Q&A: A Practical Argument in a Halakhic Matter
A Practical Argument in a Halakhic Matter
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Is a practical argument based on present-day necessity considered a halakhic basis for permission?
Attached is an article by Rabbi Ido Fechter in the Shabbaton bulletin.
In the previous bulletin he also cited a leniency by Rabbi Rabinovitch permitting the use of Sabbath sensors, against Rabbi Rosen, for the same reason.
https://shabaton1.co.il/?p=29550
Answer
It depends on the context. If there is a concrete question, please present it explicitly.
Discussion on Answer
The question is what prohibitions he thinks are involved here. In my latest column I dealt with this kind of leniency and also mentioned the issue of electricity.
A life necessity in itself is not enough to permit prohibitions, but it is a relevant consideration. It depends on what the prohibition is and how essential the need is (what would happen without it). See that column.
He writes about the permission to benefit from work done on the Sabbath by the electric company.
And this is how he concludes:
I don’t think I understood then just how precise that responsum really was. As we said in the previous installments, electricity is no longer merely a means for performing labor. Electricity has become part of our routine life. It surrounds us everywhere, and without it one cannot function (just think of how it feels during a power outage). Therefore, the electric company does not generate electricity for me personally so that I can use it to perform labor, but rather for the entire state, as part of the proper management of its existence. There is no other way. On a deeper level, that itself constitutes the permission.
In addition, I would appreciate your addressing his and Rabbi Rabinovitch’s leniency regarding electric sensors in a hotel lobby and in hotel rooms, on the grounds that this is a life necessity in the modern era.