Q&A: Kindling = Electromagnetic Radiation?
Kindling = Electromagnetic Radiation?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I was wondering whether illumination via LEDs or fluorescence could be prohibited on a Torah level by analogy to fire. As is known, fire is a chemical oxidation reaction (in a certain sense one might perhaps say that every fire involves electricity, but not every electricity is fire, because in fire there is transfer of electrons in part of the reaction, but not every movement of electrons is fire), and I saw from the Rabbi in the past that one can classify electricity as the labor of building or the labor of the final hammer blow, if I remember correctly.
But I thought to myself that perhaps there is an anachronism in our reading of the labor of kindling. One may assume that in the ancient period there was no understanding of the chemistry of fire, and it is possible that they called “fire” anything involving a radiation reaction in the visible range, and therefore intended to prohibit any process in nature in which we create emission of light. Since they were familiar only with fire, they referred only to that (or even if they knew of other phenomena, perhaps fire was a kind of general term). If we accept this assumption, it would be possible to say that LEDs and fluorescent bulbs should also be prohibited under the labor of kindling, since they involve a process of light emission (even though they are not fire as we understand it today). Perhaps even every electrical process should be prohibited, except that there I am not sure whether it counts, since not every electric current includes radiation in the visible range.
Answer
Simply speaking, this is unlikely, because fire has a use in itself, and therefore here we have created an object of significance. By contrast, light has no use except illumination. One does not use light as an object in itself. Another indication is that extinguishing does not produce charcoal, and kindling is the opposite of extinguishing. By contrast, in my view that this is building, I am not talking about the light that is produced but about the circuit that produces it. That is definitely the creation of a significant object.
Of course, one could translate all the primary categories of labor into a different list updated for our times (what the Sages would have included in the list had they lived today). Then the list would be completely different, and there would be no point in trying to insert contemporary actions into the existing list. But if one does not do that, in my opinion it is unlikely to see this as kindling.
Actually, I did think about the charcoal issue, and it really did make me doubt the idea.
In any case, thank you very much.