Q&A: A Phone as a Basic Human Need
A Phone as a Basic Human Need
Question
Just an interesting question I was thinking about: what will religion do in the future if a smartphone becomes a basic human need, to the point that because of habit it will really be impossible to function without it? Would they permit using it on the Sabbath?
Answer
I don’t know what a “basic human need” is. There is food preparation for bodily needs.
Discussion on Answer
The question is: in a situation where a phone, for example, becomes an inseparable need in a person’s life, would they permit using it on the Sabbath?
That is not a different category. Rather, there is the rule of “mitokh.” So the permission depends on the type of labor involved and less on the need. Labor that was permitted for food preparation was also permitted for another need. In a parallel responsum I was asked about electric hotplates on a Jewish holiday, and I wrote a bit about it there. But at the moment I don’t have time for a systematic explanation.
A need that is “equal for every person,” similar to cigarettes.