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Electricity and fire on a good day

שו”תCategory: HalachaElectricity and fire on a good day
asked 9 years ago

What is the Rabbi’s opinion regarding turning on electricity on Yom Tov as was practiced in the Tzva’a and as Rabbi Mashash ruled, or should it be canceled due to lack of knowledge on this subject?
Also, what about lighting matches on a good day, is there anyone to trust?


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago
Regarding lighting a fire, the Mishnah, Bitza, 33b, prohibits it. The commentators are divided on the matter (see Rambam and Ravada, p. 4, 19). Some attribute this to the prohibition of a child (according to the Rabba, and to Ravada, it is because there is no preparation here), and others (Rambam and Rashba Beit Moed, p. 6, 37) state that what is possible from the day before is prohibited on the day of the fire. Some understood Rambam to mean that the prohibition is due to the hassle involved in lighting it, and therefore permitted matches and electric bulbs, which are not a hassle. But this is too much and the poskim rejected it. I don’t know what ignorance on the subject you were talking about. What is unknown here? For more information, you can look here . —————————————————————————————— Asks: Rabbi Mashash wrote in his book that turning on electricity is like moving fire from fire, and this was not Molid’s idea. That’s what I meant, did the sages of the Ze’evu’a not understand scientifically or were they misled by the process of electricity? —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: I too used to think that electricity was the transmission of fire and not the ignition of fire. But I think that is not true. I am not sure that this is a misunderstanding. It is a question of understanding and not of physics. —————————————————————————————— Asks: Does a person who turns on the air conditioner on Yot have someone to rely on, like Rabbi Mashash, or is there an actual prohibition against this? —————————————————————————————— Asks: I don’t understand what my permit will add to you if you are hesitating about Rabbi Meshash’s permit, which I don’t know (the permit). After all, even if I tell you that it is permissible, you will go ask a third party whether I can be trusted, and so on. There is no point in just collecting opinions. Either you decide for yourself or you trust some rabbi. If you trust Rabbi Meshash and it is clear to you that he said so – turn it on. What is clear is that according to the majority of all rabbis, turning on electrical appliances is prohibited in Yot.

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מושה replied 9 years ago

But you explained to him that this is not a correct comparison, so why are you encouraging him to light it?
By the way, if electricity is lighting a fire, then why is it permissible to turn on electric pressure pumps when you open water taps in the house? The pressure in the tap is an indirect reflection of an electric pump.
Is it permissible for me to put a temperature sensor and set the air conditioner so that when it reaches temperature X (the environment), the air conditioner will turn on automatically.

מיכי Staff replied 9 years ago

Pumps are not allowed to be operated. Although if it is a device or mechanism that operates them at fixed times, there should be some leniency.

מושה replied 9 years ago

The Rabbi said:
“Regarding lighting a fire, the Mishnah Bitza 33b prohibits it. And the commentators are divided on the matter (see Rambam and Rabbad 4:4, 50). Some attribute this to the prohibition of giving birth (according to the Rabbad, and to Rabbad it is because there is no preparation here), and others (Rambam and Rashba Beit Moed Shab 2:6, 7) in that what is possible from the day before is prohibited on the day. Some understood Rambam to mean that the prohibition is due to the hassle involved in lighting it, and therefore permitted matches and an electric bulb, which are not a hassle. But this is urgent and was rejected by the poskim.”

If the Toli initially attributed the prohibition to the hassle, they should also have prohibited the hassle of preparing food on Yom Kippur - isn't that so?

And I wanted to ask about the hassle involved in leaving the ”candle”=”fire” lit all night (getting up and checking) to add oil or wood to the fire. Isn't that a hassle?

מיכי Staff replied 9 years ago

They didn't even forbid complete soul-destroying deeds, so why should a nuisance be forbidden?
And in general, there is no such thing as a nuisance. What the sages forbade is forbidden, and what is not is not.

מושה replied 9 years ago

It's quite interesting because usually only the men would go on pilgrimage. Remember, who would cook for them there? The women were at home. So if they were busy with food all day long, how would they feel about the holiday? This is where the idea of the hassle of preparing food came from. After all, nowadays you buy a lot of ready-made and canned food that is easy to cook from. But in their time, everything was done by hand - there were no refrigerators and no canned food in boxes.

A replied 8 years ago

To the questioner: I am not a rabbi or adjudicator. But many good people have already permitted it, from Rabbi Raphael Aharon ben Shimon of Egypt, Rabbi Yosef Meshash, Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank, Aruch Hashulchan, Rabbi Uziel, Rabbi David Shlush wrote a long reply on this with all the aspects and concluded that it is permitted.
The extinguishing is in dispute.

Igal Dahan replied 3 years ago

The Rabbi wrote elsewhere that the prohibition of electricity on Yom Tov is because of a molid, while Rabbi Uziel generally claims that a molid is not a prohibition, what is the Rabbi's opinion on the subject of a molid?
https://haravuziel.org.il/%d7%a1%d7%99%d7%9e%d7%9f-%d7%99%d7%98-%d7%90%d7%95%d7%97/

I estimate that there is also controversy about this molid…

מיכי Staff replied 3 years ago

After that, my opinion was inclined that it is forbidden because of a builder. There is a long column here about it. As for Molid, these are ancient things.

גד דהן replied 1 year ago

Rabbi:
I also once thought that electricity was the transfer of fire and not the ignition of fire. But I think that is incorrect. I am not sure that this is a misunderstanding. This is a question of reasoning, not of physics.

What is Rabbi's reasoning?

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