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Surveillance camera on Saturday

שו”תCategory: HalachaSurveillance camera on Saturday
asked 9 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
Do you think there is a prohibition on passing in front of a traffic camera on Shabbat, or in front of a light that is turned on by traffic, assuming I have no interest in turning on the light or activating the camera?


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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago
As far as I understand, there is no prohibition on this. And many have already dealt with this (for example, in the Responsa Shevat HaLevi and others). See, for example, here:
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אוריאל replied 9 years ago

Hello,
Question in the same context..
What about walking past a volume detector of an alarm system when the system is off?
System off = detector works and alerts but the system will not activate an alarm because it is in the 'ready' state. The detector is wireless and can only transmit without an input option and therefore cannot be turned off through the system but only by removing the battery.
Uriel

מיכי Staff replied 9 years ago

What's the difference? Same.

אוריאל replied 9 years ago

I'll just clarify the question.
It's that the detector works and transmits every time you walk past it, but the alarm system doesn't respond to the transmission.
This is a detector installed in my house and I can, in principle, cover the detectors/remove the battery before every Shabbat.
The only difference is that I have the option to solve the problem. The question is whether this hassle is necessary.
Thank you

מיכי Staff replied 9 years ago

If the detector wakes up but doesn't transmit anything, I see no reason to worry. In my opinion, there is no prohibition in this. Rabbi Rabinowitz innovated that when you don't see direct results for an action, there is no prohibition (regarding a card that opens a hotel door on Shabbat), and there it is when there are results (the door opens) but you don't see the consequences of passing the card. This is an innovation that I'm not sure I agree with. But here there are no results at all (and not just that you don't see them) and therefore I see no need to be stricter.

מושה replied 9 years ago

In my opinion, you should only turn on the detector on days you're not home. Is that clear?

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