shuttle Colombia. One of the crew is an Israeli, the first to be on a mission outside Earth’s atmosphere, and the question arose as to when he should observe the Sabbath: http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020527-4565612.htm
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not terribly familiar with the oven in question and it’s methods, so I can’t give an authoritative answer.
However, the link you provided indicates that the model was approved for use by the Star-K. The Star-K is also the link that Truth Seeker provided. In the Common Questions & Answers section of that page, it says:
Yom Tov means a holiday. On Jewish holidays (other than Yom Kippur) one is allowed to cook and certain leinencies exist with regard to handling fire. As such, it seems that the oven timer is meant to be used on Yom Tov and not on Shabbos (which has much stricter rules). Perhaps someone else who is more familiar with the oven can give a better answer.
There seems to be a bit of confusion. My original question asked about a refrigerator and an oven and you responded that cooking was prohibitted so I was trying to understand how using a refrigerator (which you often do while cooking) fit into the picture.
My question regarding the refrigerator had to do with something that is discussed in the link regarding ovens. When you put food in an oven, it causes the oven to turn on to heat up the food. Similarly, when you open a refrigerator door to take something out, you let out cold air which causes the refrigerator to switch on.
With regard to the prohibition of cooking, there is no problem. Unless opening your refrigerator door will cause your food to heat up to 120 degrees F, the prohibition of cooking does not come into play. (However, you do have to remember to take out the light in the fridge, or else you can’t open it because it will cause the light to go on…)
Your question involves the use of electricity, not the prohibition of cooking. It is true that opening a refrigerator door may cause the motor of the fridge to turn on if the temperature goes too high in the fridge. Becuase of this, some people are careful to only open thier door when the fridge motor is on. However, this stringency is not one which is accepted by everyone in the Orthodox community and there are many who will open their fridge door regardless of the current state of the motor.
If the oven works the way you describe it, then there are two problems with the oven. The first is the same as the problem with the refrigerator. That’s an electrical issue. A second problem is that by putting the food in the oven, you are heating it up to the level of yad soledes bo. That’s a second problem which is absent in the refrigerator case.
Opening a refridgerator door causes the fridge to expend extra energy compensating for the increase in heat it causes. If you didn’t open the fridge, it wouldn’t need to work as hard.
Plus, opening the door causes that little light to go on…
While poking around, I also ran into this which provides a different perspective on whether it is permissible to ride a train/bus. It argues that maybe it is permissible to ride on public transport. However, the answer is by a Conservative, rather than an Orthodox rabbi. On what points does the Conservative perspective differ on this issue?
[Historical side note] Tamerlane, There is a fascinating history surrounding “crypto-Jews.” These were Jews that were subjected to forced conversion in 14th and 15th century Spain. Many of attempted to remain secretely Jewish, with varying levels of success. Even today, there are families that continue to perpetuate “secret” traditions based on dimly remembered Jewish practice. Here’s a link. http://www.pacificnet.net/~faigin/SCJ/faq/13-05.html
A friend of mine (not Jewish) parked his car on a hill on Shabbat. He got out and realized the car was rolling, and stuck his foot under a tire to block it. He reports that he then yelled for help for some time without any response. Two students at the yeshiva where I was working at the time walked by. He explained the situation and asked them sequentially to do these things, each of which they refused in turn: To unlock the car and pull the emergency brake, to replace him at the tire so he could unlock the car and pull the emergency brake; to call the police. To each they stated that his situation was not life threatening and therefore they could not help him. I do not know how long he had to wait after they left for a neighbor to help him, but I do know that he was very angry when he yelled at me about it. I asked the headmaster what actions the students could have taken, and his non-answer was that he would speak to the boys. I never found out whether he praised or castigated them.
Shoshana, I agree that those boys were not allowed to do open the car door to pull the brake, because either of those things would have caused lights to go on. Using a phone to call the police would also have been forbidden.
Putting their own feet in place to prevent the car from rolling might involve “muktzah”, which several above explained as handling or moving forbidden objects, such as a car, except that they would only be keeping their feet stationary, to prevent the car from rolling. It could be that either those boys - or I - misunderstand the mechanics of the situation.
But at the very least, they certainly could have walked to the next street of something to find someone else to help. Maybe they were just too shy or embarrased to try that. On the other hand, I am very reticent to ask people to help me; asking for help for someone else is not so embarrasing. It’s also quite possible that no one else is around, even on other streets.
Personally, it often happens in the winter that I see a car stuck in the snow, with a couple of people trying to push it out. I always lend a hand during the week, and I feel bad about not being able to on Shabbat. I usually walk by, but if they would actually ask me for help, I hope I’d look around for someone else instead of abandoning them.
Shoshana’s story raises an interesting question - the students refused to help because the situation was not life-threatening. But at least potentially, an uncontrolled moving car on a hill can threaten life and limb: there may be people below, perhaps people who can’t be seen, or who haven’t entered the street yet.
So, how direct does a threat of injury, etc., need to be before Shabbat can be broken?
