Electricity on Shabbat? My Dear Rabbi Zahavy Jewish Standard Column for March 2020
Dear Rabbi Zahavy,
Members of my community of Orthodox Jews who are shomer Shabbos refrain from turning on and off all electrical devices to observe their Shabbat rest. So, on Friday nights and Saturdays our practice is not to use, for instance, our phones or TVs or computers. And we don’t turn on or off lights or fans or heaters.
Lately, I’ve become lax in keeping these rules, especially regarding my use of my smart phone, my computer and my Alexa Amazon Echo devices. I feel that using these devices enhances my rest and my leisure. And I have found that avoiding them makes me uneasy, not relaxed or restful.
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I don’t publicly advertise my actions. But it’s increasingly evident to me that my family knows what I am doing and that they quietly disapprove.
I am worried and need your advice. Am I sinning by my behavior? I feel strongly that what I am doing is not a violation of any rules and likely will continue my uses. But what can I do regarding my actions if this all blows up and causes social friction in my family and community?
Electrified in Englewood
Dear Electrified,
Establishing sacred time is a powerful part of all religions. The notion that we Jews spend one day a week in a special world of restful restrictions starting on sundown on Friday is an amazing claim to make. And at the same time, it is hard for the community to enforce the Sabbath taboos.
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindle. Show all posts
10/9/22
10/8/22
Atlantic: Can You Read on an Amazon Kindle on Shabbat?
I originally posted this 12/23/2010.
The questions keep recurring so we are bringing this post back. And by the way, I published a lot of books on Kindle since then,
- The first was The Kindle Edition of God's Favorite Prayers (2011).
- And then in 2011 I published the entire 30 volume Soncino Talmud.
- And all these numerous (17) other Kindle titles - please click through.
Now back to the 2010 blog post...
Our Jewish calendars have always told us what time to Kindle for the Sabbath, when to "Kindle the Shabbat Candles."
Nowadays we have another kind of Kindle to know about, the Amazon book reader. And the question arises, can you Kindle on the Sabbath?
We think yes, without any qualifications, that you can Kindle on the Sabbath. The e-ink device does not create actual light. You cannot read it in the dark. And it obviously does not create any durable writing. When you turn it off it goes blank.
In halakhic terms we find no transgression, no prohibition to using the reader. In fact it's a feat of great imagination to extend Sabbath prohibitions to that invention. It involves believing there is a set of electrical apparatus that is prohibited, or defining a broad category of technology-things that all are outside the spirit of Sabbath rest.
Our Jewish calendars have always told us what time to Kindle for the Sabbath, when to "Kindle the Shabbat Candles."
Nowadays we have another kind of Kindle to know about, the Amazon book reader. And the question arises, can you Kindle on the Sabbath?
We think yes, without any qualifications, that you can Kindle on the Sabbath. The e-ink device does not create actual light. You cannot read it in the dark. And it obviously does not create any durable writing. When you turn it off it goes blank.
In halakhic terms we find no transgression, no prohibition to using the reader. In fact it's a feat of great imagination to extend Sabbath prohibitions to that invention. It involves believing there is a set of electrical apparatus that is prohibited, or defining a broad category of technology-things that all are outside the spirit of Sabbath rest.
9/26/19
From Amazon for Kindle: The Book of Jewish New Year Prayers in English: The Rosh Hashanah Machzor
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6/5/19
Free download files of the Babylonian Talmud in English
I am proud to provide for you as a gift, a download of the complete Babylonian Talmud English translation.The Talmud in English is online and free at my site, Halakhah.com, http://www.halakhah.com/ - serving up 60,000+ downloads each month.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH WITH NOTES, GLOSSARY AND INDICES UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF RABBI DR. I. EPSTEIN B.A., Ph.D., D. Lit. FOREWORD BY THE VERY REV. THE LATE CHIEF RABBI DR. J. H. HERTZ. INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR.
This set contains the Sedarim (orders, or major divisions) and tractates (books) of the Babylonian Talmud, as translated and organized for publication by the Soncino Press in 1935 - 1948.
My site has the entire Talmud edition in PDF format and about 8050 pages in HTML format, comprising 1460 files — of the Talmud.
I recommend that on your web site or blog you add a link to this site http://www.halakhah.com.
Highlights include: A formatted 2-column PDF version of the Talmud at Halakhah.com.
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2 comments:
11/8/18
Awesome 665 page translation of Hullin by Tzvee Zahavy - Great for Daf Yomi Study
Incredible 665 page translation of Talmud Hullin!For Daf Yomi Hullin for your Kindle or Kindle App. Here is the Product Description:
To know what food is kosher, that is, fit to eat according to rabbinic Judaism, you must study the principles set forth in this volume, the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Hullin.
This translation, (approx. 665 pages) adheres closely to the text so that the reader has a sense of the structure and balance of the original. Yet at the same time it conveys the flow of the legal arguments and debates, the dramatic unfolding of events in stories, and the sensitivities to words and language in the exegetical texts.
Its aim is to facilitate a smooth conversation between readers and the text so that, without consulting the original Hebrew and Aramaic version, they can appreciate the substantive meaning and recognize some major aspects of the style of the Talmudic text.
3/26/18
YouTube: Unboxing my new CreateSpace book, The Polychrome Historical Haggadah
Enjoy!
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4/5/17
Incredible: The Talmud in English for Kindle for $.99
All the Babylonian Talmud tractates in English for Kindle for $.99 Each
Kindle Babylonian Talmud in English
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10/2/16
Jewish Books for 5777 at Halakhah.com and Amazon
Happy New Year from Halakhah,com and from Talmud blog.
Download your Free Talmud and get other fine books.
L'shanah tovah,
Tzvee
9/11/16
Rashi - the Great French Jewish Bible Exegete
Many scholars believe that Rashi was the greatest French Jew and the greatest Bible exegete. Read about Rashi and his work in this best seller book at Amazon: Rashi: The Greatest Exegete
. It was written by Maurice Liber. I added a new Foreword. Price: an amazing $0.99. Description as follows:The paradigmatic master of medieval rabbinic commentary was Rashi (Rabbi Solomon b. Isaac, 1040-1105) a scholar from the north of France. While he is often credited with the move to “literal commentary” in medieval times, even a cursory study of his commentaries reveals how indebted he was to the rabbinic exegesis of the earlier classical compilations. With Rashi we witness the mature development of a new paradigm of interpretation. He delicately balances his interpretations between gloss and exposition. He picks at and edits the earlier Midrash materials and weaves together with them into his commentary the results of new discoveries, such as philology and grammar. His main proposition is hardly radical within rabbinism. He accepts that there is one whole Torah of Moses consisting of the oral and written traditions and texts. In his commentaries he accomplished the nearly seamless integration of the basics of both bodies of tradition.
6/28/16
Amazon Turbocharges the Previews for Our Kindle Talmud Volumes - Cool!
4/20/16
Hamilton on Broadway for $24
Of course tickets to the Broadway show "Hamilton" start at $500 for the foreseeable future.But for $24 you can get an official libretto of the show, richly supplemented with numerous chapters on how the show came to be.
The libretto has explanatory footnotes, arranged on the margins, reminding me of the talmud, and lovely photos.
I recommend this book. It captures the utter genius of the play and gives you a window to the creative processes behind the play,
2/7/16
My Kindle Book Edition: From the Talmud: Yerushalmi Berakhot
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