Q&A: Sabbath acronym: on the Sabbath, spray through a hose?
Sabbath acronym: on the Sabbath, spray through a hose?
Question
An elderly neighbor keeps a dog in the yard.
Sometimes the dog barks for no reason.
What does the old woman do?
She takes a hose and sprays water at the dog, and it immediately quiets down, but on the Sabbath the water also sprays onto the grass, right?
So on the Sabbath she only shouts and threatens the dog that she’ll spray water at it…
And that’s less effective than actually spraying, and the neighbors’ Sabbath rest is disturbed.
Is she allowed to spray the dog even though the grass also gets wet, since she really doesn’t intend that?
Answer
Although she does not intend it, this is an inevitable result (and one that is beneficial to her). So simply speaking, it would seem to be forbidden.
Discussion on Answer
That is an inevitable result that he is indifferent to, and in Jewish law the ruling is that it is forbidden (at least for Torah-level prohibitions).
But if that is the only way to save himself from the damage she causes, then in my opinion it is permitted to cause her to stumble. Just as it is permitted to hit her if she keeps disturbing him.
If we set it up as being the neighbor’s lawn, and the neighbor clearly prefers that she keep shouting,
would it then be permitted for him to lie?
After all, from her perspective it’s an inevitable result that she does not want, and for the neighbor it is in a situation of distress.