For the purpose of Judaism, particularly the orthodox, are voice commands (Alexa, Siri, etc) and touch screens to turn on smart devices, make calls, etc. considered OK on the sabbath or is that considered work? Is a tablet OK since there are no buttons and could be turned on by voice OK, but a physical keyboard not OK?
IANAR, but as I understand it, the strictest sects consider electricity to be analogous to fire. It is not permissible to light our douse a fire on the Sabbath (though it is permissible to keep one burning), and thus by analogy, it’s not permissible to turn any electrical device on or off on the Sabbath (though it is permissible to leave them running). Saying “Alexa, turn on the lights” would probably be considered just as much of an action as flipping the wall switch or striking a match, and so would not be allowed.
On the other hand, indirect actions might be allowed: There’s a special type of light switch made for this purpose which doesn’t work instantly, but instead works after a short random delay, and some rabbis have weighed in to approve it. A smart device could probably be programmed with similar functionality. And almost all rabbis agree that you can take an action before the Sabbath that will have an effect on the Sabbath, like setting a timer, so you could probably set your Echo to turn on the lights at 5:00 PM or whatever.
Yet a further complication is with electronic devices like computers and modern phones, as opposed to merely electrical ones like light bulbs. Electronic devices work via millions or billions of tiny switches turning on and off millions or billions of times per second, and there’s almost nothing you could do with them without being the direct cause of those switches turning on and off.
Yet a further argument with such devices that I’m surprised I’ve never seen is to draw an analogy between computers and the golem of legend. Golems, despite being nonhuman, still kept the Sabbath in the legends. Was that unnecessary for the golems, or are computers sufficiently different from golems that the same restriction does not apply?
Keep in mind that not only are there rules (halachot) about keeping the Sabbath, but there is also a consideration about keeping the spirit of the Sabbath as well. A good example is TV. Yes, technically, it’s permissible to put a TV on a timer and watch it (without changing the channel), but it’s not considered within the spirit of the Sabbath. I would imagine that using voice commands to make a phone call would be similar.
If my Rabbi is around this Shabbat, I will ask him what he thinks.
How is that different from having gentile servants who work on the Sabbath?
If the Rothschild’s butler answers the door, or their cook uses the stove for meals on the Sabbath, that is permitted. So how is an electronic ‘servant’ any different?
Any electronic device that reacts to sound would be forbidden to use on the Sabbath, just as a microphone is.
And there’s no halachic reason why typing on a physical keyboard is different in any significant way than pressing a tablet.
I’ve actually wondered about that, myself. As I understand it, the Sabbath rule applies not just to the Jews themselves, but also to “the stranger living among you”. One would think that that would prohibit the use of a “shabbos goy”.
The simplest answer is that these other devices are subject to the laws of physics, so there is a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the Jew’s command and the work being done. Chronos pointed out that there are ways to introduce degrees of randomness and indirectness, and depending on the details, this may help to make the system permissible. But when it goes via another person, it’s not just the laws of physics anymore, it’s now reliance on a human who has free will, and that’s a whole 'nother category.
It may be helpful to know that (similar to what Shinna Minna Ma wrote) the Jew does NOT have carte blanche to ask the gentile to do any sort of thing. To keep the spirit of the day (and for other reasons) there are many restrictions on the sort of situations where one may ask a gentile to do such work, and how the asking can be done.
The Talmud says that this applies to a very specific sort of convert, but regular non-Jews who might happen to be in a Jewish neighborhood (or even in a Jewish home for whatever reason) are not included.
As I understood it from just reading, hiring someone to do your work for you on the Sabbath, even non-Jewish servants, is forbidden.
Also, in the hair-splitting logic common to this sort of discussion - pushing a button is actually doing work, since the button moves. Waving your hand through a beam of light, OTOH, was not considered work, since nothing but your body was moved by your effort. (I assume the same applies to those ultrasonic motion sensors on some public doors) However, this discussion pre-dated the more modern concept of capacitive sensors, where nothing actually moves because your body’s conductive properties are what triggers the sensors - same tech as tablets. I would be curious to find out if these are, so to speak, kosher. I would imagine picking up the tablet is probably verboten, is it not? (Especially “lift to talk” activated devices?) Also, until the newest iteration (or is it the coming one?) you actually have to push an actual moving home button on an ipad or phone to activate it - or is holding your finger on the button for fingerprint reading, but not actually pushing it, OK?
We had a Jewish guy in a scout troop I helped out with. On the sabbath, he couldn’t ask someone else to cook the all-kosher food he’d brought with him… but he could loudly note how he had some food, was quite hungry, and it would sure be real nice if that food happened to get cooked. Sometimes if there were a new set of parents that didn’t get the routine, he’d go on for quite a while before someone would offer to cook the food he happened to have.
I always thought it was interesting that he couldn’t do the work, and he couldn’t ask someone to do the work, but it was totally fine for him to bitch about the work not being done until someone did it for him. Guess that’s why I’m not a lawyer.
God, I love this sort of debate.
Of course we’re not the first to have thought about it.
Those people who say “Just Google it!” really irritate me. So I Googled it for the OP:
Smart Home Helps Owners Observe Shabbat
‘Smart Shabbos’ Technology Takes Brooklyn Jewish Homes by Storm
*etc., etc.
*
That’s just a sophisticated version of setting timers.
Years ago I did some taxi driving on weekends. One regular customer was an elderly orthodox jewish couple who went to visit relatives every Saturday. I would collect them from their home in a wealthy North London Suburb and take them to Highgate; strictly observing speed limits etc all the way. On the way I would stop and buy a bunch of flowers which I paid for. When I took them home, I would go into the house and throw a switch that turned on a lot of lights, although they were able to unlock the door to get in.
On Sunday I would call round and collect what was owed, plus a generous tip.
The first thing that comes to mind is… where Jewish mothers come from…
If they hired you to drive them around on Shabbat, they weren’t Orthodox, no mater what they said.
In Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman, Feynman discusses an incident and the follow-up discussion concerning having a gentile do work for observant Jews on Sabbath and issues with electricity.
The Jewish college which he was visiting definitely did hire someone to operate an elevator on Sabbath. The rabbinical students explained it all to Feynman. No problem at all.
There are degrees of being observant. The most observant Jewish folk I’ve known have no problem with appliances with Sabbath settings. I assume there are those that are stricter but they are in far smaller numbers.
You will decide for them whether they are or are not Orthodox ?
Let me assure you that there are many who would claim you are not Orthodox, no mater what you do and how you behave, maybe unless you belong to fanatic fringe of Neturei Karta.
So please, if you want to interpret Judaism (and according to current Orthodoxy, you are forbidden to do so as a women, and you also are forbidden to use the Internet by the way), it would be better if you did it in a more pleasant way.
So just out of curiosity, what’s the hair-splitting logic? (No judgement here, just curious)
If the fellow drove them out of the goodness of his heart, and received an extremely generous reimbursement/tip/reciprocal gift for the flowers he bought and gifted them while they happened to be along for the ride, is that OK? Could there be significance to him buying the flowers (i.e. maybe the fiction that he had a different purpose for driving and was not their hire?) or did they just like flowers? I can’t see that paying Sunday for work on Saturday escapes anything other that the prohibition against money transactions.
Considering the range of opinions, I assume outside of outright blatant business, what is or is not allowed on Sabbath ultimately is up to the individual’s conscience?
Waitaminit. OP was posted on November 28, 2016, which was a Monday (cite).
This violates SD halacha, which states that such questions be asked as close as possible to or on Shabbes.
Wiki Driving on Shabbat is surprisingly good, and has good references on many of the issues brought up here.
In theory Orthodox Judaism is that part of Judaism refusing to adapt the Halacha (the Law) more towards modernity, such as Reform or Conservative Judaism. Orthodox Jews are a smallish minority out of the Jews living in the US. Orthodox Jews are also divided into Modern Orthodox, plain-vanilla Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox and Red-Hot Super Ultra Orthodox.
As you may imagine, many questions regarding what cannot be performed on Sabbath have no definite answers, the situation not being in existence 1500 years ago. The whole issue of electricity being equivalent to fire is obviously very new and parallels the evolution of Orthodoxy into fundamentalism (the Jewish flavor).
In most cases the Halacha permits non-Jews to serve Jews on Sabbath bar a lot of exceptions. Some of it has to do with life-saving (or the pretext thereof), such as usage of electricity on Sabbath.
Hitching a hike with a Gentile on Sabbath could be seen as kosher by some (admittedly minority) of Orthodox Jews, at least as long as the trip was not initiated by the Jewish party, and it was inside the same town.
The real issue in Judaism today is the raise of fundamentalism and the attempt to control and force the more liberal Jews to behave likewise. This acts as a ratchet and is difficult to break.
I personally am a 4[SUP]th[/SUP] generation Proud Jewish Atheist, as one could surmise from my tone. However I am very much interested in the labyrinthine ways of the Jewish religious people, since it is so important.