Q&A: Regarding Electricity on the Sabbath and the Prohibition of Building
Regarding Electricity on the Sabbath and the Prohibition of Building
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I understood that you tend to follow the Chazon Ish regarding electricity on the Sabbath, that it is forbidden משום building. I wanted to ask how this fits with the rule that there is no building or demolishing with utensils. In addition, how does this fit with the rule that something made to be opened and closed (like a door or window) is not considered building?
Best regards,
Answer
I do indeed tend toward his view. Regarding building with utensils, that rule is far from clear. According to most halakhic decisors, there is building with utensils in various situations, for example when one makes something genuinely new, or when one fastens something tightly. The same applies to something made to be opened and closed: that is only when the building is done by means of opening and closing. But here the switch does not open or close; rather, it creates something new. In such a case, it seems doubtful to me whether something made to be opened or closed would be exempt.
Discussion on Answer
My whole claim is that there is something entirely new here, unlike opening a faucet. The switch does not just open a passage for a flow of electrons; it turns the entire device into something fundamentally different (in the Chazon Ish’s language: it changes it from dead to alive).
But opening/closing a door or window also creates something new (a house protected from wind/noise/mosquitoes, or a house with a breeze in it). How is that different from opening or closing an electric switch?
And in addition, how is this different from opening or closing a water faucet? That is, the switch stops the flow of electrons (water droplets), and flipping it allows the electrons to flow freely. There is a potential difference (heights or voltages) between the house and the source of the current (a water tower or the electric company).