Posted on 08/30/2007 9:43:52 AM PDT by MotleyGirl70
What would be the point of the original article at all except to mock religious Jews.
You realize how silly and paranoid you sound.
Can a Jewish Freeper explain this to me? The energy to run the elevator is being expended whether one pushes the button or not. Seems to me that the only way to strictly respect the Sabbath is to take the stairs.
On the Sabbath, they are not allowed to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics by creating energy. ;-)
The sentence was poorly worded.
But to try to help:
Although I am not Jewish, growing up in Miami, just by osmosis, I am culturally semi-Jewish and I have had to explain to Reform Jews on the West Coast what a Shabbat Elevator is. My sister owns a condo in Miami Beach in a building that has one.
On the Sabbath, you are not allowed to do "labors" and it all gets very complicated but the bottom line is that you can not "use" an elevator.
But.....If an elevator just happens to open it's doors automatically through no action of yours and you happen to walk into it and it happens to go up to your floor and open the doors by itself and you happen to walk out, you did not "use" that elevator, did you?
Do not try to answer that. No mater what your answer is, you will have some Jews explaining to you why you were wrong.
That comes under the Ask Five Jews a Question and You Get Ten Answers Rule.
The Shabbat Elevator and other Sabbath Subterfuges
I don't try to explain it. I just accept it and that is what makes traditional Jewish culture part of "home" for me ......... but not West Coast Reform Jewish culture ...... invoking "your Karma" at a West Coast Passover Seder is just too weird for me which is why my Sephardi friend thinks I am more traditionally "Jewish" than some of the Reform Jews out here on the West Coast.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
I don't understand what the problem is. They are the owners, let them install a "Shabbos elevator."
After reading the article, I see that two cranky anti-religious semi-residents are complaining.
If they hate Jews and Judaism so much, why the hell did they move into a building where everyone else is Shomer Shabbos?
The minority of less observant (and a few tight wads on the 1st and 2nd floor) are pissed about the $11,000.
Life in a democracy. They don’t like it; they can move back to Brooklyn.
I do enjoy the Sabbath. It has its rituals and its restrictions, but it also frees us from the rituals and the restrictions of the rest of the week.
I like not having to answer the phone, and to read a book instead of going on the computer.
I agree. Plus, the article was informative (for me at least) because I didn't know this:
On the Sabbath, they are not allowed to do anything that would create energy, such as drive a car, turn on a light or push an elevator button.
Now I know.
Yes....pretty sure.
Yes....pretty sure.
Create energy? Hmmm. . .wouldn't the elevator moving at all "create energy"?
Weirdness.
ahhh...
so that explains jewish people giving quarters to non-jews to push the button for them.
Wouldn't taking the stairs be a lot more work than pushing a button? Or is the prohibition against working on the Sabbath less 'weighty' than some of the other restrictions I've seen mentioned on the thread as possible reasons for requiring a special elevator?
however it is now going to open and close on ALL the floors to accomodate ONE religion.
Why could they not have put a motion sensor or a simple hand waive thing.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
It’s because riding the bus involves a commercial transaction, which isn’t allowed. To keep it pure they shouldn’t even handle money (or money substitutes) on Shabbos.
I don't think so; the Del Boca Vista Condo Association took Morty Seinfeld down like Nixon. Mrs. Choate changed her vote to impeach Morty because she realized Jerry stole her Schnitzer's marble rye when she was in NY City.
Orthodox families in Queens get catered meals sent to their homes on Shabbos which have been prepaid.
Buses take prepaid cards. I don't see the difference.
"Creative" as defined by the 39 categories of labor needed for the construction of the Tabernacle:
Planting
Plowing
Reaping
Binding sheaves
Threshing
Winnowing
Selecting
Grinding
Sifting
Kneading
Baking
Shearing wool
Washing wool
Beating wool
Dyeing
Spinning
Weaving
Making two loops
Weaving at least two threads
Separating two threads
Tying
Untying
Sewing at least two stitches
Tearing for the purpose of sewing
Trapping
Slaughtering
Flaying
Salting meat
Curing hide
Scraping hide
Cutting hide into pieces
Writing two or more letters
Erasing
Building
Tearing something down
Extinguishing a fire
Igniting a fire
Applying the finishing touch
Transferring between domains
Electricity (and therefore elevators) come under the "Igniting a Fire" category.
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