Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eosp1.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!princeton!eosp1!robison From: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: Re: Shabbat electricity (what is work?) Message-ID: <1189@eosp1.UUCP> Date: Tue, 23-Oct-84 18:10:43 EDT Article-I.D.: eosp1.1189 Posted: Tue Oct 23 18:10:43 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 24-Oct-84 04:10:41 EDT References: <348@wxlvax.UUCP> <2257@rochester.UUCP> <127@utcsrgv.UUCP> Reply-To: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton Lines: 37 Summary: Regarding David Sher's question (could a probabilistic or delay light be acceptable on the Sabbath); without some practice in questions like these it's easy to get hung up on technical details and miss the general thrust of the halachic arguments, which are usually grounded in more practical matters than are immediately evident. In order to construct a lightswitch problem that is more analogous to the refrigerator temperature problem, try this: Suppose I am a professional Orchid grower. To keep a close watch on my most precious orchids, I have a growing area in my bedroom. The bedroom has several climate-control mechanisms, including a light that automatically goes on and off in order to control the amount of light the orchids receive. The same light also goes on and off if I enter the room. The relationship is not directly causal; it's just that the light is more likely to go on some time after I enter the room, than it was to go on if I didn't enter the room. (The reason for this mught be that the light is also controlled by sensors trying to regulate the humidity in the room.) On the Sabbath I cannot easily live and sleep in some other room than the bedroom; I live in a dense population area and my home is small. Now it is just possible that it would be acceptable for me to enter the room on the Sabbath. There is no direct causality or certainty that entering the room will cause the light to go on. If the light does go on, it will not be primarily for my immediate convenience, but rather to carry out a process of climate control I set up before the Sabbath. Finally, this is not a frivolous use of a light switch, but rather a necessary mechanism related to my livelihood and natural life. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison or: decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or (emergency): princeton!eosp1!robison